The US attacks Iran: Three questions for the day after
The U.S. airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following Israel’s successful operation, has left the situation uncertain. Key questions remain: Did America cripple Iran’s nuclear program? How will Iran retaliate? And could this crisis lead to regime change?
Ukraine’s War Is America’s Warning
Ukraine’s battlefield innovations in drones, AI, and electronic warfare offer the US a critical preview of future conflict. Partnering with Ukraine now could help modernize America’s defense and avoid strategic lag.
It’s Time To Restructure the U.S. Military’s Command Plan
The UCP is overdue for a major update, as it no longer lends itself to a grand strategy aimed at deterring Chinese aggression.
With the potential return of a global war, it is time to reconsider the Joint Staff’s historical role of coordinating global operations during a conflict.
The president and the secretary of defense have the power to issue new UCPs at their will. They should exercise that power now.
The Originalist Case for Birthright Citizenship
President Trump has moved to constrain birthright citizenship, and a number of constitutional scholars have questioned whether the 14th Amendment in fact requires it. They make serious arguments, but they ultimately misconstrue the 14th Amendment. According to the best reading of the text, all individuals born on American soil are American citizens. The marginal exceptions to this rule tend to prove the rule rather than refute it.
Trump and Congress Clash over Who Has Final Say on the Library of Congress
Who is in charge of the Library of Congress: Congress or the president? Until recently, the settled answer in Washington was that the world’s largest library was, as its name states, a legislative branch agency.
Why should America negotiate with China?
There is no credible way for the United States to seal itself off from the effects of China’s actions.
Trump wants Congress to vote for his rescissions. Are Republicans willing to own the cuts?
Conservative lawmakers and activists have demanded for months that the president and Congress legally cancel billions in federal spending the administration has already withheld—a sum Democrats peg at over $400 billion.
Trump invites electoral backlash abroad, but Europe’s far right is far from dead
Elections held in the first half of 2025 suggest that Trump’s victory and the way he has governed since have, on balance, hurt the right-wing nationalist movement around the world more than they helped.
The purpose and promise of China’s International Organization for Mediation
COMMENTARY
The purpose and promise of China’s International Organization for Mediation
If IOMed proves to be effective, it will be a serious competitor to the existing international dispute settlement mechanisms.
Confronting the Supreme Court’s Confusing Confrontation Clause Cases
Justices Alito and Gorsuch urge a major reevaluation of the Supreme Court’s Confrontation Clause doctrine, calling the current framework—established in Crawford v. Washington—confusing and unworkable.
The Crumbling of Bedrock Environmental Policy: We Need to Protect NEPA
The Trump Administration plan to destroy NEPA is dangerously wrong. Federal agencies need better funding, staffing, and training to engage in NEPA work more effectively; new short-cuts, time-limits, exemptions, or statutes of limitations are not in the public interest.
Trump’s Executive Order Puts Science Under the Thumb of Politics
Trump’s “Gold Standard Science” executive order undermines scientific integrity by politicizing federal research, rolling back anti-interference protections, and enabling industry-friendly policies at the expense of public health and environmental studies.