In The News

Age of Uneasy Peace: Foreign Affairs

Yan Xuetong February 16, 2019
US Vice President Mike Pence’s 2018 speech at the Hudson Institute, stopping short at inaugurating a new Cold War, bluntly enumerated China’s encroachment on US interests. His words illustrated the Trump administration’s perception of the rising power in the East, one determined to replace the United States in the global order. Yan Xuetong writes in Foreign Affairs that China does not seek an...

Brexit Hell: The Atlantic

Yasmeen Serhan February 14, 2019
Britons cast their fateful votes two and a half years ago, narrowly deciding in favor of withdrawing from the European Union. What followed has been a string of broken promises, failed agreements, no-confidence votes and cabinet resignations. Prime Minister Theresa May has defied tradition by clinging to her position despite no-confidence votes from the opposition and her own party. She keeps the...

Chaos and US Standing: Times of India

Nayan Chanda February 11, 2019
Donald Trump blasted policies of his predecessors as foolish. Yet the president fuels uncertainty by abruptly changing longstanding policies and obsessing on quick fixes, ranging from support for a coal industry and rejection of climate change as a threat to blaming illegal immigration for crime and supporting a border wall. The president carried through on a threat to shut down the US federal...

Ireland, Brexit and Opportunity: Conversation

Liam Kennedy February 7, 2019
Citizens and businesses of the Republic of Ireland have prospered with EU membership since 1973. Ireland embraced globalization, and the Irish, unlike a vocal group in Britain, do not express resentment about European goals and integration. Instead, EU membership improved Ireland’s relations with Britain, reducing dependency. “Even as it responds daily to the manifold challenges Brexit poses, the...

Foreign Policy: Trump’s State of the Union

Robbie Gramer and Amy Mackinnon February 6, 2019
In his state of the union address, Donald Trump quickly reviewed foreign policies. Trade talks with China are underway, and the president described previous deals as “calamitous.” He focused on southern border security and need for a wall although undocumented immigrants in the US are at low levels. He plans a second summit with North Korea’s dictator, claiming these talks prevent war – even...

New Yorker: Trump Eyes Iran as Bush Once Eyed Iraq

Jonathan Chait February 5, 2019
US intelligence officials testified on live television before a Senate committee that their evidence shows Iran has not resumed efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Donald Trump initially took offense, before claiming the public mischaracterized the assessment and the officials privately agreed with him. “Trump’s rejection of intelligence assessments of Iran’s weapons of mass destruction...

Washington Post: Fight in Venezuela

Mariana Zuñiga, Anthony Faiola and Rachelle Krygier January 31, 2019
In an attempt at a temporary cooling-off, Caracas and Washington agreed to hit pause for 30 days before repatriating each other’s diplomats as leaders of the two countries butt heads on the state of democracy and electoral integrity in Venezuela. After President Donald Trump recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó, European allies like Germany, France and the UK issued an eight-day ultimatum,...