Americans hate high gas prices. Politicians know it, economists study it, and every election cycle seems to include promises to bring them down. Continue Reading
International
China’s “Lay Flat” Problem: Passive Resistance in an Age of Active Competition
In recent years, a quiet but consequential social trend has emerged in the People’s Republic of China: tang ping (躺平), or “laying flat.” At its core, Continue Reading
Explaining Iran’s “These Hands Are Rated E for Everyone” Strategy
To most Americans, Iran’s foreign policy often looks less like grand strategy and more like a drunken bar fight. Missiles at Israel. Proxy attacks Continue Reading
Architecture of Torture
Editor’s Note: This article contains graphic descriptions of torture, sexual violence, and psychological abuse. Reader discretion is advised. By Continue Reading
Iran’s Pink Missile Problem
Some regimes project power. Others perform it. And right now, Iran is doing theater. Not the kind meant to entertain—but the kind meant to Continue Reading
You May Fly Over a Land Forever; You May Bomb It, Atomize It, Wipe It Clean of Life — But…
“You may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, and wipe it clean of life — but if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for Continue Reading
Sermons From Behind the Bodyguard
There is no creature on Earth more comical than the modern respectable person calling power vulgar while enjoying the quiet luxury of being guarded by Continue Reading
Iran’s “’Tis Only a Fleshwound” Strategy
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn warned about lies. Monty Python warned about something else entirely—delusion. Oddly enough, the latter might be more Continue Reading
Leave No One Behind: It’s OK That the Rest of the World Doesn’t Understand
There are a lot of things about the US military that don’t make sense from the outside looking in. Why we train the way we do.Why we push people to Continue Reading
The Broken Chair Club
There’s a giant broken chair sitting outside the United Nations in Geneva, and for once public art accidentally told the truth. One leg blown off, Continue Reading
The Alliance of Cowards
There is nothing quite as moving as the modern Western alliance in action, if by “in action” you mean standing in a tasteful semicircle, issuing Continue Reading
Europe’s Security Subscription Just Went Full Price Under Trump
Europe has two religions: Symbolism and Someone Else Paying For It. So when Donald Trump waddles onto the world stage and starts yanking the Continue Reading