The Senate has taken a major step toward dramatically increasing economic pressure on Russia, the countries purchasing its energy, and Iran. In an 86–12 procedural vote, senators advanced the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, although the measure still requires additional votes before it can pass the Senate and move to…
The U.S.-Spain Trade Standoff
President Trump’s suggestion that the United States should cut off trade with Spain over defense spending is one of those foreign-policy moments where a real issue gets paired with a very Trumpian solution: take a legitimate complaint, attach a flamethrower to it, and see who blinks first. The basic dispute is simple enough. Trump is…
Turkey, the F-35, and the Price of Alliance Trust
President Trump’s reported push to reopen the door for Turkey to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program has revived one of NATO’s messier family arguments. And yes, this is very much a “family argument” situation: Turkey is a NATO ally, the U.S. wants strong partners against Russia and Iran, Israel is raising alarms, Congress has…
Trump, Ukraine, and the Delayed Drone Deal
The Trump administration’s hesitation over a major drone deal with Ukraine comes down to a simple question: Is America willing to learn from the country currently fighting the most drone-intensive war on earth? Ukraine wants a broad framework deal that would combine its hard-earned battlefield drone experience with American technology, money, manufacturing capacity, and artificial…
What the Pentagon’s Europe Deployment Pause Means
The Pentagon has reportedly halted troop deployments to Poland and Germany as part of President Trump’s broader order to reduce the U.S. military presence in Europe by about 5,000 troops. According to AP, roughly 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, were no longer heading to Poland, and a…
Trump, Germany, and the Cost of a Feud
When foreign policy starts to look less like long-range strategy and more like a high-stakes personality clash, it’s worth pausing and asking whether the adults are still in the room. That’s the uncomfortable backdrop to President Trump’s reported order to withdraw roughly 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, a move unfolding amid a heated dispute with…
Hungary’s Political Earthquake
Let’s not undersell this: Viktor Orbán losing an election to Péter Magyar is the kind of event that makes political analysts do a double take and then check the results again just to be sure. For over a decade, Orbán didn’t just win elections; he dominated them. He built a political brand around inevitability. The…
Russia Helping Iran Target U.S. Forces
Russia has reportedly shared intelligence with Iran that could help Tehran locate and potentially target U.S. military assets in the Middle East. According to reporting by the Associated Press, U.S. officials believe Russia has passed along information that could improve Iran’s ability to track American ships, aircraft, and other military infrastructure in the region. Even…
The EU–Mercosur Trade Deal: Strategic Logic Meets Political Reality
Free trade agreements tend to be debated like theology: one side speaks of “prosperity,” the other of “betrayal,” and both sides cherry-pick numbers. The EU–Mercosur deal deserves a more sober appraisal, because it’s not just a trade pact. It’s an attempt to rewire supply chains, industrial strategy, and geopolitical alignment in a decade when tariffs…
The Greenland Gambit
As Senate Republicans move to block President Trump from advancing his renewed push to assert American control over Greenland, the moment is more than a routine intraparty disagreement. It reveals a deeper fault line running through American politics: the difference between raw power and rightly ordered authority. At stake is not merely an unconventional foreign…
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