Threats
Pompeo Declares Economic War on Iran
The U.S. secretary of state vowed “unprecedented financial pressure in the form of the strongest sanctions in history.”
Policy
Trump Touts Increased NATO Spending, But That Sort of Misses the Point, Experts Say
Experts say that the conversation’s been too focused on how much allies are putting toward defense, not on what they get for it.
Threats
The Campaign to Denuclearize North Korea Crashes Back to Earth
Kim Jong Un "has been playing a high-risk, high-return game. And he has never lost a bet thus far.”
Threats
White House Cuts Cyber Coordinator Role But Lawmakers Say Not So Fast
House Democrats charged National Security Adviser John Bolton’s move lowers the White House’s cyber expertise as threats are increasing.
Science & Tech
Homeland Security Unveils New Cyber Strategy
It envisions clearer consequences for agencies that don’t meet their cyber responsibilities.
Ideas
A Reckoning for Obama's Foreign-Policy Legacy
Veterans of the last administration are learning a hard lesson: Policies constructed by executive order and executive agreement are just as easily blown up by them.
Ideas
'All Is Shambles': The Days After the Iran Deal
Prominent advocates for withdrawal grappled too little with the possibility that the president cannot pull this off.
Ideas
Pass the Corker-Kaine AUMF
Its critics misunderstand the 17-year evolution of the fight against violent extremist groups, and risk letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Ideas
Making the Most of North Korea’s Mixed Motives
To work toward peace, the White House will need to lead a tightly coordinated balancing act to deter Kim Jong-un’s worst intentions while leveraging his desire for economic development.
Threats
Mattis: Leaving the Nuclear Deal Will Help the US Negotiate with Iran
Withdrawal will help the U.S. develop a ‘more compelling’ deal on a range of issues, SecDef told lawmakers.
Policy
After the Iran Deal, Here’s What the US Military Is Worried About Next
Keep your eyes on Iranian ballistic missiles showing up in Yemen.
Ideas
Iran Hawks Are the New Iraq Hawks
Many of the assumptions that guided America’s march to conflict in 2003 still dominate American foreign policy today.
Ideas
Fixing The Iranian Missile Problem
It won’t be easy, but Europe and Washington should pressure Iran into suspending missile flight-testing.
Ideas
The US May Seek Defenses Against Russian Missiles. We Need to Talk about That.
If the Trump administration goes down that path, it should boldly declare a change in strategy, not hide behind ambiguity.
Ideas
Trump Is Setting America on an Unpredictable Course in the Middle East
It starts with exiting the Iran nuclear deal without a plan, and it could end with a messy, violent, and unnecessary conflict.
Ideas
Trump’s New Arms-Sales Policy Is Good but Sounds Awful
We must reintegrate arms exports into the U.S. foreign-policy process — and do a far better job of explaining why than the Trump administration has managed so far.
Policy
Macron Mic-Drops on Trump, Offers a New Call to Western Leadership
Defending multilateralism and democracy, the French president gave the best political speech America has seen in years.
Policy
The Politics of Hating (And Loving) France
From freedom fries to fast friends, after the Macron visit will Republicans who choose to stand with Trump continue to stand with France? The war on terrorism may depend on it.
Ideas