Foreign Policy

Trump in Saudi Arabia

What Explains Trump’s Sharp About-Face on Saudi Arabia? What Explains Trump’s Sharp About-Face on Saudi Arabia?

It has more than a little to do with the power of the Saudi lobby—as well as the administration’s deep hostility toward Iran.

May 22, 2017 / James Carden

Trump and Lavrov

Did Trump Commit a Crime in Sharing Intelligence With Moscow? Did Trump Commit a Crime in Sharing Intelligence With Moscow?

The idea that these leaks to the Post by “current and former U.S. officials” are in the service of US national security interests strains credulity. They manifestly are not.

May 17, 2017 / James Carden

Mattis and Nicholson

Trump Is Poised to Plunge Deeper Into the Afghan Quagmire Trump Is Poised to Plunge Deeper Into the Afghan Quagmire

More US troops cannot stabilize the corrupt and despised government in Kabul.

May 17, 2017 / Michael T. Klare

PHILIPPINES US MILITARY DUTERTE

Are Trump’s Friendly Overtures to Autocrats a Break With Diplomatic Tradition? Are Trump’s Friendly Overtures to Autocrats a Break With Diplomatic Tradition?

The military bases America keeps in 45 less-than-democratic nations are evidence of our long-standing collaboration with repressive regimes.

May 16, 2017 / David Vine

China's New Silk Road

How China Is Building the Post-Western World How China Is Building the Post-Western World

Beijing’s Belt and Road project may be the largest single infrastructure program in human history.

May 16, 2017 / Patrick Lawrence

US Marine Afghanistan

The US Will Never Win the War in Afghanistan The US Will Never Win the War in Afghanistan

The military has no strategy for victory, merely a plan to avoid defeat.

May 16, 2017 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

Empire, Conquest, and the War America Forgot

Empire, Conquest, and the War America Forgot Empire, Conquest, and the War America Forgot

The historian William Hogeland talks about the first war the United States ever fought and the “problematic and thorny and painful” questions his new book raises.

May 15, 2017 / Richard Kreitner

US Forces YPG Arms

US Arms Syrian Kurds—and Turkey’s Erdogan Cries ‘Terrorism’ Ahead of Trump Meeting US Arms Syrian Kurds—and Turkey’s Erdogan Cries ‘Terrorism’ Ahead of Trump Meeting

Ankara fears it will help the Kurds form a federal ethnic province in Syria, and thus give the Turkish Kurds ideas.

May 12, 2017 / Juan Cole

Trump and Kissinger

What Kissinger Can Teach Trump about Surviving an Impeachment What Kissinger Can Teach Trump about Surviving an Impeachment

It’s all showbiz—that’s how Henry escaped the Watergate dragnet.

May 11, 2017 / Greg Grandin

American troops on patrol in Afghanistan

Why Armed Conflicts Almost Never Achieve Their Stated Goals Why Armed Conflicts Almost Never Achieve Their Stated Goals

When it comes to war, less often accomplishes more.

May 11, 2017 / Danny Sjursen

x