U.S. colleges are losing their edge as cuts, high costs, fewer international students, and departing scholars weaken American universities.

Higher Education

Once Globally Preeminent, U.S. Universities Are Sliding Into Decline

by Jon Marcus August 17, 2026August 17, 2026

High costs, political attacks take a toll as fewer students come, top scholars leave.

Magazine

Why the U.S.-led Liberal World Order Is Only Mostly Dead

by Paul Glastris May 4, 2026May 5, 2026

The same power that makes America capable of doing vast damage globally also enables it to do great good.

Anything, Again: President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office, Monday, March 16, 2026, in Washington, with a model of a B-2 stealth bomber in front of him.

Newsletter

“I Could Do Anything”: Trump’s Dangerous Mantra

by Gillen Tener Martin March 22, 2026March 20, 2026

The president’s words on Cuba, the next nation he’s casing for foreign intervention, sound all too familiar.

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.

Foreign Policy

Trump’s Iran Strike: What It Says About Russia—and Us

by Markos Kounalakis February 28, 2026March 15, 2026

If Moscow were stronger, this never would have happened. If Trump weren’t so authoritarian, he might not have risked it.

Jimmy Lai and Jeff Bezos: From a Hong Kong prison cell to a Mediterranean yacht, two publishers embody radically different threats to press freedom.

Featured

Lai and Bezos: A Tale of Two Publishers

by Markos Kounalakis February 17, 2026February 17, 2026

The Hong Kong freedom fighter is condemned to prison darkness while the billionaire soaks in the sun and darkens The Washington Post.

General overall aerial view of Cal State LA, Wednesday, April 1, 2020, in Los Angeles.

Economy

Trump’s Catastrophic War on Global Talent

by Markos Kounalakis February 10, 2026February 9, 2026

By discouraging and blocking international student enrollment, the administration harms the U.S. economy and benefits American rivals, including China.