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Hannah Allam

Even if Raul Castro steps down in 2018, U.S.-Cuba relations may not thaw

Cuban President Raul Castro’s announcement over the weekend that he’ll step down in 2018 after the five-year term he just began ends starts the countdown for U.S. officials contemplating a thaw in relations with the island nation. But analysts caution that so far the regime’s reforms amount to window dressing. | 02/25/13 19:32:38 By - By Hannah Allam

Trade, not Syria, dominates John Kerry’s first speech as secretary of state

In his first major speech as secretary of state, John Kerry on Wednesday didn’t mention Syria even once or delve deeply into other urgent world crises. Instead, he focused on defending his department’s budget and encouraging international trade, especially with Asia. | 02/20/13 16:51:46 By - By Hannah Allam

Agencies warn Congress not to use humanitarian aid as tool against Syria’s Assad

Humanitarian groups are lobbying hard against a proposal by several U.S. senators that would turn over the delivery of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to a Syrian opposition council that’s criticized as too weak and too political to handle the responsibility. | 02/15/13 12:05:31 By - By Hannah Allam

Somali government assailed after woman who accused security forces of rape is sentenced to prison

Only weeks after a triumphant presidential visit to Washington, the first U.S.-recognized Somali government since 1991 became the target of international criticism Tuesday after the conviction of an alleged rape victim and a journalist who interviewed her in a case human rights groups are calling a miscarriage of justice. | 02/05/13 20:16:29 By - By Hannah Allam

U.S. Embassy bombing in Turkey renews talk of funds for diplomatic security

The U.S. embassy that was targeted Friday by a suicide bomber in the Turkish capital of Ankara dates back to the 1950s and was recommended for replacement, though it had undergone security upgrades that prevented mass casualties in the blast, the State Department said. | 02/01/13 17:53:26 By - By Hannah Allam

U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey hit by suicide bomber

An apparent suicide bomber struck the U.S. embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara today. | 02/01/13 09:20:27 By - Hannah Allam

Analysts: Hillary Clinton’s record as top U.S. diplomat falls far short of greatness

When Hillary Clinton joined the Obama administration’s famed “team of rivals,” political observers were abuzz with the possibilities of a secretary of state who was already a powerful global celebrity, a former first lady, and a hardened presidential candidate. Despite the star power and political savvy, however, analysts four years later say they can’t identify an enduring diplomatic approach that would add her to the list of the all-time greatest secretaries of state. | 01/31/13 19:28:42 By - By Hannah Allam

Kerry wins 94-3 Senate vote to become Obama’s 2nd-term secretary of state

With only three “no” votes, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed veteran lawmaker and former presidential candidate John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as the secretary of state for the Obama administration’s second term. | 01/29/13 18:57:46 By - By Hannah Allam

Kerry gets warm reception at Senate confirmation hearing

Poised to become secretary of state for an administration wrapping up a decade of war, Sen. John Kerry described in his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday a vision for greater trade and engagement with foreign partners to underline that “American foreign policy is not defined by drones and deployments alone.” | 01/24/13 17:38:30 By - By Hannah Allam

Emotional and defiant, Clinton answers Congress on Benghazi attack

Defiant in one of her final appearances in office, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Congress on Wednesday that she accepts responsibility for security lapses in the deadly Sept. 11 attack on U.S. posts in Libya, but she also stressed that the assault was part of a broader war the United States faces against extremists in North Africa. | 01/23/13 18:43:55 By - By Hannah Allam

Obama is still searching for right tone in executing ‘Asia pivot’

China may be the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s second-term foreign policy agenda, with U.S. strategists trying to avoid entanglement in Syria or Mali in order to stay focused on a vision of reasserting the American presence in Asia. But getting sucked back into Middle East and North African conflicts isn’t the only risk to the administration’s so-called “Asia pivot.” | 01/22/13 12:28:53 By - By Hannah Allam

France opens new front in terror war, sending troops to Mali to battle al Qaida-linked extremists

Hundreds of French troops poured into central Mali on Friday in a bid to halt the advance of Islamist militants who last spring captured the country’s north and appeared this week poised to seize the remainder of the West African nation. | 01/11/13 19:56:02 By - By Alan Boswell and Hannah Allam

Analysts: New policies not likely from Obama’s 2nd-term national security team

The three men President Barack Obama has nominated to foreign and national security policy posts in his second term share a demonstrated independent streak – each has challenged his own institution or party in wartime – but analysts say that doesn’t necessarily portend any big changes to U.S. diplomacy or defense strategy. | 01/07/13 22:20:24 By - By Hannah Allam and Jonathan S. Landay

Obama nominates Sen. John Kerry as secretary of state

President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Sen. John Kerry for secretary of state in his second term, calling the Vietnam veteran and onetime presidential contender the “perfect choice to guide American diplomacy.” | 12/21/12 18:31:01 By -

Caught between al Qaida and Iran, U.S. struggles over Syria conflict

The bloodshed in Syria has continued for so long that extremist forces have taken charge, with U.S. officials saying they now face two familiar enemies in the struggle to find a resolution: al Qaida in Iraq cells and Iranian-backed sectarian militias. | 12/20/12 18:36:37 By - By Hannah Allam

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