Should Ukraine Have Nuclear Weapons? (Slavoj Žižek)

The situation in Ukraine is becoming increasingly absurd. While American isolationists and the media treat Ukraine’s use of longer-range missiles against Russia as a dangerous escalation, Russia’s fresh wave of attacks on civilian infrastructure is treated as par for the course. Read More

Elon Musk’s $2 Trillion Fiscal Fantasy (Jeffery Frankel)

It is often said that a businessman like Donald Trump or Elon Musk will know how to put America’s fiscal house in order. But between Trump’s planned tax cuts and Musk’s absurd estimate of how much federal spending can be reduced, the smart money says they have no idea what they are doing. Cambridge: When …

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Elon philosophy professor unearths roots of American philosophy in new book (Michael Abernethy)

Ryan Johnson, associate professor of philosophy, traces the influence of German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel in the work of American philosophers in “Three American Hegels.” Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy Ryan Johnson published his seventh book this fall, an exploration of three seminal American philosophers who shaped national thought by incorporating the …

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Biden’s Unfinished Business on Ukraine (Michael McFaul)

When historians write about President Biden and his administration, the president’s response to Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 will be the most significant chapter in the foreign policy section. We already know how that chapter starts; we don’t know how it ends. Biden still has several weeks to make pivotal decisions that …

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The True Aims of China’s Nuclear Buildup: Beijing’s Growing Arsenal Is Meant to Dissolve America’s Alliance System in Asia (Kyle Balzer and Dan Blumenthal)

Since 2018, American defense analysts have repeatedly identified China as the greatest threat to U.S. national security. They have variously described Beijing as a “systemic challenge,” a “pacing threat,” and even a “peer adversary,” owing to China’s massive military buildup, belligerent behavior in the Asia-Pacific, and global campaign of economic coercion. These vague, buzzy phrases …

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The Paradox of Israeli Deterrence: How a Campaign Against Hezbollah Could Lower Iran’s Inhibitions (Carrie A. Lee)

Last April, it appeared as though escalation between Israel and Iran could plunge the entire Middle East into conflict. Israel’s strikes on the Iranian consulate in Damascus prompted Iran to retaliate by launching a barrage of missiles and rockets into Israel—the first time that Iran had openly attacked the country. But after Israel responded in …

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War and Peace in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: What It Will Mean for the World When Machines Shape Strategy and Statecraft (Henry A. Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Craig Mundie)

From the recalibration of military strategy to the reconstitution of diplomacy, artificial intelligence will become a key determinant of order in the world. Immune to fear and favor, AI introduces a new possibility of objectivity in strategic decision-making. But that objectivity, harnessed by both the warfighter and the peacemaker, should preserve human subjectivity, which is …

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Ukraine’s Trump Tightrope: Kyiv Must Convince the President-Elect That a Russian Victory Could Hurt Him (Nataliya Gumenyuk)

As with many other aspects of their war against Russia, Ukrainians have reacted to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election with a certain dark humor. The morning after the election, Ukrainian social media was full of jokes, including by soldiers commenting that they are “preparing to go home soon, since the war will end …

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