Trump and Jerusalem: Will his “hard power” realism backfire bigly?
Like much of Trump’s foreign policy, the Jerusalem decision recognizes ugly facts about the U.S. role in the world Clarity is preferable to ambiguity even when the clear picture is grim. So I have found in many circumstances, and so…
There Are More Important Questions to Ask Than Whether Rex Tillerson Is In or Out at State
A renovated foreign policy rests on a great variety of factors beyond a house-cleaning at State. As so often with the Trump administration, one cannot tell what is what as to the future of Rex Tillerson. The secretary of state…
Trump’s foreign policy is confused — but it isn’t really Trump’s
Trump had one consequential moment during his Asia trip — and everyone in the rudderless American media missed it No sooner did Donald Trump return a week ago from his 12-day escapade in Asia than the bickering began. Did the…
Trump in Beijing—Devoid of a Strategy, While Xi Deploys China’s
Next to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, and its alliance with Moscow, Washington’s preference for perpetual conflict looks pitifully bankrupt. A tour of the Forbidden City, dinner in the Great Hall of the People, a review of the People’s Liberation…
Trump’s Non-Existent Foreign Policy Is Costing the US Both Money and Influence
The Trump administration has no coherent foreign policy, and the U.S. is paying the price for the President’s failure to figure out a post–Obama strategic framework. Trump and many of his advisers don’t seem to understand the speed at which…
Trump Has No South China Sea Strategy—and Needs One Fast
The South China Sea question is rolling toward the Trump White House like a long, low Pacific wave. Whenever it breaks, the president’s going to need a strategy he doesn’t seem to have yet. The strategy is just a piece…
Trump Takes a Running Whack at the Liberal Interventionists
He’s erratic and he’s no progressive, but at least he’s challenging the high priests of the foreign-policy establishment. Do not say Donald Trump the candidate hid his foreign-policy plans under a bushel, or that President-elect Trump did not hang in…
5 Foreign Policy Challenges President-Elect Trump Faces Before He Unpacks
Foreigners always watch U.S. elections, but rarely with the edge-of-the-seat suspense evident as the votes were tallied Tuesday. With Donald Trump’s dramatic victory, they’re as much in the dark as we are. Pick your foreign policy: What’s he going to…
Will Trump Break the Post–Cold War Order?
Much will depend on whom he surrounds himself with. But at least he’s put the question on the table. The presidency of Donald J. Trump: One still emits a quiet gasp when uttering the phrase. It will take time to…
Meet the Man Who Should Be the Next Secretary of State
Former ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman is that rare thing, an honest and wise diplomat—which is why he’ll probably never be appointed. Late this past summer, when I mentioned to Andrew Bacevich that I had interviewed Chas Freeman and…
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