The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "foreign policy" ...
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Buying the Election
“Never Mind the Super PACs: How Big Business Is Buying the Election” investigates previously unreported ways that businesses have taken advantage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which overturned a century of campaign finance law and allowed corporations to spend directly on behalf of candidates. The piece debunks a common misperception that businesses have taken advantage of their new political spending powers primarily through so-called Super PACs. In fact, most Super PAC donations have come from extremely wealthy individuals, not corporations. The investigation shows how corporations have instead used a variety of 501(c) nonprofits, primarily 501(c)(6) “trade associations,” to direct substantial corporate money on federal elections. As one prominent advisor to GOP candidates as well as corporations points out, "many corporations will not risk running ads on their own," for fear of the reputational damage, but the trade groups make these ad buys nearly anonymous. In 2010, 501(c)(6) trade associations and 501(c)(4) issue-advocacy groups outspent Super PACs $141 million to $65 million. The investigation shows that the growth of trade association political spending has had a number of significant ramifications, such as increased leverage during beltway lobbying campaigns. Most troublingly, legal loopholes allow foreign interests to use trade associations to directly influence American elections. One of the most significant revelations in the piece was that the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association for the oil and gas industry, had funneled corporate cash to groups that had run hard-hitting campaign ads while being led in part by a lobbyist for the Saudi Arabian government, Tofiq Al-Gabsani. As an API board member, Al-Gabsani was part of the team that directed these efforts, which helped defeat candidates who supported legislation that would move American energy policy away from its focus on fossil fuels. Federal law prevents Al-Gabsani, as a foreign national, from leading a political action committee, or PAC. But nothing in the law stopped him from leading a trade group that made campaign expenditures just as a PAC would.
Tags: Elections; campaign finance; corporations; Super PACs
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Truthout on the Border
The true intent of United States Foreign Policy in regards to the war on drugs in Mexico and Latin America is hidden behind many pantallas (screens in Spanish). In ten installments, posted in the first half of 2012, the Truthout on the Mexican Border series exposed the unofficial intentions of the US war on drugs in Latin America and its deadly impact. By connecting the dots in ten successively posted articles, the war on drugs appears to be a screen behind which goals of US military and economic hegemony can more easily be achieved in Latin American nations. Many Mexicans know that when it comes to corruption, drugs and crime in their nation, las pantallas usually prevent them from knowing the truth. The same is true of the US war on drugs, which has resulted in deaths and disappearances that are estimated to reach between 60,000 – 120,000 in the six year rule of Mexican President Felipe Calderón (ending on November 30, 2012). Truthout regularly covers US foreign policy and its impact in Latin America. The Truthout on the Mexican Border series was written to create a comprehensive understanding of what is behind the diplomatic and political screens – weaving in such seemingly diverse topics as US immigration and gun policies to understand the dark underside of US hemispheric intentions in Mexico and Latin America.
Tags: U.S.; foreign policy; Mexico; Latin America; drug war; corruption; crime
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Bush Library Scandal
The three parts of the series deal with indications that senior White House officials in the administration of George W. Bush were being made available to foreign politicians and making policy announcements in return for donations to the Bush library fund.
Tags: lobbying; Bush administration; misuse of funds; money laundering; library fund; politics; international policy
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Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power
This book investigates the response by U.S. companies and the U.S. government to the raising of environmental health standards by the European Union. The book reveals the Bush Administration's policy of retreating from environmental responsibility, while the rest of the world embraces it. The book explores the effects of this attitude on the environment, health of U.S. citizens and international relations.
Tags: environment; international relations; foreign affairs; chemicals; pollution; waste; environmental affairs; international trade;
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The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of its Enemies Since 9/11
Suskind identifies the doctrine, formulated by Vice President Cheney,as one that "separates analysis from action and embraces suspicion as a threshold for the use of American power." Suskind says Cheney was "the primary architect of U.S. foreign policy" during the period the book profiles, from immediately following 9/11/2001 until 2004. Suskind says in his IRE contest questionnaire that he was able to reassure several sources that he was willing to go to jail for an indefinite period of time to avoid nasming sources; and gave an example of his unwillingness "to reveal sources within ther government to quash the disinformation from ther FBI. Suskind says "The incident is, tereby, instructive in regard to new rules of engagement: the government will release information to cloud an independent report if they are convinced the reporter will be unable, or unwilling to reveal his sources."
Tags: FBI; CIA; NSA; NSC; Iraq; Pentagon; bin Laden; Zawahiri; White House; war on terror; al Qaeda; disinformation; Weapons of Mass Destruction; WMD; Chemical weapons; human sources; humint; sigint; George Tenet; Condoleeza Rice; Zubaydah; DCI
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Trail of Terror: Jihad in Iraq
This story examines the insurgency in Iraq from multiple perspectives. It focuses solely on foreign fighters coming into Iraq to join Abu Musab Zarqawi's forces, but the investigation follows insurgents coming in from Europe, Lebanon, Syria and America. The story explores these fighters' motives and reveals that their convictions are driven by U.S. policy and Muslim solidarity rather than hatred of freedom or socioeconomic factors. It includes interviews with experts, jihadis and their family members, and military commanders.
Tags: terrorism; insurgency; Iraq; Zarqawi; jihad; suicide bombing; U.S. military; radicals
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Casualties of Peace
A nearly-two year long investigation by the Dayton Daily News discovered widespread violence, including murders, against volunteers in the Peace Corps. "They have died at the rate of about one every two months since 1962," and "reported incidents of assault on volunteers more than doubled since 1991," with women the prime targets of such attacks. This seven-part series -- based on interviews with more than 500 people in nearly a dozen countries and a crime incident database obtained from the Peace Corps after a lengthy court battle -- reveals a disturbing pattern of unsafe conditions that were long masked or even covered up by the Peace Corps. In ten death cases examined by the Daily News, the paper found the "Peace Corps misled families, the public or other volunteers about the circumstances of the deaths." The Corps' policies resulted in sending ill-trained volunteers "alone to some of the most dangerous corners of the world where they may be unsupervised for months on end." These volunteers, frequently young people fresh out of school, receive little to no training about what they will encounter and how to stay safe. The newspaper's investigation also found the behavior of Peace Corps volunteers themselves often puts them at risk. "Alcohol was identified as a factor in nearly one in three assaults since 1999," and "in more than half of the reported rapes since 1990, the attacker was identified as a 'friend/acquaintance.'"
Tags: peace corps; peace; volunteer; volunteering; college; school; goodwill; oversees; foreign; international; government; service; CAR; database; legal; lawsuit; FOIA
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Bigger Bang: Rising U.S. Investment In European Equities Galvanizes Old World. American Money Has Clout In Government Policy and in the Boardroom. Bitterness on Bastille Day.
Americans are investing more and more in foreign, specifically European, stocks. European governments like the phenomenon because it brings more money into their countries, but they realize that if their markets are to remain successful they might have to make some changes so their stock markets are more like those in America.
Tags: American investors; Securities Industry Association; foreign stock market; New York Stock Exchange
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Fridge Connection. A tangled tale of GE Appliance smuggling and laundered money. Firm gets tough on dealers in Miami area, prodded by a gadfly in Colombia. The Medellin Black Market.
According to the article, "GE auditors are combing through the records of dealers, scrutinizing the way they are paid and making sure they are following a GE policy: that not retail customer can buy more than 10 items, or more than two of any one kind, for use in a foreign country. Since the audits began, GE has cut off some distributors, disrupting relationships and hurting sales of refrigerators and washing machines in South Florida.
Tags: foreign; money; smuggling; money; laundered money; money laundering; cash
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Democracy Inc.
Wilson Quarterly looks at "the democracy industry" built on the American ideological commitment to advancing the democratic cause in the world. The report questions the practice of international corps of observers certifying election results in foreign lands, and finds that "outsiders sometimes do more harm than good." The author points to the example of the 1998 elections in Cambodia where the government denied opposition parties access to radio and television, and marred the election with violence. The story reveals that some foreign observers "failed to report these problems or blithely dismissed all signs of trouble." It also looks at "a subtler form of damage" that the democracy industry did in Indonesia in 1998 by stealing "the spotlight from local groups."
Tags: politics; promotion; National Endowment for Democracy; Carter Center; Asia Foundation; nongovernmental organizations; foreign policy; corruption; civil society; National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI); voting