Elephants in the Room

The appointment of Kurt Campbell as Biden’s right hand on Asia will supercharge the incoming administration’s policy to counter China.

This week’s escalation of tensions by Tehran looks like blackmail to force Biden to abandon sanctions—and give up leverage over the regime.

Trump failed because key Republicans backed down and the military stayed out—yet critical questions remain.

Trump failed because key Republicans backed down and the military stayed out—yet critical questions remain.

The incoming U.S. president must hold China and other countries accountable for religious persecution—and counter Beijing’s global campaign to destroy human rights.

Moving quickly to resurrect the JCPOA, as Biden seems set to do, would start his presidency with a hugely divisive controversy.

Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty dangerously undermines decades of carefully crafted U.S. policy.

The Saudis need to get on Biden’s good side. Obvious places to start include releasing women’s rights activists.

Refusing to concede and start the transition creates mostly hindrances, not disasters. But on key issues, obstructing Biden puts America in danger.

He was successful because only an iconoclastic president could have rejected false assumptions and failed strategies.

From suffering U.S. farmers to the pain inflicted on the developing world, everything about U.S. agriculture policy is dysfunctional. The next administration can do better.

Americans are already less safe because of growing distrust in their intelligence. Dangers will multiply without a change in political leadership.

Normalizing ties with Israel could mean removal from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list, allowing the country to rebuild its shattered economy—but U.S. legislators are standing in the way.

Deals with the UAE and Bahrain demonstrate the Palestinian issue is no longer a barrier to Israeli-Arab cooperation.

Trump is losing support among the troops. That’s just one reason why the military risks getting sucked into the campaign.

Trump’s friends have opted for their usual grievance politics.

Many former Republican national security officials just endorsed Biden. They will be hobbled in the fight for the party’s post-Trump future.

A Trump empowered with a second term would be a threat to the United States, especially in Asia.

As a critical vote approaches, the fate of Iran nuclear sanctions—and decades of multilateralism—lies in the hands of Britain and France.

It’s a historic achievement that eluded other presidents. Trump will try to make the most of it.

Our contributors weigh in on Bernie Sanders’s departure from the U.S. presidential race—and what it means for an election campaign overshadowed by the coronavirus.

Our experts weigh in on the first head-to-head debate between the two main remaining Democratic contenders.

European leaders are flirting with the idea of going it alone—but Washington should be willing to call their bluff.

Musical chairs in the Iraqi parliament can no longer solve the country's problems.

Republican foreign-policy experts weigh in on the most eventful debate of the 2020 primary.

Even if neither side wants war, the road ahead is hazardous.

Putting America’s annual $3.8 billion of military assistance to Israel on the chopping block makes for good politics. But it makes no sense for U.S. national security.

Ten takeaways from the biggest civil-military crisis (so far) of the Trump administration.

Neither Trump nor the international relations experts who cheered his choice to withdraw U.S. troops have wrestled adequately with the costs of departure.

The withdrawal from Syria is part of a broader pattern of weakness, especially in response to Iran.

When it comes to international cooperation, the White House is repeating the mistakes of the past.

Donald Trump should use the U.N. General Assembly as an opportunity to open dialogue with Mohammad Javad Zarif.

It’s finally time to breathe new life into the country’s moribund economy.

The United States and Russia can’t maintain the global system of nuclear deterrence on their own anymore.

Maximum pressure could still deliver strategic outcomes.

Even with the eyes of the world elsewhere, here’s how Trump can keep up pressure on Maduro.