Foreign Policy in Focus

Foreign Policy in Focus is a “Think Tank Without Walls” connecting the research and action of more than 600 scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the United States a more responsible global partner. It is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies. FPIF publishes timely commentaries on U.S. foreign policy, sharp analyses of global issues, and on-the-ground dispatches from around the world. We also are interested in pieces that explore the intersection of foreign policy and culture, and on dispatches from social movements involved in foreign policy.

Donald Trump

Trump Shifts to Monarchy Promotion in Middle East

Forget about democracy promotion. The Trump administration is advocating for monarchy

China

How China Is Turning Climate Action into Economic Strategy

Foreign Policy in Focus

In October, China unveiled updated climate targets for 2035, a 7-10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions

Israel/ Palestine

The State of Palestine Must Exist: An Interview With Gershon Baskin

Foreign Policy in Focus

Israel will never be secure if Palestine isn’t free. Palestine will never be free if Israel isn’t secure.

Israel/ Palestine

Peace in Gaza Depends on Palestinians’ Right to Remain — and Return

Foreign Policy in Focus

Trump’s peace plan includes a promise not to expel any Palestinians from Gaza. Can’t that promise be kept? By David Vine | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Amid some extremely cautious optimism for peace following a tenuous and incomplete ceasefire in Gaza, any hope for Gaza’s future depends significantly on a little-noticed point […]

Arab League

Can the Arab League’s Break with Hamas Shift the Course of History?

Foreign Policy in Focus

The United States must move beyond rhetoric about Hamas’s “bad faith” and offer incentives—such as aid packages or sanctions relief—to bolster moderate Palestinian voices. By Imran Khalid | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – In Gaza, where hunger gnaws at children and rubble buries hope, the Arab League issued a rare, unified declaration in […]

Israel/ Palestine

Why the Gaza War won’t End: Israel’s Strategic Goal has been Ethnic Cleansing

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Seth Cantey | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Israel’s global standing has deteriorated throughout the war in Gaza, but in recent weeks the decline has been precipitous. The prohibition on foreign journalists entering the strip hasn’t prevented images of starvation from flooding social media. Doctors’ reports of civilians being used as target […]

Israel/ Palestine

The Freedom Flotilla: Bravely Breaking the Siege Against Gaza

Foreign Policy in Focus

A dozen unarmed activists are standing up against one of the world’s most powerful militaries. By Margaret Knapke ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Many people, armed only with moral and political convictions, would be too intimidated to confront an army or navy directly. But not all. Twelve nonviolent human-rights activists with the international […]

Climate Crisis

Two Visions Collide on Ocean Use: Nationalist Raptors and Multilateral Environmentalists

Foreign Policy in Focus

The ocean holds the answer. By Shafraz Rasheed | May 27, 2025 ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – The rise of nationalist leaders epitomized by Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, cuts to UN climate funding, and dismissal of multilateralism as “globalist” interference has sparked a pivotal question: Can international cooperation survive in an era […]

Israel/ Palestine

Siege Politics: Netanyahu’s Crisis-Driven Grip on Power

Foreign Policy in Focus

Even mild criticism produces splenetic reactions from the Israeli leader. By Imran Khalid | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – By now, it should surprise no one that Benjamin Netanyahu prefers the echo chamber of his own making to the international chorus demanding accountability. The Israeli prime minister, clinging to office as tenaciously as […]