U.S. Foreign Policy

Historian Rana Mitter on the new balance of power between Washington and Beijing.

A lot of things have gone horribly wrong—and it’s not over yet.

Rivalry with Beijing is inevitable. Economic rupture would be disastrous.

The U.S. president heads to Beijing in detente and dealmaking mode.

Two goals have been in tension in U.S. policy for nearly half a century.

By pulling Seoul into its rivalry with Beijing, Washington is undermining the alliance’s core mission.

There is a way out of this mess—but not right away.

The United States has given up on one of its core international strengths.

Washington has no good options for evacuating Americans in a crisis.

From Europe to Asia, governments are hedging against unreliable and erratic U.S. power.

The next secretary-general is likely to hail from the region.

The State Department has launched a throwback recruitment campaign following layoffs and changes to diversity policies.

Why exports of illegally sourced gold are gaining on drugs in funding the continent’s illicit economy.

Stephen M. Walt’s prescription for anxious countries.

The hostage crisis dominated headlines—and left a lasting impression on Donald Trump.

Witkoff and Kushner are merely the tip of the iceberg.

In the Iran war and beyond, Madrid has often done a better job looking out for U.S. interests than Washington.

Trump’s talk of monetizing the Strait of Hormuz undermines a basic strategic interest.

A look back at the U.S. intervention in Venezuela that the president wants to replicate.

Brett McGurk advised four presidents on a contested region—but to what end?

Instead of ending the fighting, the current deal has mostly managed to complicate it.

The war began without a strategy for victory. The peace has no formula, either.

Militias aligned with Tehran are embedded in some of the country’s most powerful networks.

The U.S. president has a history of following other world leaders—or his gut—instead of his own intelligence officers and experts.

The lack of a counterweight encourages intervention and overreach.

Now, the question is the extent to which Trump’s hubris will hurt U.S. interests in the long term.

Iran is exposing the limits of a presidency built on bluff, improvisation, and submission rituals.

Lawmakers have concerns about cost, possible ground troops, and unclear objectives.

Here’s what the rest of the world can do about it.

Like Helsinki during the Cold War, Ottawa today is threatened by a bellicose and powerful neighbor.

The shift to an attritional war focused on energy infrastructure risks becoming a quagmire.

When voters sense the president is more focused abroad than on the economy, they punish him for it.

Turning a popular idea from the American left outward.

The White House wants a win. Many Cubans are pushing for democratization.

How this war ends is as uncertain as the reasons for starting it.

It would be a mistake for Trump to defer to Netanyahu’s regime change fantasies.

Presidents cannot ignore the long-term costs of dismissing the truth in pursuit of national security.

Trump’s decision to return to the Middle East echoes the strategic folly that undid Britain.

Leaders emerged from the “Shield of the Americas” with few policy specifics.

Ill-considered overreach in Iran and elsewhere signals imminent decline.

Washington has yet to recognize that mobility is an essential part of regional security.

After threatening war for decades, the Israeli leader saw his window of opportunity closing.

Wars of this kind aren’t necessarily won by the side that’s more powerful.

It’s a convenient argument that echoes an antisemitic trope.

Removing an enemy leader is easy compared with producing a stable political outcome.

The war on Iran sounds the death knell for the old-school idea of “you break it, you own it.”

Why every U.S. president ends up in a major military campaign.

Early views fell along ideological lines as the international community waits for damage reports.

Now is the time for Democratic leaders to stand firm against the risk of a catastrophic conflict.

The killing of “El Mencho” shows that Mexico’s president has ditched her predecessor’s softer approach to cartels.

Crime groups operate less like nations and more like banks.

Beijing is less likely to risk an invasion while Trump is facilitating its pressure campaign against Taipei.

Washington can start a war, but it may not be able to control the escalation.

Lawsuits to reinstate frozen foreign aid have been hampered by questions of standing, jurisdiction, and legal technicalities.

To understand Trump’s approach to the world, look at the leaders he resembles.

Tehran thinks it has negotiations with the United States under control. The results could be catastrophic.

Some other Southeast Asian countries are steering clear.

The United States is conducting diplomacy by way of the "Law and Order" television show.

European leaders must revive it before disaster strikes.

Washington needs to compete forcefully in its backyard without relying on force alone.

The world is a more dangerous place as New START expires and China’s nuclear arsenal grows.

A contested idea has seen many alleged deaths.

The Republican foreign-policy establishment is developing a robust middle way between primacy and restraint.

Trump’s director of national intelligence is making worse the problems with the ill-conceived role.

Venezuela offers a potential diplomatic model for Washington and Tehran.

Mohammed Ibrahim is one of hundreds of Palestinian children who report physical abuse in Israeli detention.

Latin American conservatives love to lavish praise upon the U.S. president. But doing so could undermine the region’s long-term interests.

Donald Trump has restored his country’s traditionally tense relationship with its northern neighbor.

Trump announced the deal in a social media post on Monday.

U.S. allies are uniquely vulnerable to coercion by the United States.

Current trendlines point to more U.S. military engagement in the region, not less.

Senators attacked the Trump administration’s justification for Maduro’s capture.

The competition between Abrahamic and Islamic coalitions is reshaping the region.

America’s allies may comply for now. But the damage to trust will have consequences.

U.S. aggression is nothing new for the region.

Extending the nuclear treaty is not about trust—it’s about pragmatism.

The U.S. president followed up a concerning speech with a confusing announcement.

The commentariat persists in misrepresenting the U.S. president and his actions.

The U.S. president said he and the NATO secretary-general “formed the framework of a future deal” but provided few details.

An infrastructure project between Afghanistan, Iran, and India gets caught in Trump’s crosshairs—again.

The continent is finally showing some strategic resolve. Will it last?

Lawmakers opted against using the power of the purse to forbid forcible annexation of Greenland.

In his speech in Davos, Trump asked for the territory and said only the United States could defend it.

Washington can intervene militarily, but any regime change strategy needs to start in Iran itself.

From tariffs to text threats, U.S. President Donald Trump is not backing down.

For all its risks, Beijing has become a more predictable partner than the United States under Trump.

The ambiguous meaning of Israel’s new yellow line.

Then as now, big stick diplomacy will lead to costly cycles of intervention and retrenchment.

Why Washington keeps encouraging foreign uprisings—and then walking away.

Geopolitical analyst Ian Bremmer on Trump’s foreign-policy ideology—and how the world is adapting to it.

A long history shows what not to do when trying to encourage political change in a foreign land.

From Russia-Ukraine to the U.S. midterms, Trump faces a bumpier year at home and abroad.

The U.S. president has his sights on the island. But it’s a very different case from Venezuela.

Years of accumulated trust are being spent for short-term leverage.

Senate Republicans successfully used a controversial procedural tactic to strip a war powers resolution of its privileged status.

The Christmas attack did not target the Islamic State, observers say.

As the United States pursues gunboat diplomacy, Europe and South America are choosing cooperation instead.

Ignore the critics. The logic of consolidation that defines the new National Security Strategy is eminently sensible.

The revolution in U.S. foreign policy will lead to a much less stable world.

The White House’s aggressive posture is already pushing other countries to seek strength in numbers.