Regulating Hostile Intervention in Elections

by Larry Garber The intelligence community has conclusively established that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections, but little has yet been done legislatively to prevent similar active measures in future elections. The lack of action reflects an understandable desire… Continue Reading

A North Korean Defector in Washington

by Tim Shorrock The celebration of defectors from communist countries is an old tradition in Washington. Over the years, dozens of diplomats and spies from the Soviet Union—along with numerous world-famous athletes and dancers—have stepped across the US national security… Continue Reading

Targeting Iran’s Regime Will Strengthen, Not Break, the Moscow-Tehran Alliance

by Mark N. Katz In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on February 13, hawkish scholar Michael Ledeen argued that “dismantling the Khamenei regime as peacefully as possible” is the best way to end what he describes as the Russian-Iranian… Continue Reading

The Exceptional But Fragile American Democracy

by Paul R. Pillar Efforts to export American-style liberal democracy to foreign lands have bumped up against the fact that the successful working of such democracy depends on habits and attitudes that are rarer than most Americans think and that… Continue Reading

The Contradictions of Elliott Abrams

by Jim Lobe Elliott Abrams was an enthusiastic cheerleader for the “Arab Spring,” but he also loves the kingdom that has done (and spent) the most to suppress it. It’s the kind of contradiction that has often afflicted neoconservatives like… Continue Reading