U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks with U.S. troops in April 2025.

The Disintegration of the U.S. Military Under Trump and Beyond

by Mike Lofgren August 7, 2026August 12, 2026

Russia’s woes in Ukraine reflect its autocracy, corruption, and dismal choices. Sounds like the Pentagon under Pete Hegseth.

Harvard Professor of Iranian Studies Richard Nelson Frye.

Politics

An American’s Unrequited Love for Iran

by Kourosh Ziabari July 29, 2026October 16, 2026

Richard Nelson Frye devoted his life to Persian history and asked to be buried in Isfahan, but Iran’s hard-liners refused. As Iran and the United States fight a widening war, his story offers a parable of a relationship surrendered to hard-liners.

Iranian and Venezuelan émigré networks helped sell U.S. intervention. Then Trump cut them out.

Foreign Policy

The Exiles Who Sold Trump’s Wars

by María Isabel Puerta Riera and Kourosh Ziabari June 17, 2026June 16, 2026

Iranian and Venezuelan émigré networks made the case for U.S. intervention. Then the president cut them loose.

Return To Sender: Ukraine’s growing long-range strike capacity has pushed the war’s impacts deeper into Russia this spring. Here, debris dangles from a damaged apartment building after a Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow on May 4, 2026.

Foreign Policy

Could the Tide Be Turning in Ukraine?

by Tamar Jacoby June 1, 2026June 1, 2026

The long-range drones and missiles pummeling Russia showcase Kyiv’s growing military might and its determination to end its dependence on Western allies.

Strategic Swagger: After years of warning that the Europe needs “strategic autonomy,” French President Emmanuel Macron has won the argument abroad—and lost his public at home. Here, Macron during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 20, 2026.

Foreign Policy

The French Rejection

by Gillen Tener Martin May 26, 2026May 27, 2026

Why Emmanuel Macron can’t convince his voters to rearm.

Former Secretary of Defense and Director of the CIA Leon Panetta.

Foreign Policy

Panetta: Iran War a ‘Terrible Mistake’ and Hegseth Is a ‘Disaster’

by Jonathan Alter May 19, 2026May 19, 2026

Leon Panetta, the last of the wise men, covers the waterfront on where we are and where we must go to save this country.

Politics

Hondurasgate Looks Worse than Watergate and Iran-Contra Combined

by Bill Scher May 12, 2026May 12, 2026

Trump pardoned a right-wing authoritarian convicted of cocaine trafficking, apparently to reinstate him to power in Honduras and undermine left-wing governments in Mexico and Colombia. So why isn’t America media covering it?