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Why did the United States fail to join the League of Nations?

Asked by Adepoju Adeola Praise, from Eastern Mediterranean University

The League of Nations was championed by President Woodrow Wilson in a fourteen-point speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, and formally began its operations in January 1920. However, the League failed to win Senate approval and is forever remembered as a major example of a communications breakdown between the president and the Senate.

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CRS: Securing U.S. Diplomatic Facilities and Personnel Abroad: Background and Policy Issues

Authors: Alex Tiersky and Susan B. Epstein

Under reciprocal treaty obligations, host nations are obligated to provide security for the diplomatic facilities of sending states. However, instances in which host nations have been unable or not fully committed to fulfilling this responsibility have sometimes left U.S. facilities vulnerable, especially in extraordinary circumstances. U.S. facilities therefore employ a layered approach to security including not only the measures taken by a host country, but also additional, U.S.-coordinated measures, to include armed Diplomatic Security agents, hardened facilities, U.S.-trained and/or contracted local security guards, and sometimes U.S. Marine Security Guard detachments (whose principal role is securing classified information).

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Realizing Democracy: Lessons from Thailand and Indonesia

Speaker: Joshua Kurlantzick

Isobel Coleman hosts Joshua Kurlantzick, Fellow for Southeast Asia, Council on Foreign Relations, for a discussion about the political and economic transition of Thailand and Indonesia as part of a Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative series on Realizing Democracy: Lessons from Transitioning Countries.

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Backgrounder Author: Steven J. Markovich

With the economic benefits of broadband access rising, experts continue to debate how U.S. digital infrastructure compares to its international peers. This Backgrounder examines the issues.

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Why should the United States pay attention to the impoverished and economically devastated North Korea?

Asked by Jerome Kennedy, from Massachusetts

North Korea, formally called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), remains a top security concern for the United States, despite its moribund economy. The DPRK poses a serious potential military threat to its neighbors and to U.S. military bases and allies in the Pacific.

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See more in North Korea, Defense Strategy, Homeland Security, National Security and Defense, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics