Argument
An expert’s point of view on a current event.
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Graduates from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government celebrate during the university’s 374th commencement in Cambridge, the United States, on May 29. Harvard Should Prepare to Move Abroad
CEU’s experience in Hungary shows that no amount of prestige or endowment can shield a university from determined state hostility.
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An illustration shows a world map fractured into several groupings that align with the dividing lines laid out in Samuel Huntington's book Clash of Civilizations. The broken up continents are scattered against a green background. How to Sell a Clash of Civilizations
The incoherence of Samuel Huntington’s famous thesis is also its power.
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A bald man in camouflage military fatigues reaches up to remove a poster board from a display easel. The poster is covered in various maps and diagrams of a nuclear facility in Iran. Bits of other people can be seen as they bustle around in the foreground. Iran Is on Course for a Bomb After U.S. Strikes Fail to Destroy Facilities
Satellite imagery confirms that Iranian capabilities are bruised, not annihilated.
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A member of the Iraqi Federal Police stands guard near the Seventeen Ramadan Mosque along al-Firdous square in Baghdad on March 9, 2023. Don’t Let Iran Become Another Iraq
Nuclear uncertainty is bad for regional stability.
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President Donald Trump and his national security team meet in the Situation Room of the White House, Saturday, June 21, 2025. The War for Trump’s Ego
The attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States were really about less than they seem.
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Damage in a residential building in the Saadat Abad neighborhood of Tehran on June 26, following the Israeli attack on Iran. Would Beijing Welcome Escalation in the Middle East?
China has plenty to lose from instability.
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The late Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaks during a memorial service beneath portraits of slain Hezbollah leader Hasssan Nasrallah, Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, and Nasrallah's successor, Hashem Safieddine, at the Grand Mosque in Tehran on Feb. 23. Iran Is Islamism’s Last Lifeline in the Middle East
Without support from a weakened Tehran, the region’s extremist movements would wither.
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A counterterrorism officer stands in front of Trump Tower in New York on March 30, 2023. Terrorism Means Something Different Now
The firewall between violent nonstate actors and conventional warfare has become highly permeable.
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A U.N. peacekeeper in a blue helmet is seen in profile as he holds the pole of a blue U.N. flag in front of a razor wire border fence. Three other blue-helmet troops are visible behind him, holding rifles and peering at the camera. The landscape beyond the fence is a dusty hill spotted with sparse plants. At 80, the U.N. Is Down But Not Out
Despite its many failings, the 80-year-old institution still has a vital role.
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A poster of Trump kneeling before Khamenei. Two women walk past it. Trump Is Just Trying to Save Face
It is becoming harder than ever to imagine that Iran will abandon nuclear ambitions.
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U.S. President Donald Trump looks down and adjusts his suit lapels as he poses alongside other leaders standing in rows for a family photo. The leaders around him face the camera and smile. NATO Is Avoiding a Difficult Conversation
Leaders lack public approval to make good on their promises on defense spending.
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Demonstrators wave Iranian flags and a poster of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, during a protest against Israeli attacks on Iran in Tehran on June 20. How the U.S. Locked Itself Into a Regime Change War
Trump’s insistence on zero enrichment was a poison pill in talks with Iran.
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An operational timeline of a strike on Iran is displayed during a Pentagon news conference on June 22. Trump’s Illiberal Interventionism
The president swore off building nations, not destroying them.
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Israeli nationalists wave flags as they dance and march in the streets during a parade marking Jerusalem Day on June 6, 2005 in Jerusalem, Israel. Israel Can Still Lose the Peace
History shows that Israel’s successful wars don’t always produce stability.
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A U.S. B-2 "Spirit" stealth bomber flies over Pasadena, California, on Jan. 1. Strikes on Iran Show the Force, and Limits, of Airpower
Technical dominance can’t compel regime change.
