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

Best Defense’s worst president poll

The results will be posted tomorrow, so if you care to vote, please do so sometime today. And yes, Jimmy Carter should have been on the list. I just forgot about him.

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

The results will be posted tomorrow, so if you care to vote, please do so sometime today.

The results will be posted tomorrow, so if you care to vote, please do so sometime today.

And yes, Jimmy Carter should have been on the list. I just forgot about him.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

Read More On History

Latest

Israel, Hamas Agree to 24-Hour Cease-Fire Extension

The Year-End AUKUS Push

Will the Cease-Fire Change Israel’s Strategy?

Israel Weighing Special Court for Palestinian Suspects in Oct. 7 Massacre

South Korea Offers a Chance to Modernize Old Alliances
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
  2. 2
    Why Gaza Won’t End Up Like East Timor or Kosovo
  3. 3
    Jordan’s Teetering Balancing Act
  4. 4
    Britain’s Navy Is Diminished. Its Ambitions Are Not.
  5. 5
    Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
  6. 6
    America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.

Trending

  1. Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
    Argument
    Annie Sparrow

  2. Britain’s Navy Is Diminished. Its Ambitions Are Not.
    Dispatch
    Alexander Wooley

  3. America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
    Shadow Government
    A. Wess Mitchell

  4. The West’s False Choice in Ukraine
    Argument
    Nona Mikhelidze, Nathalie Tocci

  5. Solving the Mystery of Henry Kissinger’s Reputation
    Argument
    Stephen M. Walt