Domestic policy remains Obama's focus and strongsuit while foreign policy has emerged as the administration's weakest and most deceptive area. Obama has proved measured yet hesitant, pragmatic yet reactive. Latin America and Africa are far from his radar. The relationship with Russia remains complicated. Washington has failed to exert influence over israel. In the Arab world, the U.S. abandoned former ally Mubarak and floundered in Syria. The U.S. will leave Afghanistan at the end of 2014 without fixing a thing. The relationship with Europe is far from harmonious. Only the rapproachment with the new Iranian president reveals a new and more ambitious approach to foreign policy. Only the U.S.'s diverse relationship with Asia remains to be seen.  

Iraq is in chaos: unleashed ancestral hatred, civil war, religious war, porous borders, embarrassed chancellery,the rise of a jihad spanning from the Sahara to the Sahel that even recruits in Europe, quick conquest by ISIS....  looking at the situation that Sunnis and Shiites face in Iraq and Syria.

In addition to renewed ancestral rivalries, war and porous borders, ISIS's rise in Iraq leaves the region in a state of utter chaos. Taking a look at the situation Sunnis and Shiites face in Iraq and Syria.  

ISIS's recent military advances in Iraq leave some reconsidering American intervention in the region. 

Almost 7 years ago, Barack Obama was elected on a promise:to end wars. Just as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down, Barack Obama announcd this week that America will begin another war against terror, this time in Iraq and Syria. Why does the American president feel the accute need to act? How can the coalition with Arab countries and Euorpe work?

Audrey Pulvar welcomed Laurence Nardon to I-télé on "On ne va pas se mentir" to discuss this year's midterm elections in the United States. 

Laurence Nardon, head of the United States program at IFRI sits down with Gilles Sengès to discuss the midterm elections and the Obama administration's politics. 

The issues from the United States midterm elections explained by Laurence Nardon on Fabrice Lundy's TV show "Les décodeurs de l'éco" on BFM Business. 

We all wanted to believe that Barack Obama's dazzling election in 2008 would accelerate history's forward trajectory in a good way for once.  Barack Obama, would lead the United States into a post-racial era and serve as an example for all democracies. Six years later we see that we were wrong: the American president did not perform any of the expected miracles. 

Last August in Missouri, a white police officer shot Michael Brown, a young African-American male. After courts found the officer not guilty, riots broke out in Ferguson and a number of large American cities. This anger demonstrates that 50 years after civil rights legislation race continues to deeply divide the United States. Are events in Ferguson emblematic of a larger problem? What impact will racial tensions have on American politics just two years from the next presidential election?

The thaw between Cuba and the United States reaches a head at the Summit of the Americas in Panama and the normalization of relations has begun as the White House removed Cuba from the state-sponsored terrorism list. Laurence Nardon, head of the United States program at IFRI comments on U.S.-Cuba relations as well as Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign kickoff. 

Watch the episode here on TV5MONDE

Anne Giudicelli, founder of TERR(o)RISC, Laurence Nardon, researcher and head of the United States program at IFRI, Benaouda Abdeddaïm, columnist at BFM Business and Romain Zerbib, strategic management researcher with IGS, share their thoughts on privacy as the Patriot Act expires. 

Les Décodeurs de l'éco, from June 1st, hosted by Fabrice Lundy, on BFM Business.

Watch here