The Past and Present of Foreign Policy Sausagemaking in Washington — Despite proclamations of commitment to good governance made by most elected officials in Washington, the national political dialogue where foreign policy is concerned has been largely driven by the pervasive influence of funders and think tanks for at least half a century. …

Four international economic trends to watch in the next five years — While various other sectors hold significant promise, the electric vehicle industry seems to be the one with the largest odds of drawing a sizable return on investment. Despite Tesla drawing the bulk of the market share at present, Asian legacy automakers such as Nissan are performing strongly, GM is putting…

Fundamental Facts on the World Stage — There are more politically liberal figures in any country who tend to be more idealistic alongside more conservative figures that tend to be more hard-nosed. …

Realities and Opportunities in the Middle East — The fundamental question in a rational foreign policy in any nation is whether a course of action is in the national interest. As displayed by the marked expansion of Russian and Chinese influence from Syria to Sudan that has been among the sole practical deliverables produced by the expenditure of…

Possible Global Flashpoints in the Biden Transition Period — The Horn of Africa has emerged in a matter of weeks as the most significant potential wild card where global tensions are concerned. Trump’s atypical remarks during the announcement of the formalization of Sudan-Israel ties portended problems ahead, especially in light of the response by Ethiopian officials. That said, the…

A Guide to Realistically Resolving International Tensions — The situation in Yemen increasingly appears to be the ripest for resolution at the time of writing. Reports are emerging of major drawdowns by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, perhaps to preempt anticipated criticism by Joe Biden. In any event, Sana’a has recently been quite explicit regarding its adoption of a…

Pragmatic Paths Forward on the World Stage — International challenges tend to be interrelated and resolving or accentuating one often snowballs onto others. There are few on the world stage, including those who are often vilified, who would be conceptually opposed to sitting at a table that is properly set. …

Pragmatic Problem Solving on the World Stage — General Foreign Policy As a rule, there is no such thing as a hardliner of the sort DC describes. In every country, there are more liberal actors who are more open to dialogue and more conservative actors who are also open to dialogue but tend to drive a harder bargain…

Pragmatic Problem Solving in the Middle East — At its most fundamental, problem solving in any context often takes on a snowball or domino effect, with efforts in one corner impacting those in the others. This dynamic is especially the case in the Middle East, where most major challenges are largely interconnected. …