Among the many questions in the aftermath of the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan, two stand out: How and why did the Afghan security forces collapse so quickly and will the U.S. withdrawal lead to a resurgence of terrorism there? On the first…

The last time I wrote about Afghanistan, I tried to offer a balanced look at the arguments for both pessimism and modest optimism regarding Afghanistan’s future after the U.S withdrawal. Since then, the omens for the mountainous South Asian country…

Now that the summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin is over, where does it leave U.S.-Russian relations? In a much better place in my view, and in a form that allows us to measure progress, or lack of it. During…

A fragile cease-fire is holding after this latest bloody war between Hamas and Israel, but where does that leave the long-running conflict in terms of power ratios, influence and the future? As the battle between Israel and Hamas raged for 11 days, I…

The Taliban are strong and well-armed. The elected government is weak, corruption is rife, and government security forces are struggling. What could go wrong? President’s Joe Biden’s decision to bring all U.S. troops home from Afghanistan by Sept. 11…

The Biden administration has begun cautious exploratory talks with Iran and other signatories on reviving the 2015 agreement that limited Tehran’s nuclear work. As a practical matter, the U.S. has to tackle nuclear issues one at a time, but it is…

The Biden administration slapped economic sanctions last week on a number of Russian officials in response to the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in August and his imprisonment upon returning to Moscow in January after successful…

Getting Iran back into compliance with the 2015 agreement constraining its nuclear work will rank highly on President Joe Biden’s list of urgent foreign policy challenges. This will require untangling a web of interlocking problems left by the Trump…

President-elect Joe Biden faces a longer and more complex set of foreign policy challenges than incoming presidents typically encounter. Unlike most of his predecessors, he won’t have the luxury of several months to take stock of the issues. All the…

President-elect Joe Biden’s national security nominees all present a stark contrast with their predecessors, but none starker than his choice for director of national intelligence (DNI), Avril Haines. By saying publicly that she understood her job to…

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory will be welcomed with a mixture of relief and hope in most parts of the world which, when surveyed in recent years, declared itself distrustful of the American president’s judgment and leadership. Some…

This presidential campaign, like nearly all its predecessors, features a lot of tough rhetoric on China and the various threats it poses. But once the campaign rhetoric fades, the victor will have to figure out what to actually do about China. In…

Taken together, the protests underway in Belarus and the poisoning of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny — by what German doctors now say was the nerve agent Novichok — tap into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire to avoid more serious challenges…

If you were advising the U.S. president, what would you say to him about Belarus? It’s very important in the context of Russia’s desire to establish a strong sphere of influence in its neighborhood, because Belarus provides a buffer of sorts between…

In the world of intelligence — my former profession — the most difficult thing to detect is the point in global events when barely noticeable incremental changes accumulate like a snowball rolling downhill, achieve critical mass and suddenly produce…

While attending the annual international security conference in Munich earlier this year, I heard Trump administration officials tell a skeptical audience that the United States was still leading the world. A European official turned to me and said:…

There’s a near-consensus in the U.S. now that China poses a serious threat. Real partnership is not likely anytime soon, but no one wants a war. The U.S. has to engage with China on issues of mutual interest, revive its key alliances and reform…

The COVID-19 crisis cries out for a coordinated global response. However, conditions in the United States and international politics generally do not favor that right now — all the more regrettable in light of other building threats, such as climate…

The new coronavirus brings us smack up against the modern reality of a totally globalized and interconnected world — and strongly suggests the need for a globally coordinated response. The many unknowns — will it persist year-round, for example, or…

Eight years of war in Syria have come down to an epic struggle in a northwestern province the size of Delaware. Idlib is the last piece of territory standing in the way of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regaining control of the country. As a last…