Category: foreign policy

The Neo-Patrimonial National Security State, Part II

By Dan Nexon

In foreign policy

On February 22, 2020

Oh, this is just great. When President Trump’s national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, convenes meetings with top National Security Council officials at the White House, he sometimes opens by distributing printouts of Mr. Trump’s latest tweets on the subject at hand. The gesture amounts to an implicit challenge for those present. Their job is […]

foreign policy

“Future of Progressive Foreign Policy” Panel

By Dan Nexon

On February 5, 2020

I was on a panel about progressive foreign policy at CATO not that long ago. The video is up, if anyone’s curious. I speak last; that does, on this panel, make me least. Share

foreign policy , Trump

Bolton’s Account

By Dan Nexon

On January 26, 2020

The New York Times has acquired a leaked draft of John Bolton’s book. If true – and there’s no reason to believe that the story is wrong or that Bolton is lying about key details – it

Celebrity Assassination

By Dan Nexon

In foreign policy

On January 19, 2020

Douglas London, a retired Senior CIA Operations Officer, has a disturbing – but not in a terribly surprising way – piece at Just Security. The gist is that Trump is obsessed with taking down “celebrity” targets, and in ways that undermine American national security objectives. At CIA, I saw this play out more than once. […]

foreign policy

Adults in the Room

By Dan Nexon

On January 12, 2020

I got nothing. Share

foreign policy

Assuming a Spherical Cow

By Dan Nexon

On January 4, 2020

Milk production at a dairy farm was low, so the farmer wrote to the local university, asking for help from academia. A multidisciplinary team of professors was assembled, headed by a theoretical physi

American Geopolitical Suicide Watch: Diplomatic Capital, Again

By Dan Nexon

In foreign policy

On December 8, 2019

I’ve written before about the Trump administration’s reckless and dangerous assault on America’s diplomatic power. Our diplomats are the lifeblood of extensive international networks that the United States uses to mobilize international support for its foreign-policy goals. In recent history, declining great powers have been able to hold onto outsized leverage via, in part, the accumulated institutional […]

foreign policy

“All Roads Lead to Putin”

By Dan Nexon

On October 21, 2019

There’s something really wrong going on here. President Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine for information he could use against political rivals came as he was being urged to adopt a hostile v

foreign policy

Trump got rolled (again), claims saying “yes” is a world-historic accomplishment

By Dan Nexon

On October 18, 2019

Yesterday, The Atlantic ran a piece that I wrote about Trump’s handling of Syria. I argue that it encapsulates all of the reasons why Trump is really, really bad at foreign policy. Because Trump

Trumpian Unpredictability

By Dan Nexon

In foreign policy

On October 7, 2019

Back in 2017, Dani Nedal and I wrote an article about Donald Trump’s claim that “unpredictability” is a good approach to conducting U.S. foreign policy. We looked closely at the logic behind it, and the analogy drawn by some pundits to the Nixon “madman theory” of coercive diplomacy. We found both lacking. Thus, for the United States, unpredictability carries […]

foreign policy

Tulsi Gabbard’s Record on Syria Is Not Really Anti-War

By Dan Nexon

On January 16, 2019

This is a guest post by Jamie Mayerfeld, and not the first. Jamie originally put it up on his Facebook page. I asked if I could reproduce it here. He kindly agreed. As he notes below, it’s diff

foreign policy

The Great Unravelling? It’s “Lights, Cameras, Action!” again for American Geopolitical Suicide.

By Dan Nexon

On December 21, 2018

If you’d asked me about the fate of the American-led international system a few weeks ago, I would have said that Trump has done enormous damage to US leadership and national security, some of t

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