Ideas
John Bolton Is Misunderstood
The actual track record of Trump’s next national-security adviser offers cause for cautious optimism.
Policy
How John Bolton Views US Allies and Adversaries
His 2007 memoir lays out the incoming national-security adviser’s worldview.
Ideas
Foreign Governments Are Funneling Money into Trump's Hotels. We Still Don't Know How Much.
The Trump Organization’s response to the problem of foreign governments trying to curry favor with the president is an empty gesture.
Ideas
The Dark Arts of Foreign Influence-Peddling
The Mueller investigation is showing the extent of Russian operations. But its real import extends far beyond that.
Ideas
Global Elites Cannot Save a World In Turmoil
Last weekend’s security conference in Munich was a stark reminder that this class has nothing of substance to offer a world in turmoil.
Ideas
Trump’s National-Security Strategy Is Focused on Great Powers. He Isn’t.
On Tuesday, the president rushed past Russia and China to talk about immigrants, terrorism, and North Korea.
Ideas
The Most Dangerous Word in the Draft Nuclear Posture Review
By insisting that future arms control agreements be “enforceable,” the Trump administration could substitute military strikes for diplomacy.
Ideas
What Trump Got Right in Foreign Policy in 2017
For one thing, the Islamic State is largely defeated.
Ideas
The National Security Strategy Papers Over a Crisis
The NSS is a stunning repudiation of Trump, and Trump’s speech was a stunning repudiation of the NSS.
Ideas
Three Ways to Read Trump's National Security Strategy
Is it better approached as a sacred text, or examined like the scat of a shaggy, woodland beast?
Threats
What Putin Really Wants
Russia's strongman president has many Americans convinced of his manipulative genius. He's really just a gambler who won big.
Ideas
What's Dangerous About Donald Trump's Foreign Policy?
His unorthodox approach has frightened some observers. But it’s his more conventional moves that have cost the most lives.
Ideas
Trump Isn't the Only Problem with Trump's Foreign Policy
America’s approach to the world is a complicated mess, for reasons that predate the current president.
Ideas
A Tale of Two Speeches
Sen. McCain and former President Bush called for Americans to rise to global leadership, and underscored the concrete benefits that have accrued from it. In normal times, this would be unexceptional.
Ideas
How Trump Is Ending the American Era
For all the visible damage the president has done to the nation’s global standing, things are much worse below the surface.
Ideas
Democracy Remains the Best Path to Security
The U.S. and its democratic partners must rebuild their foreign policies around a basic truth: societies that govern themselves democratically are safer, stronger and more secure.
Threats
Russia's Back-to-the-80s Foreign Policy
Moscow has reprised Cold War tactics against the United States. It’s worth remembering that they didn’t work out well for the Soviet Union last time.
Ideas
The Summer of Misreading Thucydides
There’s a delicious irony in the Trump team’s affection for the historian—who repeatedly shows how populists lead societies to ruin.
Ideas