Open Season: The assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the outset of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran sets a dangerous precedent. Here, A poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and an anti-U.S. placard are carried in Tehran, Iran, April 1, 2026.

Law and Justice

Amid War in Mideast, Lingering Questions Over Killing Iran’s Leader

by James D. Zirin April 23, 2026April 23, 2026

Assassination isn’t illegal under U.S. law, but don’t tell Trump. A legal primer.

After The Fall: Repression, cynicism, and fear have extinguished post-Soviet hopes for democratic reform. Here, pro-democracy demonstrators file across Moscow’s Crimean Bridge, February 23, 1990.

Books

The Price of a Lost Russia: A Correspondent’s Eulogy

by Markos Kounalakis April 22, 2026April 21, 2026

More than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the promise of a democratic Russia has given way to something much darker—and far more durable.

Iran War: A US Air Force transport plane takes off from the US airbase in Ramstein. Numerous defense ministers and high-ranking military officers are once again discussing further support for Ukraine in the war against Russia on Tuesday at the US airbase in Ramstein.

Foreign Policy

The U.S.-Europe Rift: How Trump’s Iran War is Making it Worse

by Tamar Jacoby April 17, 2026April 17, 2026

From threatening Denmark to belittling NATO, Trump has strained the alliance, but his affronts—including berating allies for not joining his Persian Gulf adventure—are speeding a European future without American leadership.

Drone Dominance: The conflict in the Middle East is showing the value of Ukraine’s weapons systems and military tactics. Here, an instructor demonstrates the operation of a drone designed to destroy Russian attack drones in the Kyiv region, March, 2026.

Magazine

Ukraine’s Way of War is Coming to the Persian Gulf

by Tamar Jacoby April 2, 2026May 5, 2026

Middle East fighting creates an opportunity for Ukraine and its fierce military technology—but Kyiv and America’s allies must seize the moment.

David Frum’s call for Democrats to fund Trump’s Iran war echoes a familiar mistake: backing a president’s war in hopes of containing it. Here, Frum, left, speaks during a panel on impeachment in 2019.

Foreign Policy

David Frum Is Wrong About the Democrats and Iran

by Nate Weisberg March 24, 2026March 27, 2026

The Atlantic writer is asking congressional Democrats to fund Trump’s misbegotten war. They should decline.

NATO withdrawal? President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in July.

Politics

Democrats Should Tell Our NATO Allies Trump Can’t Quit Them

by Bill Scher March 20, 2026March 20, 2026

Any attempt by the president to unilaterally withdraw from the NATO treaty violates U.S. law.

Iranian Drones: Iran’s drones can be rapidly rebuilt, even in wartime. Pictured here, Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, left, who was killed in the airstrikes carried out by the U.S. and Israel, and then Defense Minister Gen. Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani review domestically built drones in a ceremony to deliver the drones to the army.

Foreign Policy

Asymmetric War in Iran: How Trump and the U.S. Are Being Played

by Mike Lofgren March 19, 2026March 19, 2026

We’re depleting our big, expensive, Cold War-inspired defensive weapons on Iran’s cheap drones, and if Tehran expands its underwater drone program, look out.

Regime Reckoning: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is betting the Cuban regime is finally ready to break. Here, Rubio attends a lunch at the Shield of the Americas Summit, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Florida.

Foreign Policy

Cuba Libre: Rubio’s Big Bet on Regime Change in Havana

by Markos Kounalakis March 16, 2026March 18, 2026

Without charismatic Castro and Russian/Venezuelan support, and with sky-high oil prices, the communist regime is brittle. But as the secretary of state discovers in Iran, breaking things is the easy part.