In the News

"I really think [President Trump] wants the ceasefire, and a lot of his bellicosity is to try to pressure Iran to come to the table," Cécile Shea says.

"There's been tension building, but yesterday, what happened last night, was definitely an escalation," Paul Poast says of the ongoing conflict between the two nations.

"The current situation is at a much higher level of intensity to where it doesn't seem like that's going to be easy to achieve, if it could even be achieved at all," Paul Poast says of diplomacy between the United States and Iran.

The centrality of wealth in US politics under Trump is more a sign of continuity than change. His falling out with Elon Musk only underscores this point, Paul Poast writes.

"I suspect that Israel, like a lot of other countries, just decided that [Iran's nuclear] program was moving ahead too quickly," Cécile Shea says.

With Operation Spiderweb, Ukraine demonstrated it has a lot of fight left. All that means is that the war is set to rage on, Paul Poast writes.

Observers have argued that Trump has irreparably damaged the US reputation abroad. Paul Poast explores whether that matters.

"Even in areas where the administration has not cut staff to the bone, the shallow state is implementing Trump’s preferred policies in a shallow manner," Daniel Drezner argues.

"Americans place most of the blame for the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Putin rather than Zelenskyy," Dina Smeltz says, pointing to recent Council-Ipsos polling.

Besides making business deals and accepting lavish gifts, Trump also promised a reset in US-Middle East relations, Paul Poast writes.