The best moment in President Donald Trump’s Afghanistan on Monday was also the most candid:My original instinct was to pull out. And historically, I like following my instincts.But all my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office, in other words, when you’re president of the United States. So I studied Afghanistan in great detail and from every conceivable angle. After many meetings, over many months, we held our final meeting last Friday at Camp David with my cabinet and generals to complete our strategy.In other words, Trump...…The best moment in President Donald Trump’s Afghanistan on Monday was also the most candid:My original instinct was to pull out. And historically, I like following my instincts.But all my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office, in other words, when you’re president of the United States. So I studied Afghanistan in great detail and from every conceivable angle. After many meetings, over many months, we held our final meeting last Friday at Camp David with my cabinet and generals to complete our strategy.In other words, Trump...WW…

The Trump administration on Thursday announced economic sanctions and visa travel restrictions against staff of the International Criminal Court investigating possible war crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, opening the ICC’s lawyers to measures normally reserved for the world’s worst perpetrators of human rights abuses.Human rights advocates quickly condemned President Donald Trump’s executive order on the ICC, which escalated a long-standing feud between Washington and the international body. Legal experts said the language of the order is overly broad and raises the question whether...…The Trump administration on Thursday announced economic sanctions and visa travel restrictions against staff of the International Criminal Court investigating possible war crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, opening the ICC’s lawyers to measures normally reserved for the world’s worst perpetrators of human rights abuses.Human rights advocates quickly condemned President Donald Trump’s executive order on the ICC, which escalated a long-standing feud between Washington and the international body. Legal experts said the language of the order is overly broad and raises the question whether...WW…

An expert's point of view on a current event.It was in 2010, when General Lloyd Austin was head of U.S. Forces in Iraq, that he got to know then-Vice President Biden. Austin had already become friendly with Biden’s son Beau (they regularly attended Catholic services together in Iraq, where Beau Biden was also deployed, to the Washington Post), but it was his unflappability in person that most impressed the vice president, according to a senior Pentagon official with contacts in the Biden transition team.Ten years later, those encounters in Iraq were one factor in president-elect Biden's...…An expert's point of view on a current event.It was in 2010, when General Lloyd Austin was head of U.S. Forces in Iraq, that he got to know then-Vice President Biden. Austin had already become friendly with Biden’s son Beau (they regularly attended Catholic services together in Iraq, where Beau Biden was also deployed, to the Washington Post), but it was his unflappability in person that most impressed the vice president, according to a senior Pentagon official with contacts in the Biden transition team.Ten years later, those encounters in Iraq were one factor in president-elect Biden's...WW…

A front-row seat to the Republicans' debate over foreign policy, including their critique of the Biden administration.Americans’ notorious lack of geographic knowledge has given rise to a staple of television comedy: the person-in-the-street ambush interview, where the hapless victim is often asked to or U.S. states on a map. Hilarity ensues. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s book, The Room Where it Happened, features another hapless American wrestling with geographic questions, such as whether Finland is part of Russia. The problem with this comic setup, of course, is that the...…A front-row seat to the Republicans' debate over foreign policy, including their critique of the Biden administration.Americans’ notorious lack of geographic knowledge has given rise to a staple of television comedy: the person-in-the-street ambush interview, where the hapless victim is often asked to or U.S. states on a map. Hilarity ensues. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s book, The Room Where it Happened, features another hapless American wrestling with geographic questions, such as whether Finland is part of Russia. The problem with this comic setup, of course, is that the...WW…

An expert's point of view on a current event.One of the emblematic images left behind by the coronavirus in the United States will be that of the mass graves dug for many of the victims of COVID-19 in New York City. The visual shock of stacked low-cost coffins in the city that people the world over see as symbolic of the United States rippled across the global media.One of the emblematic images left behind by the coronavirus will be that of the mass graves dug for COVID-19 victims in New York City.Much of the on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and the hitting...…An expert's point of view on a current event.One of the emblematic images left behind by the coronavirus in the United States will be that of the mass graves dug for many of the victims of COVID-19 in New York City. The visual shock of stacked low-cost coffins in the city that people the world over see as symbolic of the United States rippled across the global media.One of the emblematic images left behind by the coronavirus will be that of the mass graves dug for COVID-19 victims in New York City.Much of the on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and the hitting...WW…

“China will scale up its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions by adopting more vigorous policies and measures. We aim to have [carbon dioxide] emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.”Xi Jinping’s speech via video link to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 was not widely trailed in advance. But with those two short sentences China’s leader may have redefined the future prospects for humanity.That may sound like hyperbole, but in the world of climate politics it is hard to exaggerate China’s centrality. Thanks to the gigantic surge in...…“China will scale up its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions by adopting more vigorous policies and measures. We aim to have [carbon dioxide] emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.”Xi Jinping’s speech via video link to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 was not widely trailed in advance. But with those two short sentences China’s leader may have redefined the future prospects for humanity.That may sound like hyperbole, but in the world of climate politics it is hard to exaggerate China’s centrality. Thanks to the gigantic surge in...WW…

Beijing that since the coronavirus pandemic began at the end of last year, there have been only . Those numbers could be roughly accurate, and in that case a detailed account would be an important tool in judging the spread of the virus. But it’s also possible that the numbers presented to the rest of the world are compared to Beijing’s private figures. The opaqueness and mistrust of outsiders in the Chinese Communist Party’s system makes it hard to judge—but learning more about the coronavirus data used directly by Chinese officials is invaluable for governments elsewhere.  A dataset...…Beijing that since the coronavirus pandemic began at the end of last year, there have been only . Those numbers could be roughly accurate, and in that case a detailed account would be an important tool in judging the spread of the virus. But it’s also possible that the numbers presented to the rest of the world are compared to Beijing’s private figures. The opaqueness and mistrust of outsiders in the Chinese Communist Party’s system makes it hard to judge—but learning more about the coronavirus data used directly by Chinese officials is invaluable for governments elsewhere.  A dataset...WW…

Summer always seems to be the cruelest season in the Middle East. The examples include the June 1967 war, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the hijacking of Trans World Airlines Flight 847 in 1985, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the Islamic State’s rampage through Iraq in 2014. The summer of 2020 has already joined that list. But the world should also be attuned to another possibility. Given how widespread bloodshed, despair, hunger, disease, and repression have become, a new—and far darker—chapter for the region is about to begin.is the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow...…Summer always seems to be the cruelest season in the Middle East. The examples include the June 1967 war, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the hijacking of Trans World Airlines Flight 847 in 1985, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the Islamic State’s rampage through Iraq in 2014. The summer of 2020 has already joined that list. But the world should also be attuned to another possibility. Given how widespread bloodshed, despair, hunger, disease, and repression have become, a new—and far darker—chapter for the region is about to begin.is the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow...WW…

HBO’s The Plot Against America (based on the Philip Roth novel), presents an alternative history of the 1940s, where Charles Lindbergh is elected U.S. president and the United States begins a slow and troubling march toward fascism. If you read the New York Times columnist , you might be wondering whether something similar could be happening in real life.I’ve chronicled some worrisome trends on several occasions since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 (see, , and ), and ignoring these warning signs would be just like Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Remember when he...…HBO’s The Plot Against America (based on the Philip Roth novel), presents an alternative history of the 1940s, where Charles Lindbergh is elected U.S. president and the United States begins a slow and troubling march toward fascism. If you read the New York Times columnist , you might be wondering whether something similar could be happening in real life.I’ve chronicled some worrisome trends on several occasions since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 (see, , and ), and ignoring these warning signs would be just like Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Remember when he...WW…

An expert's point of view on a current event.The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the world’s eyes to the true nature of the Chinese regime, have told us in recent weeks. And perhaps they are right. But in Europe, it is the U.S. response to the virus, even more so than China’s, that is deeply unsettling politicians and the wider public.A new poll from the Körber Foundation, on Monday, is the latest evidence of this. The results are astonishing—and should give pause to anyone in Washington who sees a robust, united U.S.-led front against China emerging in the wake of this crisis.The survey shows...…An expert's point of view on a current event.The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the world’s eyes to the true nature of the Chinese regime, have told us in recent weeks. And perhaps they are right. But in Europe, it is the U.S. response to the virus, even more so than China’s, that is deeply unsettling politicians and the wider public.A new poll from the Körber Foundation, on Monday, is the latest evidence of this. The results are astonishing—and should give pause to anyone in Washington who sees a robust, united U.S.-led front against China emerging in the wake of this crisis.The survey shows...WW…