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

Party down with the big thinkers, get the skinny on the policies of tomorrow

Do it all at CNAS’s annual Woodstock for policy wonkers. It will be on June 13 in DC.  If you haven’t seen Brzezinski and Scowcroft do their breakdancing routine, you haven’t lived. Bust them moves.

By
Wikimedia
Wikimedia
Wikimedia

Do it all at CNAS's annual Woodstock for policy wonkers. It will be on June 13 in DC. 

Do it all at CNAS’s annual Woodstock for policy wonkers. It will be on June 13 in DC. 

If you haven’t seen Brzezinski and Scowcroft do their breakdancing routine, you haven’t lived. Bust them moves.

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
Tags: Economic Development, Foreign & Public Diplomacy, North America, U.S. Foreign Policy

latest

Ursula von der Leyen Is Europe’s Ruthlessly Efficient Machine

Why Everyone Is Courting Mauritania

U.S. Sudan Sanctions Won’t Work Without the UAE’s Help

Azerbaijan Clinches Cease-Fire With Armenian Separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh

Trudeau’s Allegations Upend India-Canada Ties
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    The True Story of the Genetically Modified Superfood That Almost Saved Millions
  2. 2
    A New Multilateralism
  3. 3
    America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want
  4. 4
    The West Is Preparing for Russia’s Disintegration
  5. 5
    U.S. Sudan Sanctions Won’t Work Without the UAE’s Help

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 China Uses Shipping for Surveillance and Control
    Argument
    Elaine Dezenski, David Rader

  2. America Can’t Stop China’s Rise
    Essay
    Tony Chan, Ben Harburg, Kishore Mahbubani

  3. Trudeau’s Allegations Upend India-Canada Ties
    South Asia Brief
    Michael Kugelman

  4. Kosovo and Taiwan Eye an Alliance of Outsiders
    Analysis
    James Baron