Section: The Atlantic (USA)
The Problem at the Core of Progressive Foreign Policy
In 2016, Donald Trump took on and defeated the Republican foreign-policy establishment. Some progressives wonder if they may be able to accomplish the same feat in the Democratic Party in 2020. They are looking for a nominee who rejects the post Cold War bipartisan consensus, that they believe makes the United States too quick to get into wars...
Bolton’s Dismissal Signals Trump’s Foreign-Policy Pivot
John Bolton’s sudden departure from the Trump administration was inevitable. It had nothing to do with his fabled mustache or even his very real personality clash with the president. It was a matter of principle. Trump wants to write a new chapter, closing the one marked “Militarism and Maximum Pressure” and opening one called “Dealmaking...
U.S. Intelligence Needs Another Reinvention
Eighteen years ago, al-Qaeda operatives hijacked planes, toppled buildings, terrified an entire nation, and killed nearly 3,000 innocents. That the elaborate 9/11 plot went undetected will forever be remembered as one of the intelligence community’s worst failures. For many U.S. intelligence officials, memories of that day remain fresh,...
Speak Up, John Bolton
Whatever else he has been through in his career, John Bolton is a patriot. He has been impelled by a strong vision of the national interest. He has run career risks and sacrificed life opportunities for the sake of his principles. He went to work for President Donald Trump, aware of important disagreements between them. Bolton believed that his...
The New Populist Playbook
In May, Matteo Salvini, then the interior minister and deputy prime minister in Italy’s first populist government, stood in front of a Milan cathedral with other European far-right politicians, holding a rosary, and called for a defense of Christian Europe against its replacement by foreigners. In August, he campaigned and DJed—shirtless,...
The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: The Texodus
Were you forwarded this email? Sign yourself up here. We have many other free email newsletters on a variety of other topics. Browse the full list.What We’re Following TodayIt’s Wednesday, September 4.‣ Defense Secretary Mark Esper agreed to free up $3.6 billion from the Pentagon budget for the president’s proposed border wall...
The Joys of a Quiet Paris
August in Paris is over, and I miss it already. The deadest month, the most quiet, the month when Parisians leave on their endless holidays and the city empties out like a resort in the off season, only less melancholy. Traffic thins; shops close, sometimes for the entire month; restaurants shut; there are seats to be found on the metro; and in...
Greenland Should Unite the U.S. and Denmark—Not Divide Them
Last week, President Donald Trump canceled his state visit to Denmark. What a pity. His trip would have provided American and Danish leaders an opportunity to discuss our shared opposition to routing a Russian natural-gas pipeline through Danish waters, our cooperation in the global fight against terrorism, our attitude toward Russia and...
Trump Tries to Make Colonialism Great Again
Tom Cotton has carved out a niche in Washington. From his bill slashing legal immigration to his defense of tariffs against China to his calls for attacking Iran and preparing for war with North Korea, the Arkansas senator—who holds two Harvard degrees and won a Bronze Star in Iraq—has become Trumpism’s respectable face.So it’s little...
America’s Allies Seem to Be Moving On Without Trump
The most striking photograph to emerge from the G7 summit meeting in Biarritz, France, was one of an empty chair.It’s the seat that President Donald Trump was supposed to occupy during a meeting Monday where world leaders talked about climate trends that could render parts of the planet uninhabitable if left unchecked.Trump skipped it.The...
