As Trump Abdicates Global Leadership, Europe Moves to Fill the Vacuum
ROME—Donald Trump has Europe quaking. His performances at the NATO and G–7 summits last week have left the Continent more uncertain of its trans–Atlantic ties than at any time since the early postwar years. From Paris to Berlin to Rome,…
Are China’s Hidden Liabilities Behind Moody’s Ratings Downgrade?
Concerns about China’s “massive debt burden” and slowing economy are causing new concerns after Moody’s Investor Services sounded a full-blown alarm this week downgrading China’s credit rating on sovereign debt from Aa3 to A1. Why would Moody’s cut China’s rating…
Trump the Diplomat? Will He Charm or Harm US Relations?
Whoever put together President Trump’s first foreign tour has a good grasp of the grand gesture. When he departs Friday, his main stops are Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican, making Trump the first U.S. leader to visit the seats…
Trump Does Have Real Connections to Russia—and Here’s Why
When President Trump handed foreign policy over to his generals a few weeks ago, his plans for a new détente with Russia were dead in the water, and Secretary of State Tillerson was more or less out of the picture….
From Xi to Duterte: Why Trump Holds His Enemies Closer
President Trump is suddenly talking to a lot of the world’s “strongmen”—two in the past week—and proposing to talk to others. Should he be? In most cases, the answer is an emphatic “Yes,” and this seems to be Trump’s thinking,…
Has Erdoğan Turned Turkey From an Ally Into an Enemy?
When the heedless Recip Tayyip Erdoğan ordered Turkish jets to bomb Kurdish targets in Syria and Iraq this week—ignoring vigorous American objections—he faced the Trump administration with a question it can’t flinch from much longer: Is Turkey turning from a…
With Iran in His Crosshairs, Trump Has One Risky Chip to Play
This PDF document is the original version, as filed, of the column posted on April 20. Looks like Iran is next on the list of foreign-policy bad guys Team Trump has in its crosshairs. In an assertive statement Wednesday, Secretary…
Trump’s ‘Tough Guy’ Foreign Policy Falls Flat with Russia and China
Now that Russia and China have jumped to the top of Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda, how’s the president doing with Washington’s two most important relationships outside the Atlantic alliance? The crises in Syria and North Korea have suddenly complicated…
Trump Acts on Obama’s ‘Red Line’ by Launching Missiles at Syrian Targets
This PDF document is the original version, as filed, of the column posted on April 6. A week ago, administration officials said that ousting Syrian President Bashar al–Assad was no longer the U.S. priority. After Obama and then-Secretary of State…
Trump’s Climate Fail: Another Loss for American Leadership
President Trump put more than progress on climate change in jeopardy when he reversed the previous administration’s clean-energy policies on Tuesday. With a signature on an executive order, he put America’s global leadership more seriously at risk than at any…
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