Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Vice President Joe Biden has long been an influential voice on foreign policy issues in Washington. First elected to the Senate in 1972 at age 29, Biden has spent more time in Congress than any candidate. He chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and sits on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security. Biden ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. His campaign was tainted, however, when he was accused of plagiarizing a stump speech from a British Labour Party leader.

He returned to the Senate to become a prominent foreign policy voice in the 1990s, particularly on the Balkans conflicts. He has traveled to the region many times and was a proponent for U.S. intervention there. Biden has also been a strong advocate for nuclear nonproliferation efforts.

Biden's proposal for resolving the conflict in Iraq continued to generate discussion late into 2007. Biden, along with CFR President Emeritus Leslie H. Gelb, back creation of a federal state in Iraq with Kurdish, Sunni, and Shia autonomous regions. Biden was also one of the only candidates to support using U.S. ground forces to end the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Before being selected as Obama’s running mate, Biden ran for the Democratic nomination, dropping out of the race in January 2008.

Iran

The Islamic Republic’s Power Centers
Who calls the shots in Iran on economic policy, security, and domestic calls for reform? A look at the government’s organization chart indicates how complicated the answer is.

Article by CFR.org Editors September 23, 2022

China

China’s Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang
More than a million Muslims have been arbitrarily detained in China’s Xinjiang region. The reeducation camps are just one part of the government’s crackdown on Uyghurs.

Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland September 22, 2022

United Nations

The Role of the UN Secretary-General
The United Nations’ top leadership position has broad authority to steer the organization’s agenda, but its impact has varied widely since 1946.

Backgrounder by CFR.org Editors September 15, 2022

Top Stories on CFR

Russia

Does Putin’s Gamble Make Russia’s War in Ukraine More Dangerous?
Russia’s moves to mobilize thousands more troops and to annex more of Ukraine’s territory signal a new, potentially more dangerous phase of the war.

In Brief by Thomas Graham September 21, 2022

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory in Crisis
The Caribbean island, which shares a close yet fraught relationship with the rest of the United States, faces a multilayered economic and social crisis rooted in long-standing policy and compounded by natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, migration, and government mismanagement.

Backgrounder by Amelia Cheatham and Diana Roy September 29, 2022

Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Threats to Free Expression, With Suzanne Nossel

Podcast
Suzanne Nossel, the Chief Executive Officer of PEN America, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss growing threats around the world to free expression and how the fight to protect human rights needs to adapt to succeed in a world of great power competition.

Podcast with James M. Lindsay and Suzanne F. Nossel September 27, 2022 The President’s Inbox