Charles Wolfson has been covering the State Department for CBS News for six years. The veteran news producer and former chief of the Tel Aviv bureau offers analysis and insight on a variety of thorny foreign policy issues.
href="215092.story"> Camp David Reporter's (Blank) Notebook
Aside from trips to the "boys" and "girls" rooms, snacking on homemade donuts or playing computer solitaire, there's little for reporters covering the Camp David talks to do but sit and wait.
href="213925.story">Camp David II: What's At Stake
Most observers predict the Camp David summit will produce some version of a so-called Framework Agreement which addresses all issues -- Jerusalem, territory, refugees and security -- but may not cover every detail.
The next Middle East peace summit could be make-or-break for all three of the leaders involved: President Clinton is running out of time, and Barak and Arafat are running out of support.
Countries who do things the U.S. doesn't like used to be called "rogue states." Now they're "states of concern." It seems semantics are a big part of statesmanship for America's foreign servants.
A small group of barons from the minority Alawite community are calling the shots in Syria now that Bashar Assad has succeeded his father. One big difference between father and son: Bashar can smile.
A broken cease-fire in Sierra Leone threatens a restart of a brutal civil war. Why isn't the U.S. doing more? Because, diplomats say, peace-making takes a lot of time to do.
href="192556.story"> The Business of Diplomacy is Business
Think handing out visas and negotiating treaties is all America's foreign service does abroad? Think again. As this Diplomatic Dispatch reports, money matters…a lot.
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href="189069.story">Terrorism Report: We Were Lucky
State Department officials realize last year could have been much worse than it was. In fact, 1999 was actually pretty good, with only five Americans killed by terrorism and no major attacks.
Separate from the public furor over the government seizure of Elian Gonzalez, two governments wrangled for days over Juan Miguel Gonzalez’s effort to get four of his son’s Cuban playmates into the United States.
href="185287.story"> War Famine = Catastrophe in Africa
Fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea combined with severe drought in the region have created a catastrophe in the making—the possibility of famine for 8 million people.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Washington, striving to find common ground. But peace will require leadersnot diplomats, and Ehud Barak has recently indicated that construction on the Golan Heights is to resume.
The State Department explains why it wants to see Elian Gonzalez back with his father in Cuba—so that American children in foreign lands can come home, too.
Maybe the Elian Gonzalez saga will bring the governments of the United States and Cuba together. Maybe a six-year-old boy could help close a forty-year wound. Or, maybe not.
href="169159.story">Averting Famine in The Horn of Africa
After the U.S. provided flood relief to Mozambique, the Clinton Administration is taking steps to prevent a potentially disastrous famine from striking southern Africa.
href="173521.story">Big News, But A Tiny Step For U.S., Iran
CBS News' Charles Wolfson looks at the growing friendship between the United States and Iran—and the massive challenges that remain before these two often bitter enemies can claim to be friends.
CBS News' Charles Wolfson follows the Secretary of State to Capitol Hill for some tough negotiations -- not on foreign policy, but on her agency's budget.
href="164698.story">Rethinking International Peacekeeping
The Clinton Administration has dusted off an old idea: create a worldwide civilian police force to be on standby for rapid deployment to international trouble spots.
Clinton administration officials tell CBS State Department Reporter Charles Wolfson Iraq and Mideast peace will be the greatest challenges for Jordan's new ruler, Prince Abdullah.
href="177159.story">Spring In The Diplomatic Garden
Warren Christopher used to talk about tending the "diplomatic garden." In their final spring in office, President Clinton and his foreign policy team are getting their hands dirty in that garden.
