Essays
Bluffing 101
Who Has the Best Nukes?

Vladimir Putin does!

(OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)
Old and New Power
The Case for Democratic Optimism

Doomsayers are too quick to predict the inevitable decline of democracy. As the example of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty shows, a smart investment in “new power” efforts can lay the foundation for a democratic renewal.

Pleased with himself. © Getty Images
Responding to Russia
Putin’s Strategy of Chaos

Russia’s drive to compete as a great power is dangerous for the West—and the Kremlin. We must do better at recognizing the strategy behind the trolling. 

© Getty Images.
Revisionism
Don’t Rehabilitate Obama on Russia

President Trump’s boasts about him being tougher on Russia than his predecessor may ring hollow—but they’re true.

PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
Policing the Web
Counting Cybercrimes

It’s a vicious cycle: Businesses underreport cybercrimes, which means that law enforcement doesn’t have the information it needs to solve or deter them. Can we escape it?

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Department of Bad Ideas
The True Cost of Trump’s Military Parade

The President’s proposed parade isn’t just a wasteful paean to tin-pot despotism. It constitutes a broader threat to U.S. civil-military relations.

Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century
How to Talk with Russia

Americans once knew how to effectively communicate with Russian audiences, and they in turn wanted to engage with Western voices. What went wrong, and how can we fix it?

(FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images)
A Lesson from Hungary
The Economic Origins of Populist Support

In both Hungary and the United States, the primary factor driving a resurgence in populism is not racism: it’s the economy, stupid.

ALAIN WANDIMOYI/AFP/Getty Images
Africa Policy
The Continental Congo Crisis

If the United States and its allies wish to ameliorate the current insecurity in the DRC, they must first understand how deeply interconnected its problems are with the wider geopolitics of the region.

Cancan Chu/Getty Images
One Belt One Road
Dimensions, Detours, Fissures, and Fault Lines

Will Beijing’s massive infrastructure initiative boost its fortunes in Asia?

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