
The First Draft of History
Why the decline of foreign reporting makes for worse foreign policy.

All Is Not Quiet on Ethiopia’s Western Front
How Addis Ababa deals with ethnic violence in the region of Benishangul-Gumuz will determine the country’s future.

10 Conflicts to Watch in 2021
The world in 2021 will be haunted by the legacies of 2020: an ongoing pandemic, an economic crisis, Donald Trump’s divisive presidency—and new threats emanating from wars and climate change.

NATO, We Want to Go to War With You
Wargames can provide essential cybersecurity training for soldiers. But they won’t succeed unless the players confront real, independent hackers.

The War in Tigray Is a Fight Over Ethiopia’s Past—and Future
The current conflict is the latest battle in a long-running war over the country’s identity as a unitary or federal state. The United States can restore its credibility as an honest broker by helping resolve it.

Afghanistan Needs Truth Before It Can Have Reconciliation
Politicians and warlords have benefited from decades of violence. The victims of the country’s endless wars could provide the key to a lasting peace.

Russian Troops in Nagorno-Karabakh ‘Clearly a Win for Moscow’
The Russian-brokered cease-fire that ended six weeks of fighting means soldiers on the ground—either as peacekeepers or as a vanguard of Putin’s latest garrison state.

Ethiopia’s Government and the TPLF Leadership Are Not Morally Equivalent
The leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front are seeking to manipulate the international community into backing a power-sharing deal that grants it impunity for past crimes and gives it far more future influence over the country than it deserves.

Tigray’s War Against Ethiopia Isn’t About Autonomy. It’s About Economic Power.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is fighting the country’s revanchist old regime, which is intent on recapturing the economic and political influence it once held.

The United States Can’t Sleepwalk Into the Coming Military Revolutions
European leaders misjudged World War I. America shouldn’t repeat their mistake.

Forget U.N. Peacekeepers: Send in the Gendarmes
In gray-zone conflicts, police don’t have the skills to bring peace and full-scale military interventions can lead to escalation. A force that can bring stability is needed.

Is Ethiopia Headed for Civil War?
Abiy Ahmed’s military move against the Tigray region could spark a conflict with the party that once dominated Ethiopian politics—and tear the country apart.

What to Do When Predicting Pandemics
Simulations have forecast disastrous consequences before. Here’s how to act on the lessons of wargames before they come to pass.

The United Nations Isn’t Jeopardizing Children in Conflict Zones. It’s Protecting Them.
Shaming violators alone won’t stop the use of child soldiers and other human rights abuses. Defending children’s rights requires engagement with governments and armed groups.

The Hiroshima Effect
Seventy-five years after the first nuclear bomb fell, we are grateful it hasn’t happened again, mystified it didn’t, and terrified it still might.

How the Coronavirus Crisis Is Silencing Dissent and Sparking Repression
A look at how protests, political violence, and conflict have played out during the pandemic.

Guilt by Location
Around the world, security forces use forced displacement as a means of sorting populations. To fix the global displacement crisis, it’s critical to understand how and why they do it.