United States

The Trump-Putin Negotiations

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I normally avoid personalizing geopolitical events, since I regard nations, not leaders, to be the agents of history. But there are moments when the...

As Trade Changes, So Does US Defense

Reports from around the world suggest U.S. military policy is at odds with itself. On the one hand, the United States has pledged to...

Assessing the Potential Impact of US Tariffs

The United States’ sweeping tariffs announced earlier this month have disrupted global shipping networks and triggered turmoil across the logistics sector. Though the durability...

Adam Smith, Economics, Finance and Geopolitics

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Adam Smith defined how we think about free markets. His guiding principle was, famously, the invisible hand – a mystical force or the hand...

A New Phase in the US-China Trade War

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(click to enlarge) Markets briefly stabilized after a 90-day reprieve on some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but the U.S.-China trade war is escalating...

Southeast Asia Heeds Trade Warnings

When they were first announced, U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs brought panic and confusion to markets all around the world, perhaps nowhere...

Oil in the Trade War

Immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his slew of tariffs last week, OPEC+ members, led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, announced a significant...

The Geopolitics of Tariffs

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There are two analytic principles worth repeating before delving into the raft of tariffs the Trump administration issued last week. The first is that...

For the US, Deep-Sea Mining Is a Matter of Urgency

Outside the clamor of tariffs, the negotiations over Ukraine and various institutional reforms, the U.S. government has been devising new ways to strengthen its...

Defense Industry Winners and Losers Amid Trump Tariffs

For years, Europe has been notoriously slow in developing a coherent strategy for its defense industry. And it never really had a reason to...

US and Russia Find Common Ground in the Middle East

The United States and Russia held their third round of talks on Ukraine in Riyadh this week, reportedly focused on a ceasefire in the...

A New Asian Bloc in the Making?

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Senior officials from China, South Korea and Japan will soon meet in Tokyo to try to establish a more formal relationship, replete with security...

The Risks of the United States’ Latin America Policy

The past couple of months have shown, for better or worse, that Latin America will figure more prominently in U.S. foreign policy under the...

The Limits of a US-Russia Detente

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are linked, at least in U.S. efforts to resolve them. In many ways, a contiguous shatter...

Graphic Essay: The Evolution of NATO

For the past 75 years, NATO has been the de facto defender of Europe. Virtually every country on the Continent has its own armed...

A Personal Explanation of Why I Don’t Vote

I must confess that I have not voted in an election, other than local ones, since I left my life in academia and government...

Latest Posts

The Geopolitics of the United States

The United States needed to expand west to the Pacific coast in order to ensure strategic depth, generate economic activity and development and reduce the presence of any threat on its western front.

The rich agriculture area between the Rockies and Appalachian Mountains has an intricate river system favorable for exports through New Orleans Port via the Mississippi River.

North America can only be threatened from the sea and therefore control of the seas plays an important element of American strategy.

After the Soviet Union fell, the United States had no strategic challenger. The US remains the world’s super power and actively works to prevent the emergence of any potential regional power that could one day challenge it.

Read Regional Assessment

From our Forecast...

The United States is entering a period of domestic disorder that will last a decade or so. The crisis will not affect U.S. foreign policy, even if it looks like it will.

United States in our Memos

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Latest Posts

US Assault on Houthis Brings No Relief for Yemen

With U.S. airstrikes against the Houthi rebels intensifying, Yemen is at a critical juncture. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that “hell would...

Daily Memo: Japanese Support for Ukraine, French Presence in Syria

Intelligence-sharing. Japan has agreed to provide Ukraine with satellite-based geospatial data, including radar imagery obtained from Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites. It’s the first time...

The Trump-Putin Negotiations

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I normally avoid personalizing geopolitical events, since I regard nations, not leaders, to be the agents of history. But there are moments when the...

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