The Trump administration is eyeing steep cuts to global health funds in its 2021 budget proposal, slashing more than $3 billion in overall programs, including half of its annual funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is leading the fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Lawmakers from the House and Senate appropriations committees pressed officials from the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at a briefing on Feb. 7 previewing the budget to explain why it made sense to scale back spending at a time when the world is facing the...…The Trump administration is eyeing steep cuts to global health funds in its 2021 budget proposal, slashing more than $3 billion in overall programs, including half of its annual funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is leading the fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Lawmakers from the House and Senate appropriations committees pressed officials from the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at a briefing on Feb. 7 previewing the budget to explain why it made sense to scale back spending at a time when the world is facing the...WW…

With Joe Biden emerging as the unchallenged Democratic candidate for U.S. president in 2020, his foreign-policy team is tasked with ironing out a campaign platform amid a pandemic that has turned the 2020 presidential race on its head.But mainly they need to deal with the Bernie factor—a broad set of progressive stances including those on foreign policy championed by Biden’s just-departed chief rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The former vice president will need to pay more than lip service if he is to win over most of the party base.The coronavirus pandemic, which hastened Sanders’s...…With Joe Biden emerging as the unchallenged Democratic candidate for U.S. president in 2020, his foreign-policy team is tasked with ironing out a campaign platform amid a pandemic that has turned the 2020 presidential race on its head.But mainly they need to deal with the Bernie factor—a broad set of progressive stances including those on foreign policy championed by Biden’s just-departed chief rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The former vice president will need to pay more than lip service if he is to win over most of the party base.The coronavirus pandemic, which hastened Sanders’s...WW…

The U.S. State Department’s Office of the Legal Advisor concluded earlier this year that China’s mass imprisonment and forced labor of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang amounts to crimes against humanity—but there was insufficient evidence to prove genocide, placing the United States’ top diplomatic lawyers at odds with both the Trump and Biden administrations, according to three former and current U.S. officials.The revelation comes nearly a month after then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Jan. 19, one day before U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency ended, that China was carrying out a...…The U.S. State Department’s Office of the Legal Advisor concluded earlier this year that China’s mass imprisonment and forced labor of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang amounts to crimes against humanity—but there was insufficient evidence to prove genocide, placing the United States’ top diplomatic lawyers at odds with both the Trump and Biden administrations, according to three former and current U.S. officials.The revelation comes nearly a month after then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Jan. 19, one day before U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency ended, that China was carrying out a...WW…

The sweeping hires will leave the Biden administration with a depleted stable of experts on mass atrocities, including war crimes and genocide, and international justice, hampering its efforts to rebuild a department that has traditionally sought to hold the world’s worst mass murderers accountable for their crimes. However, it appears likely that incoming President Joe Biden’s State Department will be able to replace them with its own picks, as most have not served long enough to obtain permanent contracts.Colum Lynch is a senior staff writer at Foreign...…The sweeping hires will leave the Biden administration with a depleted stable of experts on mass atrocities, including war crimes and genocide, and international justice, hampering its efforts to rebuild a department that has traditionally sought to hold the world’s worst mass murderers accountable for their crimes. However, it appears likely that incoming President Joe Biden’s State Department will be able to replace them with its own picks, as most have not served long enough to obtain permanent contracts.Colum Lynch is a senior staff writer at Foreign...WW…

Loading graphicsComplete your profileShow moreAug 15, 2022 |In her role as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power is often thrust into the forefront of some of the world’s biggest crises. From working to ensuAug 11, 2022 |Last summer, the United States decided to end its longest war. But just days after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, Kabul fell—and the Taliban took control of the country. Aug.Aug 09, 2022 |Want the inside scoop on Russian arms sales to Africa? Care to learn more about how Ukraine is arming itself and how Beijing views...…Loading graphicsComplete your profileShow moreAug 15, 2022 |In her role as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power is often thrust into the forefront of some of the world’s biggest crises. From working to ensuAug 11, 2022 |Last summer, the United States decided to end its longest war. But just days after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, Kabul fell—and the Taliban took control of the country. Aug.Aug 09, 2022 |Want the inside scoop on Russian arms sales to Africa? Care to learn more about how Ukraine is arming itself and how Beijing views...WW…

A new U.S. law designed to keep Chinese telecommunications companies out of American networks is threatening to delay, disrupt, or kill vital U.S. military, diplomatic, and aid programs, particularly in Africa and Asia, where Chinese telecoms are the only game in town.The law, which went into effect in August, is intended to purge Chinese telecommunications technology from the communications systems of U.S. agencies and contractors, a task that is particularly challenging in countries that rely almost entirely on Chinese tech. Supporters hope the legislation will gradually wean American...…A new U.S. law designed to keep Chinese telecommunications companies out of American networks is threatening to delay, disrupt, or kill vital U.S. military, diplomatic, and aid programs, particularly in Africa and Asia, where Chinese telecoms are the only game in town.The law, which went into effect in August, is intended to purge Chinese telecommunications technology from the communications systems of U.S. agencies and contractors, a task that is particularly challenging in countries that rely almost entirely on Chinese tech. Supporters hope the legislation will gradually wean American...WW…

For more than three years, many of America’s closest allies have comforted themselves with the thought that Donald Trump’s populist presidency was a historical aberration, and that the United States would ultimately return to its democratic and internationalist roots. But a season of pandemic and protest has shaken that faith, pulling back the curtain on a country plagued by deeper social, economic, and political ills.Today, the United States is the locus of international condemnation—targeted not just at its president, but also at its precedent, with scenes of unchecked police brutality,...…For more than three years, many of America’s closest allies have comforted themselves with the thought that Donald Trump’s populist presidency was a historical aberration, and that the United States would ultimately return to its democratic and internationalist roots. But a season of pandemic and protest has shaken that faith, pulling back the curtain on a country plagued by deeper social, economic, and political ills.Today, the United States is the locus of international condemnation—targeted not just at its president, but also at its precedent, with scenes of unchecked police brutality,...WW…

Loading graphicsComplete your profileShow moreAug 15, 2022 |In her role as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power is often thrust into the forefront of some of the world’s biggest crises. From working to ensuAug 11, 2022 |Last summer, the United States decided to end its longest war. But just days after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, Kabul fell—and the Taliban took control of the country. Aug.Aug 09, 2022 |Want the inside scoop on Russian arms sales to Africa? Care to learn more about how Ukraine is arming itself and how Beijing views...…Loading graphicsComplete your profileShow moreAug 15, 2022 |In her role as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power is often thrust into the forefront of some of the world’s biggest crises. From working to ensuAug 11, 2022 |Last summer, the United States decided to end its longest war. But just days after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, Kabul fell—and the Taliban took control of the country. Aug.Aug 09, 2022 |Want the inside scoop on Russian arms sales to Africa? Care to learn more about how Ukraine is arming itself and how Beijing views...WW…