US foreign policy

Full coverage: Obama’s press conference

September 10, 2010 3:30 pm by Financial Times

Follow President Obama’s press conference here live from 11am Washington time, with Washington Bureau Chief Edward Luce.

12:23pm - Most of the pundits expected a press conference that would be more dominated by the president’s economic woes in the context of the upcoming mid-term elections. Certainly that was a key part of it – and the least convincing in terms of the president’s performance.

But in the event, the real theme that emerged was about 9/11, Afghanistan, the crazy pastor in Florida and the need to treat American Muslims as brothers and sisters. It was striking how good, impassioned and convincing President Obama was on the second half of the 77 minute press conference that was dominated by the Islam theme (for want of a better heading) against the very familiar and unconvincing answers he gave on the economy in the first half. As the conference moved from the first to the second, President Obama appeared to pick up the energy, verve and persuasiveness that had been so lacking in the first half.

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Posted in Foreign affairs, Obama, US foreign policy, US politics | Permalink

Gates in Afghanistan – a mission too far?

September 5, 2010 4:40 pm by Daniel Dombey

By Daniel Dombey

The heat bore down in Kandahar province and in the relative safety of two military bases the Pentagon chief saw the state of the Afghan war for himself. Dressed in chinos and a baseball cap, Robert Gates was a day tripper with a difference.

His soft, careful speaking style and the way in which he posed for photos with almost every US soldier who crossed his path gave little clue of the defence secretary’s influence in Washington and his beliefs about the conflict itself. But he most definitely matters.

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Posted in Afghanistan, US foreign policy | Permalink

Gates in Afghanistan – A day in the life of the defence secretary

September 2, 2010 8:24 pm by Daniel Dombey

By Daniel Dombey

A ride in a C17 cargo plane from Baghdad to Kabul, consultations with Gen David Petraeus, the commander the US is pinning its hopes on in Afghanistan, and talks with Hamid Karzai the Afghan president who often exasperates his western partners – that’s what made up Robert Gates’ Thursday.

We in the press shared a good part of it. The birds’ eye view from the C17 gave a sense of the inhospitability of Afghanistan, with stunning glimpses of mountains set in desert wilderness.

At a press session at his headquarters Camp Eggers base we saw Petraeus. He sought refuge in generalities when asked specifics about, for example, his plans for the province of Kandahar.

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Posted in Afghanistan, US foreign policy | Permalink

Robert Gates visits Afghanistan

September 2, 2010 5:56 pm by Daniel Dombey

By Daniel Dombey

When the feel-good part of a trip is the visit to Iraq, you know you’re on an interesting journey.

After travelling to Baghdad yesterday to mark the formal end of the US’s military mission in that country, defence secretary Robert Gates came today to Afghanistan, where Washington hopes to engineer a similar handover.

Despite the political deadlock and continuing instability in Iraq, many US officials would give their eye teeth to have a similar set-up in Afghanistan.

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Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, US foreign policy | Permalink

Pentagon chief arrives in Iraq for Operation New Dawn

September 1, 2010 6:19 am by Daniel Dombey

By Daniel Dombey in al-Asad, Iraq

If you want to see what the US’s “responsible drawdown” in Iraq looks like, come to al-Asad Air Base. Here, in a desert of white sands, amid light canvas tents and under roaring planes, Robert Gates, US defence secretary, has begun a trip to mark the end of the US combat mission in the country.

The location is symbolic. The air base is in al-Anbar province, where some of the most violent episodes of the war took place and where the Anbar awakening that preceded the US surge took place.

When Gates arrives with a group of us journalists in tow, it is not yet seven in the morning and the transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn is just a few hours old. While we were in the air, President Barack Obama hailed the “historic moment” in only his second address from the Oval Office.

From al-Asad, at first glance, things look less dramatic.

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Tags: drawdown, Obama
Posted in Iraq, US foreign policy | Permalink

FT podcast: World Weekly with Gideon Rachman

July 16, 2010 12:25 am by Financial Times

Somalia, Iran sanctions, China-US

In this week’s podcast: We turn our attention to the violence which erupted at the weekend in Somalia; we look at what impact the US imposed sanctions on Iran are having; we discuss why American business seems to have gone sour on China.

In the studio: Richard McGregor, David Blair and William Wallis
From Dubai: Simeon Kerr

Presented by Gideon Rachman

Produced by LJ Filotrani

Posted in Africa, China, Iran, US foreign policy | Permalink

FT column: American business sours on China

July 13, 2010 12:22 am by Gideon Rachman

My latest column is on trading between America and China.

Multinational companies still have a vaguely villainous image for much of the left. But they are one of the most powerful forces in the world pushing for peace, prosperity and international co-operation.

Posted in China, US foreign policy | Permalink

The US, terrorism and the European Parliament

May 1, 2010 1:07 pm by Gideon Rachman

The United States has discovered the European Parliament - and the experience is not particularly pleasant. Last February, the parliament blocked a measure that the the US regards as critical to global anti-terrorism efforts – and the Americans ae desperately trying to get parliamentarians to think again. This week Hillary Clinton met Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament. Next week, vice-president Joe Biden will give a speech to the parliament. Terrorist finance was not the only reason for these meetings. But it has certainly given a new focus and urgency to US efforts to understand and influence the European Parliament.

The specific issue is that America wants access to data about bank transfers by European citizens, using the Swift system. The Americans say – and some Europeans agree – that such data has been crucial to thwarting previous terrorist attacks. But the EP objected on civil liberties grounds. It is particularly annoyed by the idea of “bulk transfers” of data.

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Posted in Europe, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Permalink

Israel’s fear and loathing of Obama

April 27, 2010 1:05 am by Gideon Rachman

Israel’s alarm at the deterioration in its relations with the US is palpable. In Jerusalem recently, even a liberal commentator told me: “Barack Obama is a disaster for Israel. I don’t think the general public realise just how much of a disaster he is.” Government officials are more careful – but only a bit. Danny Ayalon, the deputy Israeli foreign minister, says that it would be a “grave mistake” for America to present its own Middle East peace plan, an idea that the US president’s people are known to be considering.

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The decline of American influence, part 304 (Turkey and Burma)

March 24, 2010 6:54 pm by Gideon Rachman

An interesting story in today’s FT on the Turkish reaction to the congressional decision to label the Ottoman-era killing of the Turks as “genocide”. Professional diplomats in the US have been quietly opposed to the genocide resolution for years, since they knew how furiously the Turks would react. Phillip Gordon, who is Obama’s Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, had his confirmation held up for months in Congress because the Armenian lobby deemed him to be unsound on the genocide issue. The Obama administration has, in fact, worked very hard on promoting Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and made some headway. The hope was that this would be enough to cool Congress down. But it didn’t work. The Congressional vote has put Turkish-US relations into the deep freeze – which will make it much harder for America to enlist Turkish support on top American priorities, in particular Iran. (Turkey currently has a seat on the UN Security Council).

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