News stories by Jim Lobe, page 3

WASHINGTON, Sep 17 (IPS) - U.S. combat troops may be deployed against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) if the strategy announced by President Barack Obama last week fails to make substantial progress against the radical Sunni group, Washington's top military officer warned here Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Sep 15 (IPS) - Despite elite concerns about growing "isolationism" in the U.S. electorate, nearly six in 10 citizens believe Washington should "take an active part in world affairs," according to the latest in a biennial series of major surveys of U.S. foreign-policy attitudes.

WASHINGTON, Sep 12 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama's new strategy to "degrade, and ultimately destroy" the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is being met with widespread scepticism among both hawks and doves, as well as regional specialists.

WASHINGTON, Sep 10 (IPS) - A top-level international panel called Tuesday for a major shift in global drug-control policies from prohibition to decriminalisation and regulation.

WASHINGTON, Sep 03 (IPS) - While the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama ponders broader actions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Amnesty International Tuesday accused the group of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Iraq on a "historic scale."

WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (IPS) - This week's video-taped beheading of a U.S. journalist by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has spurred renewed calls for President Barack Obama to broaden Washington's military efforts to strike the terrorist group, including in Syria.

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (IPS) - Despite rising criticism of his foreign policy– even from his former secretary of state – U.S. President Barack Obama's decision last week to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) militants in northern Iraq enjoys relatively strong public support, at least so far.

WASHINGTON, Aug 09 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama's authorisation of limited military action in northern Iraq, announced in a national television address late Thursday night, has so far received support – albeit highly qualified in some cases -- from across the mainstream political spectrum.

WASHINGTON, Aug 03 (IPS) - Despite worsening crises in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere in the Middle East, the administration of President Barack Obama hopes next week to focus at least some more positive attention on Africa.

WASHINGTON, Jul 31 (IPS) - A key committee of the World Bank's governing board Wednesday spurned appeals to revise a  draft policy statement that, according to nearly 100 civil-society groups, risks rolling back several decades of reforms designed to protect indigenous populations, the poor and sensitive ecosystems.