The Trump Administration is busy reconsidering the United States’ approach to counterterrorism, and its revised policies will assuredly reflect President Trump’s desire to delegate more authority to his military commanders.  Hidden amid the wall-to-wall coverage of L’Affaire Russe and the President’s first international trip, however, are recent press reports that suggest the Department of Defense may be of two minds about being provided “total authorization” to conduct counterterrorism operations.  This hesitation makes sense.  Although the Pentagon and others have been seeking greater delegations in order to improve operational flexibility and efficiency, U.S.…   continue »

I. Foreign Policy

• Michael Posner, Tillerson’s Degradation of Human Rights Mustn’t–and Can’t Yet–be Executive Branch Policy (Monday, May 22)
• Sydney Blumenthal, What Lincoln Thought of “America First” (Monday, May 22)

II.  Trump and Russia

• Morton Halperin, Trump’s Disclosure Did Not Break the Law (Tuesday, May 23)
• Alex Whiting, The Drip, Drip of Obstruction News (Tuesday, May 23)
• Alex Whiting, Can Flynn Assert a Fifth Amendment Privilege to Withhold Documents?

THE PRESS

This week saw an alarming uptick in hostility toward the press, something Donald Trump has encouraged first as a candidate and now as the president.

Greg Gianforte, a Republican candidate in a special House election in Montana, was charged with assaulting a journalist.  …   continue »

While the United States, along with its Western allies, became preoccupied with post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, global counterterrorism operations, and the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, it largely took its eye off what was happening in its Cold War foe, Russia.…   continue »

President Donald Trump was in Israel this week to reboot peace talks between the Jewish state and the Palestinians. Many believe this is premature, pointing to the litany of past failures and continued mistrust between the two sides.

However, one path the new U.S.…   continue »

Kris Kobach, the Secretary of State for Kansas and an anti-immigrant and vote-suppressing activist, has been angling for a job in the Trump administration since the election. But which of Kobach’s two long-time obsessions—making life miserable for immigrants (including his so-called “self-deportation” policies) or making it impossible for certain citizens to vote—would the Trump administration indulge?…   continue »

Abraham Lincoln neither spoke nor read any language other than English and would never travel abroad, but he was an internationalist in sentiment, conviction and politics. His internationalism was not a vague or transient feeling, but a firmly rooted belief that was a necessary and logical part of his defense of American democracy.…   continue »

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed State Department employees on May 3, delivering a wide-ranging assessment of the state of the world. He offered a glimpse of how he plans to translate President Donald Trump’s  “America First” edict into U.S. foreign policy.…   continue »

Amidst all of the confusion, the lies, and the damaged norms of the Trump administration, one of the best hopes for good governance has been tied to a handful of respected, trusted senior officials with military backgrounds. Indeed, National Security Adviser H.R.…   continue »

In many respects, we’re all in the dark when it comes to the ongoing Russia investigations. Behind closed doors, what are congressional and FBI investigators learning? What new leads are being chased? Who in Donald Trump’s orbit is under the microscope?…   continue »