How to Succeed in the Foreign-Policy Blob
Some graduation advice for aspiring members of the foreign-policy establishment in the class of 2023.
Research
U.S. Foreign Policy Is About to Get Boring
The presidential election is around the corner—and that means “Scranton Joe” is about to take the international stage.
The Chinese Global in the Long Postwar: Narratives of War, Civilization, and Infrastructure since 1945
This chapter traces changing Chinese ideas of the “global” as expressed through successive ideas of the place of China in world order: Jiang Tingfu’s vision for postwar China in the Bretton Woods era,
Why Biden and Yoon’s Agreement Is a Big Deal
The Washington Declaration signed by U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday should be a ringing reminder of one of the greatest achievements of U.S.
Soft Power and Great-Power Competition
This open access book consists of essays selected from Joseph S.
Nuclear Ethics Revisited
Scott Sagan asked me to revisit Nuclear Ethics, a book I published in 1986, in light of current developments in world affairs.
Ukraine and Russia Need a Great-Power Peace Plan
How Washington and Beijing could stop the war in Europe.
Biden’s State Department Needs a Reset
The administration’s diplomacy has underperformed—except at time-wasting talk about democracy.
Some Rules of Global Politics Matter More Than Others
Norms are real, but there’s enormous room for interpretation.
Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to visit Moscow this week in his first trip abroad since his reelection comes as no surprise to those who have been watching carefully.