Europe Cannot Be a Military Power Why defense integration could fracture the continent.

The European Union should not take on a greater role in European security, argues Hugo Bromley. “The EU is a vehicle for economic cooperation. It is a peace project, not a war project.”

America and Israel Have Different Endgames in Iran A Shared Enemy, but Diverging Views of Its Motives and Character.

When it comes to Iran, the United States and Israel are pulling in different directions, writes Hussein Banai. And this gap between the two partners’ goals has convinced Tehran “that its enemies’ partnership will not hold, with or without a cease-fire.”

Don’t Partition Sudan Again Three years into the country’s catastrophic civil war, Sudan’s patchwork of battlefields has hardened into something that resembles a de facto partition. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s Sudanese Arme...

A formal partition of Sudan would not resolve the country’s protracted violence, argue Francis Deng and Ahmed Kodouda. It would only create two weak states, each with “powerful incentives to destabilize the other.”

How the Iran War Will Upend the Global Economy The Iran war risks not just an energy Shock—but also a debt crisis.

“Although debt sustainability has been a growing issue for at least five years, the war in Iran has introduced the kind of sudden global economic shock that makes it all but certain that a prolonged debt crisis is coming,” writes Henry Tugendhat.

America Has Lost the Arab World Wars in Gaza, Iran, and elsewhere have sunk Washington’s reputation—maybe for good.

According to a newly released Arab Barometer survey, the United States’ reputation across the Arab world “tanked when the war in Gaza began, and it has not improved in the time since,” write Amaney Jamal and Michael Robbins.

America and China Can Make AI Safer Cooperation is necessary—and possible.

As the United States and China compete for technological supremacy, they should also work together to manage the risks posed by artificial intelligence, argue Christina Knight and Scott Singer.

How Takaichi Can Triumph And what others can learn from Japan's embrace of American power.

“Partnering with the United States is not about acquiescing to Washington’s needs, but about using leverage effectively to ensure that the alliance works to Japan’s advantage.”

Read Michael Green on Tokyo’s new foreign policy vision:

A Flawed Formula for Peace in Ukraine Trump can’t end a war with a real estate transaction.

“If U.S. officials want to end the long, bloody war between Russia and Ukraine, they must stop anchoring the process on a narrow land-for-guarantees formula,” argue Samuel Charap and @jennkav.bsky.social.

Europe Is Stuck With America Economic ties will be hard to unwind.

As European countries reduce their military dependence on the United States, the transatlantic economic relationship will probably remain unchanged, writes Jacob Kirkegaard.

Avoiding the Next Gulf War How America’s allies in the region can get out of the cross hairs.

For Gulf countries, the war in Iran has underscored “a long-standing problem: they are so dependent on the United States for protection that Washington can do almost whatever it wants with them,” write Neil Quilliam and Sanam Vakil.

Africa After Aid Cuts have revealed the continent's economic resilience.

After the foreign aid cuts of the past year, economies across much of Africa “have proved more resilient than the prevailing narratives suggest,” writes Landry Signé.

The Iran Shock The dangerous allure of energy autarky.

“The energy crisis caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran underscores an uncomfortable reality: as the cooperative global order frays, energy insecurity rises,” write Jason Bordoff and Meghan O’Sullivan.

The Iran Shock The dangerous allure of energy autarky.

“Without a compelling path away from reliance on the United States, Europe will have little choice but to accept the transatlantic economic relationship largely as it is for the foreseeable future,” writes Jacob Kirkegaard.

“In many respects, strategically, the stakes are higher in the war in Ukraine than they are in a war of choice against Iran.”

Listen to the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” featuring a conversation with former CIA Director William Burns: https://fam.ag/4v8Ag7p

The Crumbling Foundations of American Strength Knowledge is power—and the United States is losing it.

To ensure that the United States can maintain its technological advantage in the future, Washington must start treating education reform like an urgent national security priority, wrote Amy Zegart in a 2024 essay.

Lebanon’s Coming Collapse An Israeli assault is pushing the fragile country to the brink.

“By joining the battle, Hezbollah inextricably tied Lebanon’s fate to the larger war,” writes Maha Yahya. “But it is also clear that Israel is using the war and Hezbollah’s provocations to justify a much larger—and potentially devastating—assault on Lebanon itself.”

How Iran Should End the War A deal Tehran could take.

Read former Iranian Foreign Minister M. Javad Zarif on how Iran’s leaders can make a deal with the United States and Israel that both ends the current war and lays the groundwork for “the new, brilliant future Iranians deserve.”

China’s AI Arsenal The PLA’s tech strategy is working.

Read @sambresnick.bsky.social, Emelia Probasco, and Cole McFaul on China’s efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into its military—and how the United States should respond:

Trump’s Way of War Iran, Venezuela, and the end of the Powell Doctrine.

“In the effort to break the Iranian regime, Trump has already telegraphed that the United States will not own the aftermath,” writes @rhfontaine.bsky.social. “Should it collapse, the Iranian people will need to pick up the pieces.”

The Iran Imperative How America and Israel can shape a new Middle East.

To bring about a better and more stable Middle East, the United States and Israel must “translate their tactical and operational gains into a new political architecture that includes the region’s other pivotal states,” argue Amos Yadlin and Avner Golov.

Listen to the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” featuring former CIA Director William Burns on the war in Iran, the future of intelligence, and the trajectory of U.S. power:

Listen to the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” featuring former CIA Director William Burns in conversation with Editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan: https://fam.ag/4v8Ag7p

Taiwan Doesn’t Have to Choose Cross-strait peace requires working with both Beijing and Washington.

“Taiwan should not be a passive object of geopolitical pressure, valued only for what others project onto it.”

Read Cheng Li-wun, chair of the Kuomintang, on how Taiwan can become “a genuine stabilizing force” in the western Pacific:

Europe’s Untapped Arsenal Ukraine has forged the defense industry the continent desperately needs.

“Ukraine is Europe’s untapped arsenal—and with better defense integration, it can help protect the entire continent,” write ‪@eribakova.bsky.social and Lucas Risinger.

How Washington Is Weaponizing Anticorruption Law The era of neutral enforcement is over.

“The transformation of U.S. antibribery tools into economic weapons threatens to undo the global system the United States helped establish to punish business corruption,” warn @lorenzocrippa.bsky.social, Edmund Malesky, and Lucio Picci.

The Third Islamic Republic A war’s unintended consequences—for Iran, the Middle East, and the global order.

Read @suzannemaloney.bsky.social on the war in Iran’s potential consequences—for Iran, the wider region, and the international order that Washington helped build:

America Is Losing the Innovation Race Why the future of science might be Chinese.

Washington needs to revive its commitment to science and innovation, argues L. Rafael Reif. “China is moving ahead; if the United States fails to correct course, it risks ceding the future to its greatest geopolitical rival.”

The Best NATO Is a Dormant NATO Less reliance on America would yield a stronger alliance and a safer Europe.

“The simple fact is that France, Germany, and other western European states will never seriously invest in their militaries until they can no longer free ride off the United States for protection,” argued Sumantra Maitra in a 2024 essay.

A Post-American Persian Gulf? The Iran war will accelerate the region’s economic transformation.

“No matter how the war ends, Gulf oil producers are likely to speed up their efforts to diversify their economies and play an even bigger role in global energy supply chains,” writes Karen Young. “And they will do it with or without the United States.”

The Iran War Comes to Iraq Baghdad slides into a conflict it long wanted to escape.

“The ongoing Iran war has already put Iraq in a much more difficult place than it was before,” writes Renad Mansour. “As the war drags on, this burden will mount on multiple fronts.”