The Obama administration’s nebulous “Pacific Pivot” is setting the stage for a superpower conflict in East Asia.
Asia: The Elephant vs. the Shark
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War & Peace
Toward a Permanent Nuclear Deal with Iran
There are still significant challenges to reaching a permanent deal on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, but there’s plenty of room to compromise.
If I Didn’t Have a Hammer
U.S. foreign policy is anything but demilitarized. But where the Bush team saw every problem as a nail, the Obama team wields more than just a hammer.
A Budding Alliance: Vietnam and the Philippines Confront China
The Philippines and Vietnam are natural allies in their common territorial struggles against China. But they should leave Washington out of it.
My Strategic Impatience
For North Korea to rise higher on the list of U.S. priorities, Washington policymakers will have to stop considering it in isolation.
Straight Talk on the U.S. and Ukraine
Given the limits of its power and its own compromised relationship with international law, the U.S. isn’t in a position to do much about Ukraine.
The Afghan Drug War after 2014
If costly drug war strategies in Afghanistan have been unsuccessful even with a strong U.S. military presence, they won’t stand a chance after the U.S. withdraws.
Stalin’s Purge Binge
The more party members Stalin killed, the more he thought he had to kill.
Harkening Back to Dark Days in Haiti
The president of Haiti—a country with no external threats, a history of military repression, and an abundance of more pressing problems—is rebuilding the once-banished Haitian military.
Disaster Militarism: Rethinking U.S. Relief in the Asia-Pacific
Disaster relief has increasingly become part of the justification for increased U.S. troop deployments in the Asia-Pacific region.