Resource Type: Statement

Biden Moves to Unwind Key Elements of Cruel and Ineffective US-Cuba Policy; Cuba Announces Release of Prisoners

In response to the announcement by the Biden administration will lift the state sponsor of terror designation from Cuba and take other steps to provide relief to the Cuban people from key U.S. restrictions, Center for International Policy senior non-resident fellow María José Espinosa issued the following statement:

“Steps like removing the state sponsor of terror designation on Cuba are welcome if long overdue moves to avoid deepening the humanitarian crisis on the island. Decades of bad Cuba policy are the poster child for what is wrong with the overuse of sanctions: the regime endures, ordinary people suffer and the United States’ reputation is tarnished around the world. The designation was little more than a cruel act of political theater. The work of the Vatican to facilitate the release of a substantial number of prisoners is also an extremely positive development, and an example of how coordinating with partners to engage with Cuba can achieve important results.”

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US Genocide Determination in Sudan, RSF Sanctions Necessary But More Must Be Done

The Biden Administration on Tuesday concluded that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan and that the U.S. would therefore sanction RSF’s leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa (“Hemedti), as well as seven RSF-owned companies in the United Arab Emirates and one individual for helping procure weapons for the RSF. In response, Center for International Policy (CIP) Senior Non-Resident Fellow Kehinde Togun issued the following response:

“The Biden Administration’s determination that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have committed genocide in Sudan is a necessary and important development. While designating the actions of the RSF and its allied militias as genocidal for the first time, the State Department’s announcement also rightly reiterated that the opposing Sudanese Armed Forces have committed war crimes. 

“While this action by the administration is commendable, it’s unfortunate it came in the waning days of the Biden administration. It will be imperative for the incoming Trump administration to use the full weight of the U.S. government to enforce the accompanying sanctions, including those against RSF-linked companies in the United Arab Emirates. 

“Additionally, the United States must take other meaningful steps to staunch the flow of weapons into the hands of the belligerents, including by putting greater pressure on the UAE to cease its support for the RSF. 

“Much more is needed to bring about an end to the genocide. Without continued action by the United States to end atrocities by the warring parties in Sudan, the future of Sudanese people will be hampered for generations to come.”

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In Authorizing $895 Billion for Pentagon Spending, Congress Amplifies Insecurity

The Senate just passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 85-14, sending the military policy bill to President Biden’s desk for final approval. The House approved the bill by a 281-140 margin last week.

“At $895 billion, the NDAA authorizes 21% more for the Pentagon than the $740 billion authorized by Trump’s final NDAA,” said Center for International Policy Senior Non-Resident Fellow Stephen Semler.

Here are some other notable increases in the US since 2021:

  • Financial hardship, +24%
  • Food insecurity, +38%
  • Child food insecurity, +46%
  • Poverty, +65%
  • Child Poverty, +163%

Added Semler, “Human security is deteriorating in a country that spends more on its military than the next ten countries combined. This is not the mark of a nation in sync with its interests or its people rather, it signifies a failure in governance.

“The recent surge in Pentagon spending over the last two administrations has not produced the national security dividends political leaders have promised. Instead, it has added fuel to a dangerous and ill-fated foreign policy. Inflating the Pentagon budget only amplifies insecurity, rewards bad actors and increases the risk of more war.”

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Statement on the Overthrow of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad

In response to the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Center for International Policy President and CEO Nancy Okail issued the following statement:

“Today belongs to the people of Syria. The astonishing speed at which the Assad regime has crumbled exposes once again the inherent fragility of seemingly ironclad dictatorships, and of all governments whose rule is based on repression and corruption. 

“The regime’s fast disintegration shows how autocracy, resistance to political transitions, and gross atrocities and the lack of accountability for committing them ultimately doomed Assad’s brutal rule. Ritualistic elections cannot replace legitimacy, which remains crucial for stability.

“True sovereignty cannot be attained under the influence of foreign powers that exploit nations as arenas for their own geopolitical competition. While Syria’s future is for its people to determine, the United States and its partners should take immediate steps to facilitate delivery of humanitarian and reconstruction aid, and help ensure that future is free and democratic, and the rights of all of its communities are protected.”

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New Foreign Affairs Essay Offers Bold Blueprint for U.S. Foreign Policy Reform

In a provocative new essay published by Foreign Affairs, Nancy Okail, President and CEO of the Center for International Policy, and Matt Duss, the organization’s Executive Vice President, present a sweeping critique of the entrenched U.S. foreign policy orthodoxy and lay out a bold blueprint for reform. The essay, “America Is Cursed by a Foreign Policy of Nostalgia,” challenges decades of militarism and neoliberal economic policies that have prioritized corporate and elite interests over the well-being of most Americans and people worldwide.

With the 2024 election confirming the collapse of Washington’s traditional foreign policy consensus, Okail and Duss argue that neither “America First” unilateralism nor liberal internationalism can address the urgent needs of a world grappling with climate change, economic inequality, and political instability. Instead, they call for a transformative foreign policy rooted in shared global challenges, equitable economic reform, and principled international cooperation.

“The United States must choose between advancing a genuinely equitable global order or clinging to an undemocratic and unsustainable quest for global primacy,” said Okail. “Our current trajectory not only fails to meet the needs of working Americans but also alienates nations and peoples worldwide that are calling for a more just and inclusive international system.”

Key recommendations in the essay include:

  • Ending Failed Militarism: Shifting from prioritizing global military hegemony at any cost to a foreign policy that prioritizes human security, accountability, conflict prevention, and consistent application of international laws and norms.
  • Breaking from Neoliberal Economics: Ensuring prosperity is more widely shared among US communities, while reducing global inequality and economic precarity through equitable trade, labor, and investment rules, including by reforming global institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to support low- and middle-income countries, enabling sustainable development and debt relief.
  • Redefining Relations with China: Moving beyond Great Power Competition and zero-sum strategic thinking to focus on collaborative solutions for climate change, public health, technological innovation, and a more inclusive global economic and political system.

“Decades of militarized foreign policy and economic systems designed to benefit corporations and the wealthy have left working-class Americans—and communities around the world—paying the price,” added Duss. “The 2024 election put a decisive stamp on what has long been clear: the Washington foreign policy consensus is not only intellectually bankrupt but also increasingly alienating to the American people. It’s time for a new approach that breaks from the false choice between ‘America First’ unilateralism and ‘America is Back’ nostalgia, focusing instead on the needs of everyday people and a future built on common good, human rights, and shared prosperity.”

This essay is a call to action for policymakers, thought leaders, and citizens who recognize that the challenges of the 21st century require a fundamentally new approach to U.S. leadership.

The full essay is available in Foreign Affairs and can be read here.

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The Center for International Policy (CIP) is a woman-led, progressive, independent nonprofit center for research, education, and advocacy working to advance a more peaceful, just, and sustainable U.S. approach to foreign policy.

CIP Statement on Lebanon Ceasefire Agreement

In response to the announcement of a permanent ceasefire agreement to be fully implemented over the course of 60 days in Lebanon, Center for International Policy president and CEO Nancy Okail issued the following statement:

“We welcome news of a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon and hope that it can be implemented and sustained to prevent further harm to civilians who have been under threat of attack or suffered other great loss during the fighting. 

“This agreement nonetheless comes too late. While Israel has the right to legitimate self-defense against Hezbollah, the Netanyahu government’s deliberate escalation of the conflict in September resulted in disproportionate harm to civilians, hundreds of whom have been wounded or killed, with hundreds of thousands more displaced. Mixed messages and prevaricating by the Biden administration on its position on Israel’s escalation and the need for a ceasefire has further prolonged the fighting and exacerbated the death and destruction it has brought.

“The U.S. and its partners must ensure that the terms of this agreement are fully honored so that civilians on both sides of the border can safely return to and rebuild their communities. What remains of the utmost urgency, however, is also ending the war in Gaza, where the U.S. arming of the Netanyahu government’s campaign of displacement, starvation, slaughter and – per the repeated vows of senior Israeli officials – settlement continues in violation of American and international law.”

CIP Welcomes ICC’s Arrest Warrants; Urges Countries to Assist

In response to the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and senior Hamas official Mohammed Deif, the Center for International Policy’s executive vice president Matt Duss issued the following statement:

“We welcome the ICC’s issuance of these arrest warrants as a substantial step toward justice and accountability for the war crimes perpetrated against civilians in Israel and Palestine.

“As we said when the ICC prosecutor applied for these warrants in May, international law protecting civilians in conflict must be applied consistently and impartially. Enforcement of these rules is even more necessary today as we face the certainty that the growing assault on international norms and the rule of law will intensify upon Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency.

“We call upon all countries, including the United States, to appropriately assist the ICC in this matter – and in no case to hinder or obstruct it, including by helping those subject to arrest evade justice. We reiterate that while countries are free to argue any disagreements they may have with this move on the merits through appropriate channels, attempts to defame, delegitimize or penalize the ICC or its staff would be utterly inappropriate and must be condemned.

“We also reiterate our warning and call on the United States government to ensure it adheres to its own obligations under international law by halting the supply of offensive arms to Netanyahu’s government which have enabled the grave violations of human rights and the law of war alleged by the ICC.”

CIP Commends Courage of Senators Who Voted to Block Certain Arms Sales to Israel

Center for International Policy executive vice president Matt Duss issued the following statement after a series of Senate votes on joint resolutions of disapproval to block certain specified arms transfers to Israel:

“CIP commends the 19 Senators who voted for one or more measures to disapprove of new transfers of specific offensive weapons to Israel. These Senators had the courage to stand up for U.S. law, the rights of civilians in conflict, and basic decency.

“Coming on the same day that international relief agencies reported that virtually no humanitarian aid has entered northern Gaza in 40 days, the resolutions introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) would have had the effect of beginning to enforce the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, which prohibits U.S. security assistance to recipient countries that restrict such aid. Today’s votes in favor of the resolutions are a stark rejection of the Biden administration’s repeated refusal to uphold this and other U.S. arms laws consistently and impartially when it comes to Israel. From Palestinian rights groups to labor unions to center-left pro-Israel organizations, the resolutions were widely endorsed by civil society and align with popular opinion that shows Americans want to stop the unconditional supply of arms to Israel. 

“Israel’s right to respond to the Hamas-led atrocities of October 7, 2023 and seek the return of its hostages is well established in international law – as is its obligation to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm. In more than thirteen months of war, Israel’s government has openly ignored that obligation, obstructed diplomacy toward a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, and repeatedly violated US law and red lines. 

Yet, as civilian deaths, displacement and disease among Palestinians in Gaza mount alongside open calls for ethnic cleansing by Israeli officials, the Biden Administration is not merely failing to act – it is actively enabling the Netanyahu government’s war crimes. Rather than taking steps to bolster democracy, rights and rule of law at home and abroad in advance of the Donald Trump’s second term, President Biden and his top officials are spending their precious last days in office lobbying against measures to protect U.S. interests and vetoing otherwise unanimously-supported resolutions in the United Nations Security Council that reflect its own stated policies.

“The lawmakers who stood on the right side of history today will be remembered for their leadership and humanity. The same cannot be said about President Biden and those who help him abet starvation and slaughter in Gaza.”

Biden Cements His Legacy as the Great Enabler of Slaughter and Starvation in Gaza

In response to the Biden Administration’s decision today to continue supplying weapons to Israel despite overwhelming evidence that it had not met the requirements of the October 13 letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Center for International Policy (CIP) Vice President for Government Affairs Dylan Williams issued the following statement:

“The Biden Administration’s latest decision to continue arming Israel in defiance of its own red lines and U.S. law will help cement Joe Biden’s legacy as the great enabler of Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign of starvation and slaughter in Gaza. It also sets a dangerous precedent for failing to uphold U.S. and international law ahead of a Trump administration that is openly dismissive of both.

When Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent their October 13 letter giving Israel 30 days to meet specific criteria for addressing the humanitarian catastrophe it created in Gaza, the Biden administration had already long been legally obligated to suspend weapons shipments and other military assistance to Israel.

Over the course of those 30 days, Israel responded by not only declining to reverse course, but intensifying deprivation, displacement and death among civilians, particularly in northern Gaza. A joint report released by a coalition of major global humanitarian relief organizations revealed that since October 13, Israel has not met a single one of the specific criteria set forth in the Blinken-Austin letter, and that the humanitarian crisis in the territory has worsened to its most dire level in the entire 13 month-long war. 

While the Biden administration ordered Israel to allow at least 350 aid trucks into Gaza each day in its October 13 letter, latest available data indicate that Israel has allowed in just 54 aid trucks per day, on average. The most it allowed into Gaza on a single day during this period was 129, while the lowest number was zero. The Israeli government further passed a law functionally banning the operations of UNRWA – the UN agency providing critical direct aid to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East – in the Palestinian territories despite an explicit warning in the Blinken-Austin letter that doing so could have implications under U.S. law.

In the face of these facts, it is a morally unjustifiable and legally indefensible abdication of duty for the Biden administration to once again decline to take enforcement action under relevant policies and laws. Some in Congress will rightly seek to advance legislation to withhold new arms shipments to Israel in an attempt to uphold U.S. law and basic decency in the face of the Biden administration’s unwillingness to do so. However, such measures are unlikely to pass, allowing unconditional American arming and taxpayer subsidization of the war to continue as the United States heads toward a second Trump term.

The next U.S. administration is likely to be marked by the erosion of the rule of law and associated norms at home and internationally. There should be no doubt, however, that Joe Biden and his top advisors helped advance the decline of a rules-based order by repeatedly making an exception for Israel from it, with horrific consequences.”

The Center for International Policy (CIP) is a woman-led, progressive, independent nonprofit center for research, education, and advocacy working to advance a more peaceful, just, and sustainable U.S. approach to foreign policy.

Statement on UN Vote Condemning US Embargo on Cuba

Today the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the United States embargo on Cuba, with the U.S. and Israel as the lone opposing votes and Moldova abstaining. The 187-2-1 vote for the non-binding resolution is the thirty-second consecutive year in which the non-binding resolution was adopted by large margins. 

“Every year, the UN vote highlights that the U.S. is completely alone in its mission to punish the Cuban people as a means to an end,” said Center for International Policy senior non-resident fellow María José Espinosa.

Wednesday’s vote occurred at a moment where Cubans are facing one of the worst crises in decades, with brutal blackouts affecting more than 10 million Cubans amid an ongoing energy crisis, economic crisis and historic exodus.

This crisis presents urgency and opportunity to revive a policy of engagement. Espinosa continues:

“As a policy, the U.S. embargo on Cuba is an epic failure. Cubans are no more empowered, no closer to achieving democracy than they were in February of 1962. Instead, the embargo has ensured Cubans face a daily struggle to meet their basic needs, without pushing the Cuban government toward political reform.

“The U.S. should abandon the failed regime-change-through-sanctions strategy and resume a normalization process focused on promoting economic freedoms, fostering open exchange, technological growth, and global market connections to create space for economic and democratic actors. This approach is not a concession to the Cuban government but a pragmatic strategy that aligns with the best interests of both the United States and the Cuban people.”

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