Negotiating with the Taliban might be the only way the Afghanistan war ends
A deal with the Taliban is the only way this conflict ends. But if it means conceding on human rights issues, would it be worth it?
Foreign Concept
Foreign Concept provides international affairs coverage by Mark Porubcansky, a foreign correspondent and editor for 30 years, who, until recently, served as foreign editor of the Los Angeles Times.
How the United States’ deal with Iran looks to the rest of the world
Does the world look like a different place today? And if so, how?
No, drug kingpin Chapo Guzman’s escape from prison shouldn’t come as a surprise
Guzman almost certainly had enough money, enough power and enough strings he could pull to find a way out.
A global view of America’s relationship with capital punishment
The United States is part of a relatively small minority of countries — 22 in 2014 — that still impose capital punishment.
Greek austerity vote forces Europe to confront bigger issues than economics
Greece plays a key role in two of the biggest headaches policymakers are facing: relations with Russia, and the flood of Middle East and African refugees heading for Europe.
Why some experts are taking the 4th of July terror alert seriously
Such warnings are a fact of life in the first years of the 21st century, and they increasingly seem to elicit little more than a collective shrug.
What the last 10 days in America looked like to the rest of the world
It’s good to be reminded sometimes what the U.S. might look like to people in Asia, Africa and the Middle East — or even Canada and Britain.
Pope’s climate-change encyclical puts GOP candidates in an awkward place
The pope’s long awaited, often eloquent and sometimes baffling encyclical is sweeping in its breadth, and overtly political in its implications.
Putin’s long game in Ukraine
He can afford to wait out the Europeans while reminding them how much the sanctions are costing them — and how much they need Russia.
795 million people don’t have enough to eat — why that’s actually good news
In an annual report evaluating progress toward U.N. development goals, three U.N. agencies say the number of hungry people has decreased by 216 million in the past quarter century.
How the pope is shaking up the debate on climate change
The pope’s stance is turning comfortable sets of ideological assumptions on their head.
Why the FIFA investigation had to be conducted by U.S. officials
How did America’s views of the sport — and of itself — play into the investigation? And what does the soccer-loving world think of it all?
Was the Minnesota Orchestra’s trip to Cuba good diplomacy?
The short answer is yes. But there is a major caveat: Cultural exchanges only matter when both governments involved want them to matter.
The problem with using fear to win elections
Scaring voters worked for both David Cameron and Benjamin Netanyahu. But it has also meant that two of America’s closest allies are further than ever from solving existential challenges.
The U.K. election: trying to sort out what it means to be British these days
The crucial theme as the United Kingdom faces its most unpredictable election in decades, is disunion.
Echoes of war — and an argument for how to avoid them
Since diplomacy is almost always preferable to war, one way of looking at the Trans-Pacific Partnership is as an effort by the U.S. to find a middle ground between isolation and aggressiveness.
‘Better to die for something than live for nothing’: the crisis of Mediterranean crossings
More than 1,700 migrants have died so far this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean, creating a crisis for European officials.
Yes, Libya needs to be part of the debate in the next presidential election. No, Benghazi isn’t the issue
Events in Libya do deserve an airing. But the questions that should be debated are when should the United States intervene in another country? And how?
How Obama’s Cuba policy can help with other Latin American countries
It couldn’t hurt to be a bit smarter and subtler than the U.S. usually is in Latin America. The opening to Cuba offers some hope of that.
Trying to understand the Tsarnaev brothers’ connection to Chechnya
The path that put Dzhokar Tsarnaev inside a federal courtroom facing the death penalty for bombing the Boston Marathon started in the perpetually troubled corner of Russia.
