Argument
An expert’s point of view on a current event.
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Trump motions with both hands outstretched to his sides as he stands at a podium. Behind him is a low pyramid of stacked oil barrels. Energy Security Means Using Less Oil
The war with Iran shows why hopes for energy independence are inadequate.
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U.S. President Donald Trump announces U.S. strikes on Iran with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth standing alongside, at the White House in Washington on June 21. An Emerging Trump Doctrine?
Success in the Middle East could be a template for a new approach to Russia’s war.
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Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama speaks in a video broadcast at the start of the 15th Tibetan Religious Conference, a meeting of religious leaders in McLeod Ganj, near Dharamsala, India. The Dalai Lama Defies China to Announce His Reincarnation Plans
As Tibet’s exiled leader turns 90, a radical spiritual approach might solve the succession problem.
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A photo illustration of Xi and Putin smiling at each other with the U.S. Capitol building in the background and mpas of BRICS countries in the foreground. How BRICS Can Survive ‘America First’
Successes are still quite limited, but the grouping has the potential to shape a new international order.
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United States President Donald Trump, accompanied by his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, gestures with a clenched fist in Abu Dhabi on May 16. Why the U.S. Should Build Data Centers in Dubai and Riyadh
Turning away partners with a clear preference for American AI infrastructure creates a vacuum that China will fill.
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United States Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican from South Dakota, walks from his office to the Senate floor at the Capitol in Washington on June 30. Senate Republicans Just Undermined Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda
Their version of the budget bill misses that every energy supply chain today is global.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a handover ceremony for the new Israeli chief of staff on January 15, 2019 at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv. Israel’s War on Iran Backfired
Despite what it claims, Israel failed to achieve its goals in its latest war.
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UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan greets Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the leaders summit during the COP27 climate conference, in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, on November 7, 2022. The Middle East’s End of Ideology
Across the region, transnational movements are giving way to a political model based on strong states.
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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.
