Center for International Policy

“The U.S. is still locked and loaded, but hasn’t really helped the protestors in any way. I don’t even know if the U.S. has that kind of tool to help with only military power. It’s just ordinary people on the ground who paid the price with their lives.”

CIP Fellow Negar Mortazavi broke down her analysis of the Iran protests on @france24.com:

The Pentagon's AI Surge is a Reckless, Unviable Defense Strategy The US Pentagon has gone all in on artificial intelligence as AI takes a more central role in Washington's defense planning.

since World War II, an approach that equates technological advancement with security.”

inkstickmedia.com/the-pentagon...

The Pentagon's AI Surge is a Reckless, Unviable Defense Strategy The US Pentagon has gone all in on artificial intelligence as AI takes a more central role in Washington's defense planning.

The Pentagon is going all in on AI. Fellow Janet Abou-Elias in @inkstickmedia.com on the dangers of this strategy:

“By positioning AI as the foundation for US military dominance going forward, the new approach reflects a timeworn myth that has dominated US planning

Read the Full Statement🚨⬇️
internationalpolicy.org/publications...

🚨Statement: In response to House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers calling for a $450B Pentagon increase in Pentagon funding as part of an upcoming budget reconciliation bill, CIP’s Ari Tolany issued:

"Adding Half a Trillion Dollars to the Pentagon Budget is Unconscionable"

Sports Diplomacy Under Pressure in a Fractured Democratic Landscape Mega-Events, Migration, and the Credibility of Democratic Leadership

This story, like all new International Policy Journal articles, was published simultaneously as a newsletter, and you can subscribe if you'd like to make sure to get the latest in progressive foreign policy ideas. cippolicy.substack.com/p/sports-dip...

Sports Diplomacy Under Pressure in a Fractured Democratic Landscape - CIP Hosting mega-events while hostility to the free movement of people undermines the credibility of a democracy.

Ultimately, argues Romeva i Rueda, "As the world turns its attention to the 2026 World Cup and beyond, mega-events will not simply ask whether democracies can host the world. They will ask whether democracies are prepared to govern themselves coherently under global scrutiny."

While this Olympics will spotlight Italy, there's already been grumblings about the ICE agents sent from the United States to the games; the agents abroad have a different role than those conducting deportations in the US, but their presence been enough to illicit protest already.

The U.S. federal government should establish a dedicated World Cup mobility framework guaranteeing transparent, expedited, and rights-based visa and entry procedures for fans, athletes, journalists, and civil society actors. FIFA should condition hosting agreements on binding human-rights and mobility guarantees, including independent monitoring of border and enforcement practices during the tournament. Host cities and states should adopt clear protocols limiting the role of immigration enforcement agencies in and around sporting venues to prevent intimidation and arbitrary detention. The European Union and partner governments should articulate minimum democratic standards for mega-event hosting, using Milano–Cortina 2026 as a benchmark for rights-based governance. The International Olympic Committee should treat LA 2028 as a pilot case for democratic hosting, integrating freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and independent oversight as core Olympic requirements.

Host countries should not take for granted that winning the bid means people from other countries will be willing to travel and compete, especially if they cannot guarantee freedom from arbitrary detention. Organizations governing international sport can and ensure such protections exist.

Sports Diplomacy Under Pressure in a Fractured Democratic Landscape - CIP Hosting mega-events while hostility to the free movement of people undermines the credibility of a democracy.

"Fans, athletes, journalists, officials, and civil society actors must be able to travel freely and safely for the event to function as a genuinely global gathering. Mobility, in this sense, is not a logistical detail. It is a democratic condition," argues Raül Romeva i Rueda for the IPJ.

Sports Diplomacy Under Pressure in a Fractured Democratic Landscape - CIP Hosting mega-events while hostility to the free movement of people undermines the credibility of a democracy.

As athletes gather in Italy for the Winter Olympic Games, it's a soft spectacle of how coherent governance is essential for international competition. It's a sharp contrast with the political climate of the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, where coherence is anything but expected

Russia and Ukraine Resume Talks After a Huge Attack by Moscow

Read the full piece ⬇️
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/w...

"The key vote here remains Vladimir Putin."

CIP EVP @mattduss.bsky.social told @nytimes.com that despite renewed negotiations, Putin's goal remains the same: undermining Ukraine's independence and bringing it under Russian control.

@negarmortazavi.bsky.social: "I don’t think the American people have the appetite for another big, endless war in the Middle East”

CIP Fellow @negarmortazavi.bsky.social joined @cnn.com's The Brief with Jim Scuitto to discuss the importance of finding a diplomatic offramp between the United States and Iran in order to prevent another catastrophic war in the region:

🚨 NEW STATEMENT: In response to increasing online harassment and threats against Iranian-American experts and activists, CIP issued the following:
internationalpolicy.org/publications...

US Contractor's Proposal Exposes Trump Gaza Plan as 'Vehicle for Mass Exploitation' | Common Dreams “Having spent three years looking at contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, this looks like highway robbery,” one expert said of the proposal—which has reportedly been halted—that would return 300% profit...

“Trump’s family and associates are poised to make billions at the expense of US taxpayers and Palestinian rights and lives,”
@dylanwilliams.bsky.social on Trump’s Gaza plan being a “vehicle for massive exploitation and corruption.” ➡️ @commondreams.org
www.commondreams.org/news/compani...

Thanks for the layup, Tim. Read @cipolicy.bsky.social

internationalpolicy.org/publications...

TOMORROW‼️Join @nancyokail.bsky.social, @maitelsadany.bsky.social, @tekaldas.bsky.social and @selhussieny.bsky.social for an online discussion addressing the top political, economic, and foreign policy issues on Egypt's agenda in 2026.
timep.org/2026/01/21/e...

We need accountability from Venezuela to Minnesota - CIP The impunity of security forces brought us crises at home and abroad. Only accountability can lead us out.

What appears unprecedented isn't as unprecedented as we think it is. In my latest for the International Policy Journal at @cipolicy.bsky.social, I write about how the abuses we're seeing under the second Trump admin are an unfortunate consequence of decades of unaccountability for similar 🧵

Venezuela, force, and the erosion of legal constraint Trump's legal justifications for his attack on Venezuela threatens the entire international rules-based order.

Here's something I published @cipolicy.bsky.social basically explicitly for that audience, about how the international community can respond to illegal US actions (in this case, the killing of Venezuelans and abduction, but it holds for internal killings too) internationalpolicy.org/publications...

We need accountability from Venezuela to Minnesota Impunity brought us here. Only accountability can lead us out.

This story was published concurrently as a newsletter, and if you want the latest from the International Policy Journal in your inbox as soon as it is live, sign up here. cippolicy.substack.com/p/we-need-ac...

We need accountability from Venezuela to Minnesota - CIP The impunity of security forces brought us crises at home and abroad. Only accountability can lead us out.

Unchecked security forces, filled with agents assured that the Trump administration will protect them, are running roughshod over democracy and the law. The way out of the crisis is to ensure that they do not enjoy impunity forever, starting from promises of accountability now.

We need accountability from Venezuela to Minnesota - CIP The impunity of security forces brought us crises at home and abroad. Only accountability can lead us out.

"Emboldened by the lack of comprehensive, meaningful accountability for similar conduct over the past decades, the Trump administration has chosen to escalate and expand preexisting abusive practices in pursuit of its authoritarian aims" argues @rosie-berman.bsky.social

Congress must pass legislation to repeal qualified immunity. States must pass the Universal Constitutional Remedies Act. Congress must allocate funding for monetary amends for victims of security force wrongdoing. Congress must establish accessible and secure pathways to report wrongdoing by security forces in service of future investigations. Congress must utilize open-source and reported evidence to prepare investigations into civilian and military officials that authorized unlawful operations, and individual states should pursue similar investigations regardless of congressional action.

The way out of the crisis of impunity is accountability. In domestic policing, that means an end to qualified immunity, including and especially for federal agents. People must be secure in reporting wrongdoing to congress, and even in opposition Congress should prepare investigations of harm.

We need accountability from Venezuela to Minnesota - CIP The impunity of security forces brought us crises at home and abroad. Only accountability can lead us out.

The crisis people are experiencing in the United States is the same as the crisis people are experiencing at the end of the Pentagon's bayonets abroad: promised and proven impunity for those doing the harm, a threat to endure what one must for those targeted. internationalpolicy.org/publications...

We need accountability from Venezuela to Minnesota Impunity brought us here. Only accountability can lead us out.

When Hegseth's self-styled Department of War released video of a murderous airstrike on a boatload of people in the Caribbean it had the same affect as the ICE agent who shot Renee Good giving his phone video to the press: confidence the act was self-justifying cippolicy.substack.com/p/we-need-ac...

🔔 Join us on January 27, at 10 AM ET for an online event exploring the top foreign affairs, economic, and political issues facing Egypt, with @selhussieny.bsky.social, @nancyokail.bsky.social, @tekaldas.bsky.social, moderated by @maitelsadany.bsky.social.

Register now: timep.org/2026/01/21/e...

The new Trump Doctrine: Strategic domination and denial The US appears intent on using discrete military action while restricting rivals’ access to key regions, resources, technologies, and governance mechanisms

Trump-era foreign policy deemphasizes ideology in favor of strategic disruption and denial to constrain rivals’ military and technological advantages, Senior Fellow Joanna Rozpedowski writes in Responsible Statecraft ⬇️
responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-doctri...