Caribbean Rum Wars: Brewing Tax
Battle Stirs Frustration With U.S.

Washington’s generous excise-tax rebates that are used to subsidize rum production in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have galvanized the city’s Caribbean envoys like never before. Read More

Former U.S. Envoy for Iran Says Policy
Shouldn’t Be Held Hostage by Politics

John W. Limbert, a former U.S. hostage in Iran, believes it’s high time for Washington to stop demonizing its former Mideast ally and start talking to Tehran. Read More

Foreign Policy Vet John Kerry
Set to Take Over State Department

As America’s top diplomat, John Kerry has given some clues as to how he’ll take on the myriad issues he’ll face as secretary of state: talk to everyone, even if they’re not your cup of tea. Read More

Newtown Tragedy Prompts
National Soul-Searching on Guns

The Newtown massacre is prompting unprecedented soul-searching among Americans about the country’s deeply ingrained gun culture, one that has few parallels with the rest of the world. Read More

Politics

Georgian Ambassador to Step Down,
Citing Unease with New Leadership

Temuri Yakobashvili, Georgia’s blunt, cigar-smoking ambassador, pulls no punches when it comes to representing his nation in Washington, but he’s stepping aside for someone he says can better represent the new leadership in Tbilisi. Read More

U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council
Touts Billions in Bilateral Trade

The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council aims to dispels myths and misunderstanding between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, which is America’s biggest export market in the Middle East. Read More

Consular Corps: Behind the Scenes,
But on Front Line of Diplomacy

Ambassadors and their diplomatic teams work hard to represent their countries, but there is another parallel track at each embassy that often works just as hard, sometimes 24/7, in a less obvious way: the consular corps. Read More