By Scott Strgacich One day in 14th century Italy, two friars entered the castle of Sir John Hawkwood, the storied English mercenary captain, to petition him regarding some minor business. “May God give you peace, my lord,” they began. “May God take away your alms,” Sir John responded venomously. “Do you not know that … Continue reading Long Wars and Their Discontents
Written by Samuel Leiter In 2019, we sit on the precipice of the first transition in international politics since the end of the Cold War. The United States’ position as the pre-eminent global power is beingquestioned. Donald Trump’s boisterous threats to end American alliances and the rise of leaders who repudiate the existing international order reflect that America’s world order and unipolar moment are in their twilight … Continue reading The Balance of Power Never Left
Cover image by Natalie Wu Written by Jan Gerber On December 3, 2018, as the warmest year on record was coming to a close, the Polish President Andrzej Duda delivered his opening remarks at the COP24 Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland. With the double-edged motto of the conference, “Changing Together,” over his head, Mr. Duda … Continue reading The Populist Pushback on Climate Change
Image by Dan Scavino Jr. By John Park, reporting from Seoul; edited by Andrew Doris In just a few days, President Donald Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jung-un for a second summit in Hanoi. This follows the Singapore summit of June 2018, at which Trump and Kim signed a historic joint … Continue reading Analysis from Seoul: Second Trump-Kim Summit
Yugoslavian Army General Headquarters building damaged during NATO bombing. Source: Not Home at Wikimedia By Coleman Hopkins President Trump’s recently expressed desire to withdraw US forces from Syria has set off neoconservative and progressive critics who charge that such an action would put the security of America’s regional allies at risk, and would even advance … Continue reading Syria, Yugoslavia, and A Lesson for America
Thwaites Glacier. Image credit: NASA By Natalie Wu With the conclusion of the Iraq War and the winding down of the War in Afghanistan, there has been a new consensus in Washington D.C. that "great power competition” is replacing terrorism as the primary threat to U.S. national security. This viewpoint is most clearly articulated … Continue reading An (In)Visible Enemy: Climate Change
By Keith Blankfield Graffiti on the wall of the closed US embassy in Tehran. © David Holt On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to impose new sanctions on Iran, thus violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and jeopardizing the 2015 nuclear nonproliferation agreement between Iran and the West. Like … Continue reading Violating the Iran Nuclear Deal: Reducing American Leverage
By Austin Rose On Friday, January 26, President Donald Trump stood before a packed crowd of global elites at the famously ritzy World Economic Forum in Davos and proclaimed that “the United States will no longer turn a blind eye to unfair economic practices including… industrial subsidies and pervasive state-led economic planning.” Ironically, that very … Continue reading The Problem with Trump’s Tariffs
By Evan Drukker-Schardl We Americans can be forgiven for complaining about the political whiplash that has bombarded our news cycle in recent months. We dealt with a disorganized White House plagued by scandals and investigations, over inflated reports of the nuclear war threat from North Korea, protests against immigration, taxes, healthcare issues, and even a … Continue reading Trump’s Jerusalem Decision: A Look from Israel
