National Security

Shredding while Gazans burn: Secretary of State Antony Blinken performs “Rockin’ in the Free World” in Kyiv on May 14, 2024.

Antony Blinken’s Legacy Is Buried Under the Rubble of Gaza Antony Blinken’s Legacy Is Buried Under the Rubble of Gaza

Despite valedictory speeches, the secretary of state will be remembered not for his successes—or his guitar playing—but for the humanitarian catastrophe he aided and abetted.

Jan 13, 2025 / Jonathan Guyer

Let’s call the whole thing off: Justin Trudeau shaking hands with Donald Trump at a NATO summit in London to mark the alliance's 70th anniversary in December 2019.

Justin Trudeau’s Fecklessness Made Him an Easy Target for MAGA Manifest Destiny Justin Trudeau’s Fecklessness Made Him an Easy Target for MAGA Manifest Destiny

The United States probably won’t annex Canada. But Trump’s imperial dreams are already destabilizing the world.

Jan 10, 2025 / Jeet Heer

Minerals displayed at the showroom of a battery recycling plant in Wuhan, China, in 2023.

Beijing Calls Washington’s Bluff on Strategic Metals Beijing Calls Washington’s Bluff on Strategic Metals

China’s latest export restriction lays bare the complex geopolitics behind President Trump’s proposed tariffs—and the green energy transition.

Jan 2, 2025 / Nicolas Niarchos

Trump China Tariffs

What to Expect With Trump’s Future China Policy What to Expect With Trump’s Future China Policy

China is considered the Big One by those in Trump’s entourage responsible for devising foreign policy.

Dec 23, 2024 / Michael T. Klare

An effigy of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a protest outside the National Assembly in Seoul following the second martial law impeachment vote on December 14, 2024.

South Korea's Autumn of the Patriarchy South Korea's Autumn of the Patriarchy

President Yoon Suk-yeol is the first of his country's leaders eager to be a stooge of both Washington and Tokyo. His impeachment is testimony to the strength of Korean democracy.

Dec 19, 2024 / Bruce Cumings

Good Neighbor Policy: Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro chat during an exposition game between the Cuban national team and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Havana on March 22, 2016.

Biden’s Legacy on Cuba Biden’s Legacy on Cuba

On the 10th anniversary of Obama’s opening, the outgoing president should take immediate action because it is good for the US, good for the Cuban people—and the right thing to do....

Dec 17, 2024 / Peter Kornbluh

The new face of the resistance? Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

It Would Be Idiotic to Make Mitch McConnell the Face of Anti-Trump Resistance It Would Be Idiotic to Make Mitch McConnell the Face of Anti-Trump Resistance

Countering imaginary isolationism, the outgoing Senate Republican leader advocates a return to Cold War militarism.

Dec 17, 2024 / Jeet Heer

Partners for peace? Trump meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2019. Instead of attacking Trump’s diplomatic initiatives as “weak,” Democrats should support negotiations.

Progressives Can’t Afford to Spend the Next 4 Years Just Playing Defense Progressives Can’t Afford to Spend the Next 4 Years Just Playing Defense

Or reflexively denouncing every Trump policy. While we mustn’t underestimate the danger he poses to our democracy, when he says he wants to end war, the left should call his bluff...

Dec 17, 2024 / Matthew Duss

French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet with President-elect Donald Trump at the Elysée Palace on December 7, 2024, in Paris, France.

How Europe Can Learn to Love Trump How Europe Can Learn to Love Trump

Is it too late for Europe to unwind its dependence on the United States?

Dec 16, 2024 / Harrison Stetler

Celebrations erupted around Syria and crowds ransacked President Bashar al-Assad's luxurious home on December 8 after Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus and declared that he had fled the country, in a spectacular end to five decades of Baath party rule.

Celebrations in Syria May Be Premature Celebrations in Syria May Be Premature

The speed of the Assad dictatorship's collapse stunned even the opposition. But the result is a power vacuum that Israel and Turkey have already moved to occupy.

Dec 12, 2024 / Séamus Malekafzali

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