Expanding US-Pakistan Relations Through Mining Projects
The geopolitics of minerals has changed in the last five years, driven largely by the global focus on electric cars. The demand for minerals used in batteries, like lithium, cobalt, and copper, will quadruple by 2040. Among top consumers is the US military; its drone fleets, reconnaissance robots, and directed energy weapons will run on […]
How Donald Trump Can Win the Nobel Peace Prize
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump said that he would end the war between Ukraine and Russia in 24 hours. While he cannot achieve that goal so rapidly, it is conceivable that the second Trump administration could stop the fighting in Ukraine, in which case the president-elect would be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. […]
Ukraine in a Second Trump Administration: The Case for Optimism
Since the US presidential election, friends and supporters have asked us at Razom for Ukraine how we feel about the future of Ukraine. Razom for Ukraine is an American aid and advocacy organization that has delivered more than $100 million in humanitarian assistance since 2022. Razom employs dozens of staff in Ukraine currently on the […]
Rethinking American-Chinese Competition in the Global South
Imagine a world where China buys all the mines in Africa, further solidifying its dominance over the production of rare earth minerals. Imagine if the entire Global South’s telecommunication networks were controlled by Huawei, subsea fiber-optic cables are nearly exclusively built or repaired by China’s HMN Technologies. Imagine the bulk of maritime trade passes through […]
Trump II Will Inherit a Divisive Political Scene in Israel
Most Israelis supported President Trump in this election, believing he would fully support Israel in its ongoing war against Iranian proxies. Prime Minister Netanyahu was among the first world leaders to congratulate him But the future Trump administration’s specific policies towards the Middle East remain unclear. During his campaign, Trump expressed interest in promoting peace […]
Africa in the Second Trump Administration
The Republican Party’s 2024 Platform did not mention Africa. Yet this does not mean that a coherent and potentially transformative American approach towards the “continent of tomorrow” cannot be found in the foreign policy vision articulated by President Trump and in the record of his first term. Here are three general guiding principles: First, America […]
A South Asia Roadmap
As the incoming Trump administration turns its gaze outward, it will find a world that is rudderless in many places, often stagnant and bereft, in no small measure owing to the abdication of any meaningful leadership from the United States that began under Barack Obama. In large parts of the world—Latin America, for instance, and […]
Trump II Will Be Different
Donald Trump’s resounding victory has potentially tectonic implications for allies, friends and the world. People are drawing conclusions by extrapolating from Trump’s actions in his first term. I think it could be a bit different this time. First, despite Trump’s campaign style as performance art, there was more structure and substance to his campaign this time. He […]
Closing Arguments in the American Presidential Campaign
It would be hard to think of a starker contrast than that between the two candidates on foreign policy. One refers to America as a “garbage can for the world.” The other says that “the American dream belongs to all of us.” One is calling for a massive increase in tariffs, while the other dismisses them […]
American Priorities for Engaging the Iranian Opposition
In September 2022, Iranians from all walks of life took to the streets against the ruling clerical regime. The immediate cause was the brutal death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of regime security forces for the crime of improperly wearing her Islamic headscarf or hijab. The grassroots protests quickly transformed into something else: […]
