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“Politics stops at the water’s edge” – Senator Arthur Vandenberg
Access to news and insightful commentary on U.S. foreign policy and international relations has diminished in recent years, with news outlets reducing their presence overseas and cutting back the staff available to cover these topics. What is presented is usually from the perspective of how it might be used in domestic politics to favor one party or another. Although these issues affect all Americans in significant ways, the way and context in which policy is formed and implemented is hidden behind layers of bureaucracy and professional “expertise” that makes it difficult to access and impossible to understand.
At the Water’s Edge was founded to provide a practitioners perspective on global issues affecting America, separate from any party affiliation and unconstrained by the priorities and requirements of the traditional news cycle. It has two goals. One is to provide those directly involved in the day to day implementation of foreign policy a place to share their ideas and perspectives. The other is to help inform an interested public by placing key events in the context in which they occur and assessing the feasibility of policy proposals, with a healthy appreciation of the capabilities and limitations of the people and institutions that inform their creation and carry them out.
These will be important conversations going forward. I appreciate an opportunity to learn about all areas of foreign policy from an informed and independent perspective. Thank you.