Trump, Afghanistan, and Shades of the Tuesday Lunch

by Paul R. Pillar Impending choices by President Trump regarding the war in Afghanistan raise issues of national security decision-making in his presidency that in turn evoke pathologies of the past, with Trump’s personal habits threatening to make matters at… Continue Reading

How Not to Make Comparisons Between Iran and China

by Paul Pillar One of the most famous zingers in American political history is Lloyd Bentsen’s “you’re no Jack Kennedy” line in his 1988 vice presidential candidates’ debate with Dan Quayle. Quayle’s preceding remark in the debate actually had not… Continue Reading

Bill Kristol’s Legacy

Over at the National Interest Jacob Helibrunn wonders whether neoconservative pundit William Kristol’s advising of Mitt Romney and influence over Republican party foreign policy thinking has contributed to their respective decline: What about the GOP? It’s soul-searching time. A good… Continue Reading

Iran Hawks Spend Weekend Condemning Planned Iranian Passage of Suez Canal

Ali has an excellent post up about the dangerously provocative Israeli rhetoric surrounding the planned—but now delayed—passage of the Suez Canal by two Iranian naval ships. But the Israeli side of the story, which bordered on hysterical at times, was… Continue Reading