Ideas
Counterpoint: Trump’s Syria Strike Was Unconstitutional and Unwise
The military intervention solved nothing, while bypassing Congress, betraying the president’s non-interventionist supporters, and highlighting his hypocrisy.
Ideas
The Obama Doctrine, R.I.P.
Under pressure to respond to Assad’s use of chemical weapons, Trump reached for the same playbook that his predecessor resisted opening.
Ideas
America Should Have Hit Assad Four Years Ago
When dealing with mass killing, deterrence is more effective than disarmament.
Ideas
‘It Was High Time’
The right move, if the wrong president, for Obama's internal critics who wanted air strikes in Syria for three years.
Threats
The Fight Against the Islamic State Just Got Harder
Initial thoughts on the Trump administration’s new front in the Syrian war.
Ideas
US Missile Defenses Need Better Sensors, and Soon
Gaps in coverage leave interceptors less-equipped to defeat the threats of tomorrow.
Ideas
The St. Petersburg Bombing Brings Russia Face-to-Face with Transnational Terror
An immigrant from Central Asia kills 14, and forces Moscow to rethink its counterterrorism strategies.
Ideas
How Should the US Respond to Assad's Chemical Attacks?
Military intervention—even for the best moral reasons—always has unpredictable consequences.
Ideas
Want to Plug Intel Leaks? Let Technology Find the Next Insider Threat
Lack of empathy? High narcissism? Self-absorbed? You could be the next Snowden.
Ideas
Attacks on Russia Will Only Increase
Its entanglements across the Middle East will come with a deadly price.
Ideas
The Silence of Rex Tillerson
Sooner or later, someone needs to explain what Trump’s foreign policy is. But the secretary of state does not seem to understand his job.
Ideas
Egypt and America Are Destined to Disappoint Each Other
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s supporters in Washington are about to get mugged by reality: His regime is alarmingly weak.
Ideas
Don’t Let the Pentagon Monopolize Nuclear Policy
Expert voices from State and Energy must be brought into the Trump administration’s nascent Nuclear Posture Review.
Ideas
A Bad Time for a Trump-China Summit
A former South Korean lawmaker says the White House needs to strengthen its relationship with Seoul before deciding to grant the same level of respect to Beijing.
Ideas
America's Foreign-Policy Voice Is Fracturing. Trump’s Cuts Would Make Things Worse
The post-9/11 explosion in security-assistance funding has muddied the roles of diplomats and generals. A re-empowered State Department could help fix that.
Ideas
The US and Russia Should Never Have Stopped Cooperating to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
Our two countries still work together on a few things. Securing dangerous nuclear materials should be one of them.
Ideas
The Marine Photo Scandal and the Cost of Indifference
Americans may finally be ready to confront the dehumanizing horrors facing women service members.
Ideas
The Idea of ISIS Will Outlive the Caliphate
Despite claiming responsibility for attacks like the one in London, the group is dying. It will retain the ability to inspire.
Ideas
Trump's Unbalanced Homeland Security Budget
As the former heads of DHS, the Coast Guard, and TSA, we think Trump’s border-and-immigration fixation is like double-locking your front door and leaving the window wide open.
Ideas