Commentary and Analysis

Balancing power or increasing risk? Deep Dish explores what a multilateral defense pact for Asia might mean.

In 2022, there were about 170,000 troops stationed outside of the U.S. and its territories, according to the Department of Defense. As of June 2023, there were over 30,000 troops stationed in the Middle East alone, before America expanded its military presence following Hamas' attack on Israel in October. 

The U.S. and Israel have what has historically been called a “special relationship,” and the U.S. has given more money to Israel than any other country since 1946.

The U.S. is among the top donors to a United Nations agency that runs Palestinian refugee camps.  

But public opinion has likely shifted following Hamas' attacks on Israel.

"A China beginning to lose the underpinnings of its new-found international influence could prove even more dangerous," John Austin writes.

Overall, Americans say the status quo between Israelis and Palestinians is unacceptable.

"What you're seeing on both sides of the border there right now is just complete despair," says Cécile Shea.

The current configuration of the international system is a recipe for frozen conflicts to thaw, Paul Poast argues.

The American public is under no illusions as to how long the war is likely to last, Ivo Daalder writes.