diplomacy

How My Grandfather Helped Nixon Visit China

Sultana Khan · 07/15/15 01:15PM

On this day in 1971, President Richard Nixon, to the complete surprise of the American public, announced that he would be visiting communist China in 1972. It was an abrupt, about-face departure from a stance the vehemently anti-communist Nixon had campaigned upon. But the lost lives and political costs of the Vietnam war—as well as the insistent advice of Nixon’s Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger—led Nixon away from his intransigence and into a momentous meeting that would shape the course of American diplomacy and international affairs for decades.

U.S., Russia Reach a Tentative Deal to Calm Tensions Over Ukraine

Adam Weinstein · 04/17/14 12:19PM

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met and agreed on a plan this afternoon that aims at de-escalating the rising war of words over Ukraine, backing off of military options, and letting the nation determine its own destiny.

Gabrielle Bluestone · 01/19/14 06:45PM

It took four trips to North Korea and a drunken CNN interview defending his "best friend" Kim Jong Un, but Dennis Rodman appears to have hit his rock bottom. The 52-year-old former NBA star checked into rehab this week. A State Department official told CNN that Rodman's latest visit was "marginally unhelpful."

Obama Takes Relationship With Iran to Next Level With Phone Date

Taylor Berman · 09/27/13 03:16PM

For the first time since 1979, the leaders of the United States and Iran talked on the phone, President Obama told reporters today. Obama and newly elected Iranian president Hassan Rouhani talked briefly on Friday afternoon.

Putin and Obama Awkwardly Shake Hands in Russia

J.K. Trotter · 09/05/13 09:37AM

Russian President Vladimir Putin shook hands (and smiled) with President Obama on Thursday morning at the 2013 G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, where leaders of major countries were ostensibly meeting to discuss the stability of the global economy. The tense handshake — a controversial trope during Obama’s previous visits to Russia — underscored Putin’s interference with American foreign policy. Up until yesterday, Russia supplied arms to the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, and Putin has helped stanch a United Nations resolution to sanction military intervention in Syria, while demanding that such a resolution pass before Russia would support a U.S.-led strike.

Dennis Rodman Is Already Bored With North Korea

Camille Dodero · 05/22/13 03:51PM

On Monday night, Dennis Rodman celebrated his 52nd birthday at Cheetahs, a gentleman’s club in Times Square. One press release advertised the event, part of an extended birthday tour, as “a no-holds barred birthday with topless dancers, thongs, and naked sushi.” Another cheekily teased that the NBA Hall of Famer might bring along a certain famously despotic guest, one Kim Jong-un, so that "maybe the Cheetah Strippers and Rodman can secure what our government has failed to do."

Obama Kicks off Historic Mideast Trip with First State Visit to Israel

Maggie Lange · 03/20/13 08:13AM

President Obama arrived in Israel today on his first state trip to the country and the first leg of his tour of the Middle East. He is expected to discuss the crisis in Syria and Iran's disputed nuclear program with the leaders of Israel. He also plans to go to the West Bank on Thursday to meet with Palestinian officials, but there are not many expectations for progress towards peace.