by Paul R. Pillar Two leading scholars of democracy, Larry Diamond and James Fishkin of Stanford, recently reported on an intriguing exercise that they say constitutes good news for those who worry about the state of American democracy. A representative… Continue Reading
by Paul R. Pillar Although President Trump is wisely resisting starting a new war in the Middle East, the dead-end nature of his failed “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran has put him on the spot to do something, after last… Continue Reading
by Paul R. Pillar President Trump’s amateurish use of a felt-tip pen to alter an already outdated map from the National Hurricane Center, in an effort to sustain an earlier assertion about Hurricane Dorian threatening Alabama, bordered on self-parody. It… Continue Reading
by Paul R. Pillar The Abqaiq oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia has always been regarded as a vulnerable choke point in the world petroleum trade. Essential for separating harmful gas and stabilizing crude oil to make it safe to… Continue Reading
By Paul R. Pillar That President Trump will soon have his fourth national security adviser in less than three years reflects the lack of strategic sense underlying the president’s foreign and security policies. When policy is more a matter of… Continue Reading