Latest in American Foreign Policy
As the Pentagon contemplates a drawdown of the U.S. military presence in Africa, it is imperative for the U.S. military to reaffirm its non-counterterrorism missions in the region and reform how it executes its counterterrorism programs.
Warlords are often necessary tools of statecraft, but support for them often comes at the expense of building a functioning central government.
In testimony before the House, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction offered a sobering portrait of the challenges confronting U.S. reconstruction efforts, and called for more vigorous and proactive congressional oversight of those efforts.
On Jan. 15 at 10:00 a.m., the House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing titled “DOD’s Role in Competing with China.” The Committee will hear testimony from Michèle Flournoy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors and Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Andrew Philip Hunter, Director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Rear Adm. (ret.) Michael McDevitt, Senior Fellow at CNA.
A new Lawfare Institute e-book, "The Troubled U.S.-NATO Relationship,” is now available on Kindle.
What underlying tensions within NATO have contributed to recent difficulties in the alliance? How has President Trump’s strikingly different approach than his predecessors spurred or exacerbated these troubles? And what legal issues come into play as the relationship struggles?
A tense standoff in the waters southwest of Vietnam is about to enter its seventh week. Throughout May and June, Chinese Coast Guard vessels aggressively patrolled around Malaysian and Vietnamese oil drilling platforms.
Over the weekend, President Trump cited a 1977 statute, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as providing the legal authority he would need to carry through on his “order” that American companies “immediately start looking for an alternative to China.” IEEPA, which serves as the legal basis for many of America’s economic sanctions programs, almost certainly gives Trump the legal power he claims.
The United States has taken several escalatory steps in recent months to suspend delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, currently scheduled for November 2019. On Feb. 15, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019 (§ 7046) restricted funding for the delivery of F-35s to Turkey absent a report on Turkey’s pending purchase of Russian S-400 missiles, due by November 2019.
On April 16, President Trump vetoed S.J. Res. 7, a joint resolution directing the United States to end support for the Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The veto was the second of Trump’s presidency and the second time a U.S.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin revealed last week on CNBC that U.S. and Chinese negotiators have reached agreement on an “enforcement mechanism” as part of negotiations over a bilateral trade deal. Mnuchin specified that both sides “will establish enforcement offices that will deal” with matters of compliance.