Author Archive
Ideas
We Were Warned
When the inevitable inquiry into the government's response to COVID-19 happens, it will conclude that signs of a coming crisis were everywhere.
Ideas
America Is Alone in Its Cold War With China
If the Trump administration is truly going all-in on competition with Beijing, it’s not clear that Trump himself is fully on board. Nor, it’s now clear, are several of America’s closest friends.
Ideas
America Has Come Full Circle in the Middle East
“We are opening a Pandora’s Box,” Dwight Eisenhower warned when he ordered the first U.S. combat mission in the region. Little did he know how right he would be.
Ideas
The Downed Jetliner Reminds Us that War Spins Out of Control
Mistakes and misperceptions bookended this latest episode in the long conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Expect that not to change.
Ideas
The Blueprint Iran Could Follow After Soleimani’s Death
Here’s what to expect after the U.S. killing of Iran’s most powerful military commander.
Ideas
What US Intelligence Thought 2020 Would Look Like
A 2004 National Intelligence Council report was eerily prescient in some ways, and totally off in others.
Ideas
In Iraq, the US Gets Hit Where It Hurts
The storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad demonstrated that America doesn’t have a monopoly on pressure.
Ideas
Inside the Collapse of Trump’s Korea Policy
When it comes to America’s last-ditch effort to prevent North Korea from becoming a nuclear power, timing has been everything. Now time’s running out.
Ideas
Under Trump, the US Has Become a Leading Source of Global Instability
The country is now a known unknown, increasing the risk of crises from the Middle East to East Asia to Central America, a new survey suggests.
Threats
How North Korea Soured on Donald Trump
Kim Jong Un only wanted to engage with the president. Now he’s turning on him.
Featured eBooks
Ideas
America Hasn’t Always Supported Ukraine Like This
For a policy that’s purportedly a pillar of the decades-old international order, military aid to Ukraine is pretty new.
Ideas
What America’s Allies Really Think About Trump’s Syria Decision
During a few wild weeks in October, U.S. allies watched as their own worst nightmare befell America’s Kurdish partners in Syria. Here’s what that means for America’s standing in the world.
Ideas
What It’s Like to Deal With US Foreign Policy in the Trump Era
The administration’s shadow foreign policy sees the light of day.
Ideas
The Consequences of Donald Trump Washing His Hands of the Middle East
The short-term costs have been brutal, but the longer-term ones could be far more significant.
Ideas
On North Korea, the Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost
One of the downsides of highly personalized diplomacy is that when the person in question is debilitated, the diplomacy suffers.
Ideas
The Call Was Coming From Inside the White House
After 2016, Americans focused on the threat of election interference from abroad. What they overlooked was the danger at home.
Ideas
Trump's Transactional. And Estonia's President Is Cool With It.
"Thinking back historically, when everybody else said it nicely, we didn’t react,” Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid told us.
Ideas
Imagine If Obama Had Done This
Republicans have tolerated plenty of foreign-policy moves by Trump that they would never have let his predecessor get away with. Will that continue with Iran?
Threats
The Writing Was on the Wall With Afghanistan
The latest bout of bloodshed may have played some role in the actions Trump just took, but it is also a convenient out for an administration that had gone all in on a floundering initiative.
