A Nation Must Think Before it Acts
Analysis
A nation must think before it acts.
Analysis
Analysis offers a new angle on a contemporary or historical issue. These articles are policy-oriented and cover current developments around the globe that impinge upon American foreign policy and national security priorities.
The Afghan National Resistance Front Outlines Its Strategy: Implications for US Foreign Policy
On November 15, 2022, the Foreign Policy Research Institute conducted an in-person and Zoom event titled, “The Future of Resistance in Afghanistan,” with Ali M. Nazary, the head of foreign relations for the National Resistance Front (NRF). Nazary, an...
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Editor’s Corner Fall 2022
With this issue, Orbis completes its 65th year of publication. Its founder, Ambassador Robert Strausz-Hupé, wanted a publication that would focus attention and debate on the “key international issues on which the nation’s long-range future hinges.” In commemoration of...
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Filling the Geopolitical Void in Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: The Poorest Countries in Central Asia Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are probably the most dependent on Russia of all the Central Asian states. Some 1.1 million migrant laborers from Kyrgyzstan and 1.6 million from Tajikistan worked abroad...
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Putin’s Philosophers: Reading Vasily Grossman in the Kremlin
What makes Putin tick? Many have attempted to answer that question. Most conclude, especially after the invasion of Ukraine, that he is evil, diabolical, and a war criminal. He may be all of those things, but he didn’t start...
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Bibi’s Back in Israel: Is There Going to be Trouble?
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is back. The Likud Party head has been prime minister of Israel almost continuously since March 2009. This streak was broken in June 2021 by an unlikely coalition of eight parties, united solely by their wish...
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Biden’s National Security Strategy: Hitting the Right Notes on Africa
Editor’s Note This is the fifth article in a series on the Biden administration’s National Security Strategy. Please read our previous essays on President Joe Biden’s overall grand strategy and strategy toward Asia, Eurasia, and the Middle East. Acknowledging African Agency When...
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Rising Inflation Forces Greater Attention to Food Insecurity in Africa
A Generational Challenge Food security across sub-Saharan Africa stands among this generation’s greatest challenges, a crisis that continues to worsen amidst this economic downturn and will ultimately underpin further humanitarian struggles without dedicated and full-scale intervention. Estimates suggest that...
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The New Japan-Australia Security Agreement
More than Koalas The Oct. 22 meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Perth mostly made the news thanks to the peculiarly Australian greeting awaiting the Japanese prime minister, a hug with...
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Xi’s Gotta Have It: China’s 20th Party Congress Was as Expected, Only More So
Bottom Line The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party confirmed China’s turn, during the Xi Jinping era, to concentration of power in the hands of the top leader, dominance of the party over the state, economy and...
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Biden’s National Security Strategy: A New Era in Eurasia
Editor’s Note This is the fourth in a series on the Biden administration’s National Security Strategy. Please read our previous essays on President Joe Biden’s overall grand strategy and strategy toward Asia and the Middle East. Bottom Line Russia’s...
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