About Foreign policy updates
The future of the world, including the security, prosperity and well-being of billions of people who live outside America’s borders, depends on American leadership. The challenges are immense: humanitarian crises aggravated by climate change; adversaries that seek to expand their influence and exert power; autocrats that threaten democracy from within and without; new technologies that exacerbate the magnitude of existing threats and create entirely novel ones.
For decades, the Great Decisions program has helped Americans prepare for these challenges by providing a framework for thoughtful discussion of world affairs through the study and debate of carefully selected international issues. The program’s readings, videos and discussion groups are available in the classroom and beyond.
Diplomacy is the official government activity of building and maintaining political, economic and cultural relations with other nations, especially in a way that avoids war. It can include negotiating treaties, making official declarations and presenting the government’s views on an issue. Diplomacy is not warfare and great military minds, such as Generals George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower, have often crossed over to diplomatic careers.
Politicians in countries around the world must balance national priorities. They must prioritize protecting their citizens from terrorism, managing domestic conflicts and improving economic performance. They must also take into account the impact of their actions on the rest of the world, particularly their allies and the global economy. In the United States, these foreign policy activities are managed by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which oversees six standing subcommittees that have jurisdiction over a variety of issues related to foreign assistance, the promotion of democracy and human rights practices in other nations.