Dereliction of Duty II: The Afghanistan Years
There has been a lot of writing lately on Afghanistan as the new administration struggles with what do to there, just as the previous administration […]
Opinion
Focus on Clear Goals to Contain Iran in Iraq and Syria
With the liberation of Mosul from ISIS and the impending conquest of the “Caliphate” capital Raqqa, the U.S. is at a decision point in the […]
“Dispatches from Hell Before Breakfast”
President Donald Trump is not the first American public figure to go to war with the press, nor is he the most extreme in his […]
Gambling with Catastrophe on the Korean Peninsula
If there has been one common refrain from the Trump administration, it is that President Barack Obama’s policy of “strategic patience” towards North Korea was […]
Trump’s War Wider than Afghanistan
Afghanistan is now President Donald Trump’s war, but it’s wider than just that country. Having refused to accept a strategy and operational plan presented to […]
A Candid Conversation with The White House’s Man on Cyber
The White House’s National Security team is expected to issue a report early this week outlining U.S. options for deterring adversaries in cyber space. The […]
Wanted: Robust Intelligence and Diplomatic Reporting
Son Sen was the Khmer Rouge’s Heinrich Himmler, in charge of carrying out Cambodia’s own holocaust that killed up to two million in the […]
Cyber Deterrence Cannot Be One Size Fits All
The fallout of major cyber attacks and espionage campaigns increasingly shapes interactions between nations. The vulnerability of the United States to such digital intrusions will […]
U.S. Counterintelligence Director: Putin “Achieved His Mission”
Robert Hanssen. Aldrich Ames. Those are just two of the faces peering out from a mock-up “Wall of Shame” of double agents and leakers that […]
Pushback Against Iran
As if there were not enough world problems already facing the United States, President Donald Trump is now talking about declaring Iran “non-compliant” with the […]
No One Makes Money by Betting Against Hong Kong
For the seven million people of Hong Kong, living next to a rising China, this year marks three important anniversaries. Most commentary focused on the […]
The Lessons of Five Decades of Foreign Service
U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, envoy to Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, and Somalia: James Dobbins has had years of […]
Is Artificial Intelligence an Existential Threat?
It is not unusual for disrupting technologies to be embraced and feared—and not necessarily in that order. That was and will continue to be true […]
Trump’s Memory Failures
President Donald Trump’s penchant for making misleading or false statements has been well documented. Former CIA Director John Brennan last week offered a possible reason […]
How Trump Changed Putin’s Calculus in Hamburg
President Trump’s second, private meeting with Russian President Putin at the recent G20 meeting has been the subject of considerable scrutiny. While perhaps politically unwise […]
The (Soft) Power to Transform Fragile States
Challenges facing those who work in the developing world are complex, profound, varied, and sometimes existential. They range from assuring the health and security of […]
Russia Wins When U.S. Stops Arming Anti-Assad Rebels
President Trump has decided to end the CIA-sponsored program to arm Syrian anti-Assad rebels, according to a Washington Post report on Wednesday. The newspaper quotes […]
Dunkirk: The Larger-than-Life Story on a Larger-than-Life Screen
If you don’t know what a Stukka Dive Bomber sounds like, you will never forget its eerie, piercing wail after watching Dunkirk. It is sound, […]