Venezuela’s hottest election in years | Responsible Statecraft
The opposition is gearing up for a strong challenge against Nicolas Maduro.| Responsible Statecraft
The opposition is gearing up for a strong challenge against Nicolas Maduro.| Responsible Statecraft
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro broke a deal with Washington, but economic coercion is not going to make things better| Responsible Statecraft
President Donald Trump withdrew the nomination of Joel Rayburn to lead the State Department’s Near Eastern affairs bureau, leaving the office in the hands of a controversial interim leader. The primary obstacle to Rayburn’s nomination appears to have been his role in the first Trump administration working under James Jeffrey, who later admitted to misleading Trump about the number of U.S. troops in Syria in an effort to prevent a military withdrawal from the country. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky....| Responsible Statecraft
Defense officials consistently tout the Replicator initiative — an ambitious effort to “swarm” thousands of attritable, inexpensive drones at a break-neck pace to counter China — as a great success. DoD Secretary Pete Hegseth testified in June that the initiative had “made enormous strides towards delivering and fielding multiple thousands of unmanned systems across multiple domains,” with “thousands more planned” through the FY 2026 defense budget. A defense official told Def...| Responsible Statecraft
The US president wants a 'big deal' after this week's much anticipated meeting, but taking on all the issues at once is doomed to fail| Responsible Statecraft
All along we've been told this was about aggressive expansionism and applied a strategy of deterrence. That was wrong.| Responsible Statecraft
The West likes to inflate the cost of Russian weapons as a way to suggest Moscow is in a financial bind and manipulate the narrative of a looming Ukraine victory — while also masking real inefficiencies in the U.S. defense industry. By assuming Russian weapons have input costs similar to U.S. systems or conflating export prices with Russia’s internal costs, Western estimates produce misleading figures. These inflated costs bolster the narrative that the strain on Moscow is tremendous, whi...| Responsible Statecraft
On October 13, Germany’s government had to cancel at the last minute a press conference at which it planned to announce a new bill expanding military conscription. It was the result of disagreements between the two major parties in the governing coalition, the Social Democrats (SPD) and Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU). This episode reveals the fundamental fragility of Berlin’s much-touted defense renewal. The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 laid bare Europe’s strategic vulnerabilities and the...| Responsible Statecraft
Sen. Rand Paul said on Friday that “all hell could break loose” within Donald Trump’s MAGA coalition if the president involves the U.S. further in Ukraine, and added that his supporters who voted for him after 20 years of regime change wars would "feel abandoned" if he went to war and tried to topple Nicolas Maduro, too. President Trump has been getting criticism from some of his supporters for vowing to release the files of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and then reneging on tha...| Responsible Statecraft
Trump announces largely one-way trade deals with Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand, and also takes credit for another peace agreement.| Responsible Statecraft
Here’s what’s missing in the debate about these two Great Powers in friction| Responsible Statecraft
A proposal in Congress looks a lot like one already in place for Israel that's fraught with accountability issues| Responsible Statecraft
Secretary of Defense told the Shangri La Dialogue that America won't leave, but it won't provoke or wage ideological war either| Responsible Statecraft
In fact, a rational look at what’s happening economically might inspire a silver lining| Responsible Statecraft
Progressives in both countries are warning of conflict with China| Responsible Statecraft
Those surveyed were also wary of going to war over Taiwan| Responsible Statecraft
From microchips to maritime trade, the stakes make military action an economic gamble Beijing can’t take| Responsible Statecraft
Let's take a look through a historical, realist lens| Responsible Statecraft
“A raider attack on the U.N. Security Council.” This was the explosive accusation leveled by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov this week. His target was the U.N. Secretariat and Western powers, whom he blamed for what Russia sees as an illegitimate attempt to restore the nuclear-related international sanctions on Iran. Beyond the fiery rhetoric, Ryabkov’s statement contained a message: Russia, he said, now considers all pre-2015 U.N. sanctions on Iran, snapped back by the E...| Responsible Statecraft
While diplomats labored to produce the Dayton Accords in 1995, then-Secretary of Defense Bill Perry advised, “No agreement is better than a bad agreement.” Given that Washington’s allies in London, Paris, Berlin and Warsaw are opposed to any outcome that might end the war in Ukraine, no agreement may be preferable. But for President Trump, there is no point in equating the illusion of peace in Ukraine with a meaningless ceasefire that settles nothing. Today, Ukraine is mired in corrupti...| Responsible Statecraft
President Donald Trump announced new sanctions on Russia’s leading oil producers in a move aimed at turning the screws on Moscow — and countries that continue to buy Russian oil, like India and Turkey. The decision surprised many Ukraine war observers, who have struggled to discern the logic behind Trump’s approach to the conflict in recent weeks. Just days before the sanctions announcement, Trump had held a seemingly cordial phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which...| Responsible Statecraft
The Bunker appears originally at the Project on Government Oversight and is republished here with permission. Navy Admiral mysteriously walks the plank You could glean the feckless futility of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s banishment of the Pentagon press corps shortly after they left the building for refusing to sign his onerous restrictions(PDF) on their reporting. Amid U.S. war drums pounding all around Venezuela, the admiral in charge of U.S. Southern Command — who would oversee ...| Responsible Statecraft
“Did I help fix an election? Yes.” Or so claims foreign lobbyist Robert Stryk in “Devils’ Advocates: The Hidden Story of Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden, and the Washington Insiders on the Payrolls of Corrupt Foreign Interests,” a new book by New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel about the inner workings of American lobbyists working for foreign governments. In Stryk’s telling, he paved the way for the first Trump administration to accept a power sharing agreement for then-DRC Preside...| Responsible Statecraft
The telephone lines out of Cairo have been humming. In a series of carefully choreographed calls, Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign minister, has been shuttling between his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, America’s Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, all in a bid to pull Iran, America, and Israel back from the brink. Just months ago, Cairo’s influence was at a low-point, overshadowed by the oil-fuelled wealth of the Gulf states. While Pres...| Responsible Statecraft
Discussing ongoing U.S. strikes against alleged drug smugglers, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) called for lawmakers to assert congressional authority over when the U.S. uses armed force — and work to bring unauthorized conflicts to a close altogether. At today’s Axios Future of Defense Summit, Sen. Young complained the Trump administration was not giving lawmakers enough information about its ongoing offensive against so-called “narco-terrorists,” in the Caribbean sea near Venezuela (though...| Responsible Statecraft
At a swanky Tuesday night event in Washington, DC, defense tech start-up ShieldAI announced what it describes as the world’s “first autonomous fighter jet.” The stealth plane, known as the X-BAT, “has the ability to organically close its own kill chains without reliance on third party assets,” bragged ShieldAI executive Armor Harris, adding that it can carry “the full arsenal of air-to-air, surface strike, [and] air-to-ground weapons.” The goal, in Harris’s view, is to create ...| Responsible Statecraft
Of all the countries in Europe, Poland grapples with deep inconsistencies in its approach to both Russia and to Ukraine. As a result, the pro-Europe coalition government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is coming under increasing pressure as the duplicity becomes more evident. In its humanitarian response to Ukraine since the war began in 2022, Poland has undoubtedly been one of the most generous among European countries. Its citizens and NGOs threw open their doors to provide food and shelter t...| Responsible Statecraft
Rarely are foreign policy scholars and analysts blessed with as crystalline a case study in abject failure as the Western approach to Belarus since 2020. From promoting concrete security interests, advancing human rights to everything in between, there is no metric by which anything done toward Minsk can be said to have worked. But even more striking has been the sheer sense of aggrieved befuddlement with the Trump administration for acknowledging this reality and seeking instead to repair ti...| Responsible Statecraft
Frightening images have emerged from Gaza in the week since a fragile ceasefire took hold between Israel and Hamas. In one widely circulated video, seven blindfolded men kneel in line with militants arrayed behind them. Gunshots ring out in unison, and the row of men collapse in a heap as dozens of spectators look on. The gruesome scenes appear to be part of a Hamas effort to reestablish control over Gaza through a crackdown on gangs and criminal groups that it says have proliferated during t...| Responsible Statecraft
Claims that President Trump bullied President Zelensky and urged him to withdraw from the whole of the Donbas at their latest meeting in Washington will doubtless cause the usual furore in the Western media and commentariat, but they cannot be substantiated and are a distraction from the really important issue concerning U.S. and NATO strategy, which is whether the alliance should continue support to Ukraine at existing levels or seek radically to escalate. Here, President Trump made the righ...| Responsible Statecraft
It wasn’t that long ago that the mysterious attack on the Nord Stream pipelines was a massive outrage across the Western world. With Russia the presumed culprit, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen vowed the “strongest possible response,” while a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared it “a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression towards the EU.” What a difference a few years makes. Not only is Russia no longer a target in t...| Responsible Statecraft
Bolivia has elected centrist Rodrigo Paz as its new president, marking the country’s most significant political shift in nearly two decades. After a runoff on Sunday, Paz won 54.5 percent of the vote, ending the long dominance of the left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) and signaling a return to pragmatic diplomacy after years of ideological polarization. Paz’s victory was an immense shock even in Bolivia. Until the first round, he had been polling at around seven percent and was dism...| Responsible Statecraft
China was recently admitted as an observer to the Andean Community — a political and economic block consisting of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and one of the Americas’ numerous organizations and forums. Getting increasingly nervous about Chinese influence, U.S. policymakers made a concerted effort to limit the CCP's engagement in the Inter-American Development Bank and some even raised concerns about potential — albeit unconfirmed — ties between China and the recently elected ...| Responsible Statecraft
Sinking warships with “kamikaze”-like strikes, attacking critical infrastructure, and “swarming” together to overwhelm enemy defenses, Ukraine’s Magura drone boats have had success countering Russian naval forces in the Black Sea — despite its Navy’s markedly limited resources. These autonomous maritime vessels are having a moment, and the Pentagon and weapons industry alike want in on it. Flush with cash from venture capitalists and, increasingly, the DoD, which has awarded hun...| Responsible Statecraft
It’s ironic that in the same week that President Donald Trump escalated the drug war in the Caribbean by unleashing the CIA against Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela, the Department of Justice won an indictment against former National Security Adviser John Bolton, the architect of the failed covert strategy to overthrow Maduro during the first Trump administration. The one thing the two regime change operations have in common is Marco Rubio, who, as a senator, was a vociferous opponen...| Responsible Statecraft
It has been a busy week for U.S. policy towards Argentina. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday that the U.S. would be doubling the assistance it is marshaling for Argentina from $20 billion to $40 billion. The increase comes ahead of legislative elections on October 26 that will elect half the lower house and one-third of the upper house, and represents an increasingly strenuous effort in Washington to bolster Argentine President Javier Milei financially and politically. Iron...| Responsible Statecraft
Angela Merkel, the eternal pragmatist, has chosen her moment. In a recent interview to Hungarian media, the former German chancellor pointed a finger at Baltic and Polish leaders for their alleged role in “undermining” a potential EU-Russia dialogue before the war. Whatever one thinks of her legacy, Merkel has an unmatched sense of political timing. Her statement is not a historical aside; it is the opening salvo in Europe’s looming blame game for the impending defeat in Ukraine. Her co...| Responsible Statecraft
Earlier this week, Donald Trump made the bold claim that he’s responsible for ending eight wars since taking office this past January — in other words, nearly one war each month of his presidency. Among the wars on his list is the decades-long conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, which has mired central Africa since the days of the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s in a quagmire conflict involving over one hundred armed groups. But despite Trump’s claim, the D...| Responsible Statecraft
The ceasefire agreement in Gaza is hanging by a thread as both Israel and Hamas face allegations of violating the terms of the deal, which went into force on Monday. Israel claims that Hamas has been dragging its feet on returning the remains of deceased hostages. So far, the Palestinian armed group has only managed to deliver the bodies of nine of the remaining 28 deceased hostages. Hamas claims that it is moving as quickly as it can given the difficulties of finding bodies that may be burie...| Responsible Statecraft
As President Trump prepares to meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky on Friday, much public discourse has focused on whether the United States should provide Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles to increase pressure on Russia. But a much more important question has been all but ignored: What is this increased pressure on Russia intended to achieve? The short answer — to force Russia to the negotiating table — obscures the fact that Russia has already been negotiating with the United Sta...| Responsible Statecraft
The outrage by Senators Blackburn, Graham and others connected to the 'Arctic Frost' spy revelations ring a little thin| Responsible Statecraft
Responsible Statecraft is the online magazine of the Quincy Institute, providing independent news and analysis on the intersection of foreign policy restraint, national security, and democracy. Learn more about our mission today!| Responsible Statecraft
In a new $6M contract, US firm ‘Clock Tower X’ will generate and deploy content across platforms, help game algorithms, plus manage AI ‘frameworks’ to make them more friendly to the cause| Responsible Statecraft
The attack could throw a wrench into U.S. relations with Gulf states, experts say| Responsible Statecraft
The president signs order changing the name of the Pentagon| Responsible Statecraft
He squandered the chance to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal, and instead doubled-down.| Responsible Statecraft
Outreach to Russia and China on nuclear weapons limits has fallen short while the US aims toward another build up| Responsible Statecraft
Experts say the White House’s new nuclear strategy is a major missed opportunity to change American policy for the better.| Responsible Statecraft
In Alaska he found reality: he is now embracing an agreement without demanding a ceasefire first, which would have never worked anyway.| Responsible Statecraft
If Biden is serious about democracy, he has a lot of work to do in Port-au-Prince| Responsible Statecraft
There was no ceasefire, but none of the new sanctions Trump threatened, either. Whether this was a 'win' or 'loss' depends on who you ask| Responsible Statecraft
"We are beginning to see signs of a potential collapse of (Ukrainian) lines that are buckling"| Responsible Statecraft
The spirit going into Alaska will continue to be cautiously optimistic, as long as the parties with most at risk don't get in their own way| Responsible Statecraft
Mixed indicators signal wartime growth has plateaued| Responsible Statecraft
A meeting in Alaska, while putting land concessions on the table, is an essential first step. Here's why.| Responsible Statecraft
There seems to be confirmation that it's happening but who has most to gain or lose is still a question| Responsible Statecraft
FEMA money to be contingent on pledge against any boycotts or divestment of Israeli companies| Responsible Statecraft
Exchanging nuclear threats like this is pure theater and we should not be applauding| Responsible Statecraft
As Jerusalem looks to change war tactics, Washington defers| Responsible Statecraft
There is a difference, and what is going on today will lead us to a much darker place| Responsible Statecraft
American who served as an armed contractor said they were instructed to shoot civilians at Gaza food sites| Responsible Statecraft
As her Free Press is poised to seal a $200 million deal with the mainstream news giant CBS, let us reflect on why| Responsible Statecraft
Lawmakers also question the use of American contractors at the aid hubs| Responsible Statecraft
The senator applauded aid entering the Strip, said Arabs should take over West Bank and Gaza| Responsible Statecraft
As talk of defending Taipei militarily against invasion heats up in Washington, a new wargame offers a dose of reality.| Responsible Statecraft
A war with China over the island should be off the table (VIDEO)| Responsible Statecraft
Hundreds of billions of dollars have gone to aiding Taipei but geography is still the island's best defense| Responsible Statecraft
Read about the latest news & greatest stories on china. On Responsible Statecraft you'll find everything you need to know about china.| Responsible Statecraft
Putin was right to call Zelensky's bluff and send lower level officials — real parameters need to be hammered out Thursday, first| Responsible Statecraft
The former national security adviser was reportedly coordinating with Israel to do it| Responsible Statecraft
Reports today suggest both sides — on deadline — submitted drafts for preliminary peace accord| Responsible Statecraft
The latest coverage of Africa from Responsible Statecraft| Responsible Statecraft
From Gaza to Ukraine, the Pontiff was consistent in his pursuit of peace, which drew fire from certain sectors| Responsible Statecraft
The Pontiff had engaged in many delicate diplomatic missions in Havana but died months after Trump reversed key wins| Responsible Statecraft
After similar outreach to Sunnis, the pontiff's 2021 meeting with Shia's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani transcended boundaries and fostered co-existence| Responsible Statecraft
Not only are the 2,000 troops there in harm's way, their presence may actual hinder diplomatic progress under the new government| Responsible Statecraft
A French official's bizarre speech itemizing paranoid calamities while lambasting Trump as a 'traitor' is just staving off the inevitable| Responsible Statecraft
A Euro force including British troops is the biggest potential dealbreaker as the US would be expected to backstop it| Responsible Statecraft
Read about the latest news & greatest stories on trump administration. On Responsible Statecraft you'll find everything you need to know about trump administration.| Responsible Statecraft
Read about the latest news & greatest stories on russia. On Responsible Statecraft you'll find everything you need to know about russia.| Responsible Statecraft
The latest coverage of Europe from Responsible Statecraft| Responsible Statecraft
Lacking in any strategic thinking, a new bellicism has swept up the elites and gone into cataclysmic overdrive in recent weeks| Responsible Statecraft
New leadership brings SDF into central govt, leaving little reason for Washington to keep protecting it| Responsible Statecraft
As Trump commits to max pressure 2.0, Moscow is expressing interest in mediating a new deal| Responsible Statecraft
The pause was meant to bring Zelensky to the table, not provide a good reason for Moscow to walk away from it| Responsible Statecraft
'I did not vote for him and have been critical of most of his moves. But in regard to the war...I believe he is on the right track'| Responsible Statecraft
It's strategic malpractice for the White House to give Israel carte blanche when it knows it could drag the US into a wider conflict.| Responsible Statecraft
Read about the latest news & greatest stories on ukraine war. On Responsible Statecraft you'll find everything you need to know about ukraine war.| Responsible Statecraft
It may be a cynical strategy, but he seems to have read the room while she has chosen a more confused, if not hawkish path| Responsible Statecraft
He's had some dumb ideas too but he's running circles around the left| Responsible Statecraft
The Russians have adapted to all Western arms. Not to acknowledge the situation today is toying with the fate of a nation| Responsible Statecraft
One month later, Kyiv's invasion of Russia hasn't moved the needle, while Moscow has made gains on other fronts| Responsible Statecraft
Without a strategy the new aid could be the worst thing to happen to the war beleaguered country right now. Here's why.| Responsible Statecraft
The Biden administration needs to tell the American people what it really thinks Kyiv can actually achieve| Responsible Statecraft
He deserves special gratitude from the Ukrainian and European establishments for telling the truth before things go way too far| Responsible Statecraft
Read about the latest news & greatest stories on israel. On Responsible Statecraft you'll find everything you need to know about israel.| Responsible Statecraft
Read about the latest news & greatest stories on iran. On Responsible Statecraft you'll find everything you need to know about iran.| Responsible Statecraft
The newly minted secretary of state undermined the basis of primacy| Responsible Statecraft
Gabbard gets a boost ahead of tumultuous hearing on Thursday| Responsible Statecraft
Recreating the project on American soil would be hugely expensive and largely pointless| Responsible Statecraft
