Letter From The Publisher

Nancy Okail, President and CEO, and Matt Duss, Executive Vice President, Center for International Policy

We are delighted to welcome you to the inaugural issue of the International Policy Journal (IPJ), a platform dedicated to discussing foreign policy priorities within a progressive agenda. We look forward to your engagement and collaboration as readers, contributors, and critics to help us better understand today’s challenges, articulate effective solutions, and honestly assess potential risks and trade-offs of proposed policy alternatives.

As we near the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, it’s clear that the United States’ foreign policy needs new ideas to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. We believe that the US can and should play a robust and constructive global role without succumbing to detrimental hegemony or exceptionalism, including its associated white supremacy, ultra-nationalism, hyper-militarization, and inequality. Achieving this necessitates a paradigm shift in US foreign policy to address evolving global threats and power dynamics.

Today’s challenges demand perspectives beyond the outdated left-right divide or an imposed separation between domestic and foreign affairs. The impact of international crises, from climate change to the pandemic, and even remote conflicts like those in Ukraine and the Israel-Palestine, underline this need. Our aim is for the IPJ to be an inclusive space for nuanced foreign policy analysis, promoting a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world.

The IPJ seeks to be the epicenter for progressive debate and analysis, shaping the discourse and working to build consensus around the urgent challenges of these polarized times. Our approach involves bridging domestic and foreign concerns, promoting a comprehensive perspective that includes those affected by our policies, advocating for accountability, and reinvigorating diplomacy.

We seek to reframe the perspective of the US foreign policy debate, offering practical and meaningful solutions that reflect the diverse realities of global communities, that supports the safety and prosperity of Americans while centering US foreign policy’s impact on those communities. We believe in a conception of national security that is synonymous with global security, rooted in human rights and equality. This solidarity-based approach challenges the narrative of great power competition, advocating for a more inclusive and equitable global policy framework. We are all in this world together.

Aligned with CIP’s mission, the IPJ aspires to be more than a forum for the exchange of ideas. By consolidating expertise, supporting emerging experts, and cultivating a dynamic community, we aim to build a new and durable consensus.