Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Tweet of the day: Lebanon’s account

Carried on Exum‘s blog recently: “If Lebanon had a twitter account, I think I’d probably stop following it at this point.”

By
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

Carried on Exum's blog recently: "If Lebanon had a twitter account, I think I'd probably stop following it at this point."

Carried on Exum‘s blog recently: “If Lebanon had a twitter account, I think I’d probably stop following it at this point.”

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tag: Lebanon

latest

Iran Is Doubling Down on Headscarves

Cultural Decoupling From China Is Not the Answer

How the U.S. Created Its Own Reality

Biden Boosts Pacific Diplomacy

Hong Kong’s Bureaucrats Don’t Make Good Authoritarians
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    Why Did Trudeau Dawdle on Chinese Election Meddling?
  2. 2
    Deterrence in Taiwan Is Failing
  3. 3
    How the U.S. Created Its Own Reality
  4. 4
    The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
  5. 5
    Cultural Decoupling From China Is Not the Answer
  6. 6
    America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

More from Foreign Policy

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.

Trending

  1. How the U.S. Created Its Own Reality
    Excerpt
    Heather Cox Richardson

  2. The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky
    Argument
    Stephen M. Walt

  3. No, the World Is Not Multipolar
    Essay
    Jo Inge Bekkevold

  4. Wagner’s African Hosts Regret Letting Them In
    Dispatch
    Jack Detsch