Desmond Lachman President Trump’s management of the US economy is setting his party up for failure in the 2026 midterms. James Carville, Bill Clinton’s political advisor, famously said that when it came to elections, “it’s the economy, stupid.” This week’s convincing Democratic Party triumph at the polls in …
Read More »Rare Earths: The Hidden Metals Powering the Modern World
Rare earth elements (REEs) are a set of 17 metallic elements that have become indispensable to modern technology and defense industries. Although they are not truly “rare” in the Earth’s crust, they are difficult to find in concentrated deposits and are expensive to separate and refine. The group …
Read More »The War That Rewrote the Middle East
Dr. Gad Yishayahu Ultimately, the war has shredded more than a few assumptions about Israeli strategic and military limitations. Exactly twenty-four months after the October 7 massacre that ignited the October 7 War, the first stage of President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan has taken effect. Under …
Read More »To Beat China, Don’t Become China
Aaron Bartnick In competing with China in global markets, the United States should not seek to create an imitation command-economy from scratch. At an October 15 event promoting investment in the United States, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remarked: “When you are facing a nonmarket economy like China then …
Read More »There is No Ceasefire in Gaza
Alexander Langlois The Trump administration must be ready to apply pressure to Benjamin Netanyahu if it wants to save its peace plan. Any semblance of a ceasefire in Gaza died this week with Israel’s brief resumption of total war against Hamas on October 28. While Israeli Prime Minister …
Read More »Europe and the curse of geography
Janan Ganesh A lack of rare earths is just one way in which nature disadvantages the continent As the European wine harvest ends, we might reflect on that controversial word “terroir”. It is hard to define but tends to refer to the non-human factors of production: the geographic …
Read More »The World’s Largest Aircraft Carrier Deploys to the Mediterranean
Maya Carlin USS Ford (CVN-78) represents a generational leap in the Navy’s power projection strategy. While the US Navy’s 10 Nimitz-class supercarriers have earned their reputation as true forces of power projection, the service’s newest carrier class is considered to be even more capable. Currently, the USS Gerald R. …
Read More »The Price of Peace in the Caucasus
Joseph Epstein Armenia’s prime minister has diligently worked for peace and integration in the Caucasus despite withering domestic criticism. The political survival of Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan has been nothing short of remarkable. Since rising to power during Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution, the embattled prime minister has …
Read More »Middle Powers along the Middle Corridor
Eric Rudenshiold Central Asia’s “steppe children” are growing up and redefining world order in the twenty-first century. The era of global affairs focused exclusively on great powers is ending. Not with a single dramatic event, but through a steady, quiet redistribution of agency across the world. Nowhere is …
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