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Background and Context
These educational resources will help students develop a thorough understanding of Foreign Policy and make connections between historical events, current conversations, and current policy proposals surrounding the issue. This section includes all of the context and content previously included in Close Up’s public policy chapters.
Current Issue Debates
Current Issue Debates are framed by a central question and followed by historical context, an overview of both sides of the topic, and discussion questions to facilitate deliberation in the classroom.
Available for Middle & High School
Available for Middle & High School
Available for Middle & High School
Available for Middle & High School
Videos from Policy Makers
Brought to you by ASP HOMEROOM, through a collaboration between Close Up Foundation and A Starting Point, these supplemental videos are an introduction to policy areas that provide an opportunity for students to hear different perspectives directly from lawmakers.
Congressmen Jim Himes (D-CT) & Chris Stewart (R-UT) June 16, 2021
Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) & Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL) March 31, 2021
Congresswoman Lois Frankel (D-FL) & Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL) May 7, 2021
These ready-to-use lesson plans can be utilized in conjunction with any of our resources to enhance the quality of student discourse in the classroom. Our supplemental Civic Readiness Guide provides a recommended lesson plan sequence for using our Current Issues resources.
Post | April 13, 2021
Last month, nearly 19,000 unaccompanied migrant children were stopped at the U.S.-Mexican border, a record since documentation began in 2010, beating a previous record set in May of 2019.1 Currently, the Biden administration is allowing only children traveling alone to stay in the U.S. while their asylum claims are being evaluated, a process that can […]
Post | January 22, 2021
During his inaugural address, President Joe Biden laid out a number of policy priorities. The clearest theme of his speech was a call for unity and the need to address political divisions in the United States, which came to a head with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.1 However, President Biden also […]
Podcast | January 15, 2021
This episode of Building Bridges looks at the history of the Monroe Doctrine.
Post | December 15, 2020
As journalists, historians, and political commentators reflect on the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump, one word keeps coming up: norms. To his critics, this is cause for concern. But President Trump’s supporters sometimes see his norm-breaking actions as efforts to change the political culture of Washington. Here, we will offer definitions and examples of […]
Videos | November 13, 2020
During this Close Up Conversations webinar Close Up’s, Joe Geraghty, discusses ‘US Foreign Policy in the Next Four Years’ with Ambassador Richard Schmierer, Chairman of the Board, Middle East Policy Council. Foreign policy is consistently one of the biggest issues going into any election, and there are implications whether there is an administration change or […]
Post | January 13, 2020
On January 2, 2020, it was announced that an air strike ordered by President Donald Trump had successfully targeted and killed Qasem Soleimani, chief of the Quds Force, at Baghdad International Airport. The Quds Force is regarded as the elite unit of Iran’s military; it handles overseas operations and is classified as a foreign terrorist […]
Post | October 18, 2019
On October 6, 2019, President Trump made the surprising announcement that he would pull out most of the 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria, where the United States has been working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), al-Qaeda, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and to […]
Post | September 25, 2019
To help students explore the climate change debate, please see our resource on climate change policy here. Over one million workers, students, and others engaged in the global climate strike on Friday, September 20, in an effort to call for more significant action to combat climate change.1 This was the third in a series of […]