Author Archive

Thomas Wright

Fellow at the Brookings Institution

Thomas Wright is a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of the forthcoming book All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power.
Ideas

Will Trumpism Change Republican Foreign Policy Permanently?

The president did not just challenge Republican orthodoxy. He also blew up its establishment.

Ideas

The Foreign Policy of 2021 Democrats

Joe Biden represents the so-called establishment’s last chance to reform U.S. foreign policy so it is better aligned with how Americans see the world.

Ideas

A Bigger Foreign-Policy Mess Than Anyone Predicted

In the 2010s, global affairs turned out far worse than the most pessimistic scenario foretold by U.S. intelligence experts.

Ideas

Why Elizabeth Warren’s Foreign Policy Worries America’s Allies

Finding savings in the defense budget is possible, of course, but getting to 11 percent will require real cuts to capabilities.

Ideas

Yes-Men Are Taking Over the Trump Administration

Trump is making foreign policy on the fly, seeking his personal advantage and undermining American power.

Ideas

A National-Security Problem Without Parallel in American Democracy

Democrats — candidates and lawmakers alike — should make it clear that they will impose consequences on any country that meddles with voting.

Ideas

Bolton’s Departure Signals Trump’s Foreign-Policy Pivot

The president is turning away from conflict and toward diplomacy—and that will shape his choice of the next national security adviser.

Ideas

The Problem at the Core of Progressive Foreign Policy

Democratic presidential candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have ambitious plans but seem unwilling to make the trade-offs they would require.

Ideas

Trump Has Defected from the Free World

The president crossed an important line when he canceled a meeting with the Danish prime minister.

Ideas

Trump’s Foreign-Policy Crisis Arrives

Competition between the U.S. and China may be inevitable, but if Trump and Xi mishandle the Hong Kong crisis, they could lose the ability to calibrate.

Ideas

Buttigieg Splits From the Progressives on Foreign Policy

He articulated a values-based liberal internationalism, even as he sometimes struggled to fill in the details.

Ideas

The Moment the Transatlantic Charade Ended

At the Munich Security Conference, Europe and the Trump administration stopped pretending to respect each other.

Ideas

What Trump's UN Speech Says About What Comes Next

His General Assembly speech laid out his worldview—and offered some clues about what could lie ahead.

Ideas

What’s Old Is New Again: It’s the Free World Vs. Neo-Authoritarians

The U.S. must abandon the notion of a liberal world order, and get to work deterring those who would bring down democracy.

Ideas

Trump Is Choosing Eastern Europe

That is the subtext of the mini-crises sparked by his ambassador to Germany and of a recent speech by the assistant secretary of state for Europe.

Ideas

Trump Risks Trading Away the US-South Korean Alliance

Kim Jong Un is offering a deal at a price that could be way too high—and that the president could easily accept.

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 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

The Foreign Crises Awaiting Trump

Trump wants to undo the liberal international order the U.S. built and replace it with a 19th-century model of nationalism and mercantilism. Its unwinding cannot, and will not, be pretty.