Andrew Nathan, Zainab al-Suwaj, Ruth Wedgwood, and David J. Kramer spoke on a panel entitled “The Authoritarian Threat” as part of a recent conference on “Re-thinking Democracy Promotion Amid Rising Authoritarianism.” The conference was jointly sponsored by The American Interest, Freedom House, and Johns Hopkins-SAIS.

The Commerce Department permitted two companies to start exporting oil from Texas’s Eagle Ford shale formation this week, and the firms could begin sending what is essentially unrefined oil abroad in August, the first time in nearly forty years.

The signing of the Association Agreement brings to a close the process which precipitated the standoff between Russia and the West. But the standoff itself is far from over.

As the Middle East collapses into chaos, the U.S. must change the incentives for Iran—even if that means making uncomfortable choices in DC.

As ISIS continues to gain ground, the Shi’a are getting worried. Now, 25,000 Indian Shi’a have signed up to go defend Shi’i holy sites in Iraq.

Yesterday taxi drivers angry over Uber held up traffic over D.C. The result? Paying customers trying to hail taxis had a harder time finding them.

In an effort that may not succeed, U.S. and Israeli victims of Iranian, Syrian, and N. Korean terror have gained permission from a U.S. court to take control of those countries’ domain names. Will this give rise to another outcry against U.S. oversight of the internet?

Egypt and Iraq both ignored Secretary of State John Kerry this week. This was not a freak occurrence, but the foreseeable fruit of a deliberate American policy.

With Iraq coming apart at the seams, there are not a lot of reasons for America to use airpower in Iraq. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some limited cases where airstrikes could serve a strategic interest.

An amendment to a State Department budget bill would rename the street of China’s U.S. embassy after a Chinese dissident. This is exactly the kind of reckless, feel-good gesture that makes the work of promoting human rights around the world even harder.