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
Trump's Syria Ceasefire Is Doomed
It may bring Russia on board, but it hardly acknowledges Iran's role in the war.
Ideas
The Next Battle: State Department, US Military Divided Over Kurdish Fighters In Syria (And Russia)
Frustrated sources on the ground say the State Department is struggling to get behind the Syrian Kurds and the U.S. military would struggle to proceed without them. As for Russia, well...
Ideas
Trump Gave the Military More Power, But Here’s What Really Concerns Us
A recent major conference on the civ-mil divide revealed a more nuanced picture of America and its armed forces.
Ideas
At Trump-Putin Meeting, Start with New START
If the treaty is allowed to disappear, so will the Pentagon’s best tools for divining facts about the Russian nuclear arsenal.
Ideas
North Korea Just Called Trump's Bluff. Here's What the US Can Do
Now that Kim Jong-Un has an ICBM, it's time for 'the least of the bad options.'
Ideas
How Poland Sets Trump Up for Success With Putin
Trump’s Poland visit could give the American president a strong message – and momentum – for his Putin meeting later this week.
Ideas
Why Trump Should Embrace America's Immigrant Soldiers
Immigrants have been part of the armed forces since the Revolutionary War. The administration is considering ending a program that grants some of them citizenship in exchange for their service.
Ideas
Should the US Reassess Its Alliance with South Korea?
Washington's relationship with Seoul makes it a target for the Kim regime.
Ideas
America's Military: Overcommitted and Underfunded
The administration wants to expand the armed forces’ commitments, even while contracting spending.
Threats
If Trump Won’t Fight Climate Change, We Must — for the Troops’ Sake
As the Pentagon says, this ‘threat multiplier’ is making the work of our men and women in uniform around the world more difficult.
Ideas
Mattis’s Afghanistan War Plan: Be Patient, Convince Everyone
Roll back the Taliban. Tackle ISIS. Win over Washington. Build Afghan forces. Seek support from the American public. Sound familiar?
Ideas
Five Ways President Trump is Making Terrorism Worse
Terrorists are pleased to confront a United States that demonizes Muslims and seeks only its own advantage.
Ideas
The Trump Administration Is Making Good Policy
It’s the president himself who’s destroying it.
Ideas
Want to Reduce Iran’s and al-Qaeda’s Sway in Yemen? End the War
The US-Saudi-UAE-Yemeni-government plan to double down on a military solution is a recipe for disaster.
Ideas
Did Trump’s Riyadh Visit Trigger the GCC Flare-up?
Both the United States and the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council have an interest in a quick political resolution to this crisis.
Policy
Trump to London: Be More Afraid
Rarely does a leader in a liberal democracy embrace, let alone foment, fear. But that’s exactly what Donald Trump did in response to attacks in London, as he has often done before.
Threats
Trump’s Paris Decision Hurts More than the Climate
America’s withdrawal will leave the world hotter, more erratic, politically fractured, and facing toward Beijing.
Ideas