US Involvement in the Post-October 7 Middle East
In the years preceding the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, two alternative strategic trajectories seemed to shape the discourse on US involvement in the Middle East: gradual disengagement or intensified great-power competition. By late 2025, following two years of war, a third strategic option has reemerged: American dominance. The US Options Before the October […]
Truth Has Finally Defeated Fear
Thank you President Trump. Thank you for understanding what so many refused to confront. Thank you for doing what generations of leaders hesitated to attempt. Thank you for exposing the dark machinery that has shaped the Middle East’s tragedies for far too long. I write as someone from an Arab and Muslim country, someone who […]
Reforming the Department of State: A Vision for an Elite, Agile Diplomatic Corps
The United States possesses the world’s most powerful military, the largest economy, and the most admired culture. Yet, for decades, thoughtful observers have noted a quiet paradox: our diplomatic influence has not kept pace with our hard power. In an era defined by strategic competition with China, Russian revanchism, renewed war in Europe, and Iranian-sponsored […]
Can Europe Go It Alone?
Under the Trump administration, which entered office in January 2025, the United States has spurned, or at least attenuated, international democracy promotion, close Euro-Atlantic coordination and direct material support for Ukraine. As a result, there is increasing discussion about Europe’s new role not only in defending Ukraine, but also in dealing with autocracies and other […]
Confronting the Muslim Brotherhood: A Practical Roadmap for the Trump Administration
Ten months into his second term, President Donald Trump has reshaped much of the Middle East’s political landscape. His team helped steady a fragile calm in Gaza, revived coordination among key Arab and Israeli partners, and signaled a broader plan to check Iranian influence. The growing Arab-Israeli security cooperation that emerged from the Abraham Accords […]
The United States as an Offshore Balancer
Americans’ frustration with recent failures abroad, combined with looming challenges in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East, have inspired a search for a new framework for American foreign policy. The suggestion has emerged that the United States could learn from the guiding principle of British foreign policy for several centuries until 1945 – offshore […]
Lessons Learned From Fighting Narcoterrorism in South America
The fight against narcoterrorism has returned to the vocabulary of American policymakers. The Trump administration has deployed Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps assets to the Caribbean and destroyed several drug-carrying vessels, just the beginning of a campaign according to the President. This time the US effort is centered on Venezuela, but it is nevertheless […]
No Real Alternative: Why the Gulf Will Rely on the US
Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, on September 9 jarred the region and spurred a new outburst of skepticism about the value of US security commitments. The US has long sought a stable regional environment in which American partners do not attack one another, which the Doha attack obviously disrupted. Nevertheless, the Middle East simply has […]
America’s Options in Afghanistan
Four years have passed since the United States withdrew in chaos from Afghanistan, abandoning important projects, leaving behind billions of dollars of equipment and handing the Taliban many other assets in that country. The Taliban still rule Afghanistan. They face a mountain of unresolved problems yet are ready to employ as much force as necessary […]
The War on Soft Power
In the first Trump administration, then director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney said “There’s no question this is a hard-power budget. It is not a soft-power budget. . . [We want] to send a message to our allies and our potential adversaries that this is a strong-power administration. So you have […]
