Ideas

The US Must Build Saudi Arabia’s First Nuclear Reactors

Riyadh will get its atomic energy. The question is who gets the construction contracts — and the influence that goes with them.

Ideas

Pompeo’s Choice: Denounce the McFaul Handover, or Lose the World’s Trust

The world is watching to see if he has the courage and the political savvy to truly be a leader in his Department, in this administration, and around the globe.

Ideas

Trump's Worst Blow To NATO Came at Home

After threatening to withdraw from the alliance, the president is now simply, and devastatingly, suggesting the U.S. won't come to its allies' aid.

Ideas

Think Before You Pledge Not to Build Military AI

Like self-driving cars, which also kill, autonomous weapons should be considered in a suitably complex context.

Ideas

The Helsinki Move That Could Save the INF Treaty

Putin offered suggestions for strategic stability. The U.S. should respond with proposals to revive verification.

Ideas

Trump Says Russia Isn’t Still Targeting the U.S.—But He’s Wrong

Putin’s government is waging information warfare against America, but the president is ignoring his intelligence advisers as they sound the alarm.

Ideas

Anti-Trump Hysteria Isn’t Helping

The president’s performance in Helsinki wasn’t defensible—but neither was it treasonous.

Ideas

NATO Already Vastly Outspends Russia. Its Problems Are Not About Money.

The alliance’s security issues can’t be fixed by a traditional military buildup.

Ideas

Trump’s Meeting With Putin Draws Alarm at Home and Abroad

The president’s remarks casting doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 election drew rebukes both implicit and explicit from those close to, and within, his own administration.

Ideas

Spooky Action: Sorting Hype from Reality in China’s Quantum-Tech Quest

Beijing is talking a big game. The US need not overreact — but it should act.

Ideas

The End of All Illusions

Trump said nothing new in Helsinki—but his remarks clarified and distilled into a single frame his appalling disregard for an assault on America.

Ideas

The Trump-Putin Summit Made a Mockery of Public Diplomacy

The Russian may at least have projected strength, but the American delivered a dangerous muddle.

Ideas

The Crisis Facing America

The country can no longer afford to wait to ascertain why President Trump has subordinated himself to Putin—it must deal with the fact that he has.

Ideas

Don't Let Trump Go to War With Iran

Fifteen years after the U.S. entered Iraq, the president is inching us closer to another unnecessary fight.

Ideas

Russia Must Know That NATO is Unified

And President Trump needs to tell him so.

Ideas

How Russia, China Use Nuclear Reactors To Win Global Influence

It starts when state-sponsored nuclear-power companies underbid Western competitors.

Ideas

Cancel Turkey’s F-35s — and Maybe Its NATO Membership As Well

Sending America’s most advanced fighters to Ankara will do greater harm than good to U.S. interests — and that should give its allies pause.

Ideas

What's at Stake at the Trump-Putin Summit

Presidents Trump and Putin have little to show for their rapport so far. Their summit will not be seen as a success without fresh approaches to issues from arms control to election tampering.

Ideas

Trump vs. NATO: It's Not Just About the Money

The president’s emphasis on spending obscures a much deeper skepticism of alliances.

Ideas

NATO Doesn’t Need 4% Defense Spending

Trump's new call for allies to spend 4 percent of their GDPs on defense makes no sense. Even America shouldn't do that.