#Foreign Policy

40 entries

Branches (3)

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Relations Committees

The House and Senate committees that oversee diplomacy, foreign aid, and, in the Senate, treaties and ambassadors

Office of the United States Trade Representative

The White House office that negotiates trade agreements and enforces American trade rights abroad

The National Security Council

The President's forum for foreign policy and defense decisions, and the staff that coordinates them

Departments (12)

Bureau of Consular Affairs

The State Department bureau that issues passports and visas and helps Americans in trouble abroad

Bureau of Diplomatic Security

The State Department's law enforcement and security arm, protecting diplomats, embassies, and visiting foreign dignitaries

Bureau of Industry and Security

The Commerce Department agency that controls exports of sensitive technology and runs national security tariff investigations

Foreign Assistance After USAID Reorganizing

How U.S. foreign aid is organized after the 2025 dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development

Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation

The Transportation Department corporation that operates the U.S. locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic

International Trade Administration

The Commerce Department agency that promotes U.S. exports and investigates unfairly priced and subsidized imports

Office of Foreign Assets Control

The Treasury office that administers and enforces U.S. economic sanctions

Office of Insular Affairs

The Interior Department office that coordinates federal policy for four U.S. territories and the freely associated states of the Pacific

Policy Planning Staff

The Secretary of State's in-house strategy office, created in 1947 to think beyond the daily crisis

The Department of State Reorganizing

The oldest cabinet department: American diplomacy, the embassies, passports, and visas

The Foreign Service

The career corps of diplomats who staff American embassies and consulates around the world

U.S. Embassies and Consulates

The network of diplomatic posts that represents the United States in nearly every country in the world

Agencies (12)

American Battle Monuments Commission

The independent agency that maintains America's military cemeteries and war memorials overseas, honoring service members who died abroad

Export-Import Bank of the United States

The federal export credit agency that finances and insures foreign purchases of American goods and services

Millennium Challenge Corporation Reorganizing

The independent U.S. foreign aid agency that gives large grants to poor countries that meet standards for good governance and economic policy

Peace Corps

The independent agency that sends American volunteers to live and work in communities abroad

U.S. Agency for Global Media Reorganizing

The independent agency that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded international broadcasters

U.S. Agency for International Development Merged

The federal agency that ran most U.S. foreign aid for more than six decades until the administration moved its remaining functions into the State Department in 2025

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

The national memorial and museum to the Holocaust on the National Mall, a public-private institution governed by a presidentially appointed council

U.S. Information Agency Merged

The Cold War public diplomacy agency that ran Voice of America, American libraries abroad, and exchanges such as the Fulbright Program from 1953 to 1999

U.S. Institute of Peace Reorganizing

The independent, congressionally funded institute for conflict prevention and resolution, whose 2025 takeover by the administration became a major legal fight

U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

The federal development bank that lends to and invests in private projects in developing countries

U.S. International Trade Commission

The independent, nonpartisan commission that decides whether imports injure U.S. industries, blocks infringing imports, and maintains the tariff schedule

U.S. Trade and Development Agency

The small independent agency that funds early planning for infrastructure projects abroad that could use American goods and services

Offices & Roles (5)

Chief of Protocol of the United States

The State Department official, with the rank of ambassador, who manages state visits, accredits foreign diplomats, runs Blair House, and handles official gifts

National Security Advisor

The President's top White House aide on foreign policy and national security, who runs the National Security Council staff and coordinates the agencies

Secretary of State

The senior cabinet officer, the President's chief diplomat, and fourth in line to the presidency

U.S. Ambassadors

The President's personal representatives abroad, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, who lead U.S. embassies and missions to international organizations

United States Trade Representative

The cabinet-level official, with the rank of ambassador, who leads U.S. trade negotiations and enforces trade agreements on the President's behalf

Processes (7)

Economic Sanctions

The financial and trade restrictions the United States imposes on foreign governments, companies, and individuals, administered mainly by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control

National Security Decision-Making

How the President makes foreign policy and defense decisions through the National Security Council system of principals, deputies, and interagency committees

Presidential Directives and National Security Memoranda

The often-classified directives presidents issue through the National Security Council to set foreign, defense, and intelligence policy, renamed by nearly every administration

Tariffs and Trade Authority

How the constitutional power to set tariffs, which belongs to Congress, came to be largely delegated to the President, and the 2025 fight over emergency tariffs

The 2026 Venezuela Operation

The January 2026 U.S. military raid that struck targets in Caracas and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and the war powers fight that followed

Treaties and Executive Agreements

The three ways the United States makes international commitments, and why formal treaties have become the exception

Withdrawals from International Organizations (2025 to 2026)

How the United States left the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement, and dozens of other international bodies in 2025 and 2026, and the legal debate over presidential withdrawal

Principles (1)

Inherent Powers

Powers the national government holds because it is a sovereign nation, especially in foreign affairs and immigration, even where the Constitution does not list them

All Tags

Executive Branch 148 Legislative Branch 110 Separation of Powers 110 Economy 108 Cabinet Department 105 Constitution 94 Budget 80 Supreme Court 77 Elections 76 Federalism 75 States 70 Judicial Branch 65 National Security 62 Law Enforcement 59 Administrative State 58 Oversight 49 Military 45 Foreign Policy 40 Health 39 Environment 36 Independent Agency 35 Statute 31 Civil Service 30 Data & Statistics 29 Regulatory Commission 28 Former Agency 24 Emergency Management 24 Transportation 24 Intelligence 22 Education 22 Immigration 22 Taxation 21 Government Corporation 15 Territories 12 Veterans 9 Tribal 8