Biden Faces a Conundrum on Afghanistan
The Afghan people's well-being is now connected to the Taliban. The U.S. shouldn't pretend otherwise.
Don't Give Ukraine a U.S. Security Guarantee
If U.S. officials were being honest with themselves, they would recognize that more military assistance to the Ukrainians is unlikely to do much of anything except prompt Russia to retaliate in kind.
There is No Such Thing as a One-Size-Fits-All China Policy
U.S. officials should continue to encourage its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific to take ownership of their own security, bolstering the region's ability to check China from becoming a Eurasian hegemon.
The U.S. Isn't All Powerful
The U.S., to put it bluntly, is not the all-powerful player at the head of the table with infinite resources and an unending reservoir of leverage.
Will Biden's Drone Policy Get Back to the Basics?
Just because the U.S. can find, track and kill terrorists wherever they are doesn't mean the U.S. shouldn't be judicious about utilizing this capability.
To Move the Nuclear Talks Forward, the U.S. Needs to Go First
The last thing the U.S. needs is another crisis in the Middle East. Common-sense diplomacy can help us escape it.
The U.S. is Addicted to Sanctions. Do They Work?
If there is one tool policymakers and lawmakers in Washington are almost always predisposed to use, it is the economic stick commonly known as sanctions.
The Shifting Tides of Middle Eastern Diplomacy
The U.S. is slowly but surely diverting its focus from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific. For leaders like Mohammed Bin Salman and Mohammed Bin Zayed who are used to being catered to by the U.S., times are changing.
U.S. Counterterrorism in Africa
Is there a better way to defend the U.S. from anti-American terrorism other than weighing into internal fights on behalf of governments that oftentimes disillusion their own populations?
The Unreality of U.S. Policy in Syria
Right now, the Biden administration's Syria policy is in a holding-pattern.
20 Years After the War on Terror Started
Twenty years after President George. W. Bush's infamous Sept. 20 speech to a frightened nation, the war on terrorism continues to this very day.
Afghanistan Should Serve as a Wake-Up Call to Europe
The most effective way to push Europe into becoming more self-sustainable, if not independent, is for the U.S. to do less on the continent.
Spotlight Still on Saudi Arabia 20 Years After 9/11
But let's face it: two decades after 9/11, Saudi Arabia's political leadership has a long way to go in cracking down on the sources of terrorism funding.
The Taliban Won Afghanistan's Civil War. But Will it Win the Peace?
Taliban fighters spent 20 years seeking to return to power, a goal they finally accomplished recently. But sustaining an insurgency is not the same thing as running an even semi-competent government.
For the U.S., There Was No Goldilocks Option in Afghanistan
The sustainable stalemate is a myth, nothing more and nothing less.
Is Biden's Summit for Democracy a Good Idea?
The U.S.-organized Summit for Democracy is meant to give democracies a boost and put autocracies on notice. But the summit carries the risk of being counterintuitive.
The U.S. Needs to Stop Bringing Russia and China Closer Together
U.S. officials should not overestimate Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping's friendship.
Strategic Benefits of Withdrawal
Afghanistan's domestic troubles are no longer a U.S. responsibility.
North and South Korea are Talking Again
Until the Biden administration puts more flesh on the bones of its North Korea policy, it's difficult to see how attempts to improve inter-Korean relations will be anything other than minor or symbolic.
Why the U.S. Should be Wary of Calls for Foreign Intervention
From the outside, intervening in a dicey situation can seem like the easy solution to a devil of a problem. Too frequently, though, it turns out to be the wrong one.
Biden Shouldn't Ignore the Perils of Ideological Competition
Is it wise to pit every democracy against every autocracy and turn the complicated game of geopolitics into a simplistic, zero-sum existential struggle?
What Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria Say About U.S.-Middle East Policy
President Joe Biden's latest military action exposes the hot mess otherwise known as Washington's Middle East policy.
Is Congress Finally Asserting Themselves on War and Peace? TBD
Until lawmakers stop providing the executive branch the benefit of the doubt about when and where to take the nation to war, inter-branch disputes on this issue will continue for a long time to come.
NATO is a Military Alliance, Not a Values Club
Halfway through its first year in office, the Biden administration has adopted "democracy vs. autocracy" as the organizing theme of its foreign policy.
Biden, Putin and the Value of Diplomacy
If results are to be found during the Biden-Putin chat, they will likely happen at the margins and far away from the big, irreconcilable disputes that continue to hobble bilateral ties.
The Cold, Hard Truth about Belarus
There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's latest attempt to squelch opposition is a gut punch to those who believe horrible actions like this have no place in the 21st century.
How the World Views U.S. Foreign Policy
If anything should guide U.S. foreign policy, it is U.S. interests—not the need to be liked by a particular country.
The U.S. Needs to Accept Reality in Syria
Syria's neighbors, many of whom detest Bashar al-Assad and funneled arms and money to their favorite rebel groups earlier in the war, now acknowledge he isn't going anywhere.
The U.S. Defense Budget is Too Damn High
It's a vicious circle the U.S. has yet to escape: more defense spending tempts over-extension around the world, which in turn is used to justify even higher defense budgets in the future.