Elise Labott

As I write here for @postopinions Washington is still treating the Houthi primarily as a military threat and missing their strategic evolution. https:/www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/08/17/how-houthi-militia-weaponized-shipping-red-sea/

The @statedept sent urgent travel advisory urging Americans in 14 Middle Eastern countries to “depart now”using available commercial transportation, “due to serious safety risks.” check out travel.state.gov for the latest security information, including how to register w/ local embassy/consulate.

It’s a good day for Iran. But don’t expect a “ding dong the witch is dead” moment just yet. www.cosmopolitics.news/p/ding-dong-...

The antisemitic attack in Australia was not about Middle East policy. It’s about the oldest hatred finding a new disguise. The between “criticism of Israel” and “globalize the Intifada” is the difference between political discourse and incitement to murder www.cosmopolitics.news/p/when-the-l...

The Chosen: Crowdfunding, controversy, conversion stories — and the moment Dallas Jenkins stopped trying to feed the 5,000 himself. thepreamble.com/p/how-the-ch...

The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy identifies real strategic challenges. But when Vladimir Putin’s spokesman praises it as “largely consistent with our vision” and “a positive step,” we should ask ourselves what America has given away. www.cosmopolitics.news/p/power-with...

There's suddenly a lot of backtracking on President Trump's 28-point plan for Ukraine. Now it's being called just a "framework" for negotiations. But even as a starting point, this isn't a peace plan. It's a surrender document www.cosmopolitics.news/p/ukraine-on...

The GOP is facing the same crisis with Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson that it did in the 1960s with the John Birch Society. You cannot build a coalition on extremism and expect moderation to prevail. thepreamble.com/p/the-birche...

MBS is trading w/ China, but his deals w/ Trump are betting Sadi’s economic future on American innovation. The partnerships being announced today across AI,advanced tech,and infrastructure could define the 21st century as profoundly as oil defined the 20th www.cosmopolitics.news/p/mbs-comes-...

Like me, have you ever waited weeks (or months!) for a doctor's appointment? This one's for you. Let me know if it resonates. thepreamble.com/p/the-doctor...

The test isn’t whether al-Sharaa’s journey from Abu Ghraib to the Oval offends our sensibilities. It’s whether this partnership advances US interests, stabilizes Syria, and constrains Iran & ISIS while preventing the humanitarian catastrophe from worsening www.cosmopolitics.news/p/trumps-syr...

At the White House today, Netanyahu will find himself in the familiar but uncomfortable position of managing Trump's expectations, as the president who green-lit the Iran strikes now demands payment in the form of a Gaza ceasefire that could threaten the very coalition keeping Netanyahu in power.

Ukraine has become the ultimate foreign policy test case for whether Donald Trump leads his MAGA movement or follows it—and whether his personal frustration with being outmaneuvered can override his base's ideological commitments. open.substack.com/pub/labott/p...

The State Department has halted ALL new student visa interviews nationwide while expanding social media vetting. When we systematically reject global talent, they don't being brilliant - they build competing companies elsewhere. thepreamble.com/p/first-harv...

Apparently human rights and war crimes are passé in America. thepreamble.com/p/us-signals...

President Trump’s deal with the Houthis couldn't more nakedly embody his America First foreign policy. The Houthis stop attacking American ships; the U.S. halts its bombing campaign. But missing from the deal? Any protections whatsoever for American allies www.cosmopolitics.news/p/a-convenie...

This White House statement is really telling: “This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.”

Moscow Mules were sooo 1960s Hot Tale Happy Hour TODAY at 5:30 with me and @Danielle Pletka on Substack Live open.substack.com/live-stream/...

What's most striking about Rubio's State Department reorganization is political theater surrounding it.. Behind the fiery rhetoric about "draining the bloated,bureaucratic swamp" and eliminating "radical ideologues" is a plan far less apocalyptic than many feared open.substack.com/pub/statedep...

We are watching a bizarre cycle of destruction and recreation. Trump tore up a functional, if imperfect,agreement that had Iran's nuclear program in check. Iran responded by accelerating toward weapons capability.Now, Trump must negotiate a new deal to solve the very crisis his actions helped create

When the world loses faith in America's financial foundation, we all pay the price. open.substack.com/pub/sharonmc...

Tariffs are just the beginning. The Trump administration is methodically dismantling the global economic architecture the United States itself built over 75 years and rewriting the rules of international commerce, finance, and monetary policy. open.substack.com/pub/labott/p...

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has become something of a political cult hero on the right as a leader who has successfully quashed liberal influences. "We didn't just talk about defeating the progressives and liberals," he told CPAC in 2023. "We actually did it." thepreamble.com/p/who-is-vik...

Few Americans might recognize him, but Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has become something of a political cult hero on the right as a leader who has successfully resisted liberal influences. thepreamble.com/p/who-is-vik...

My first Substack Live! We will talk about how China is swooping into exploit the US retreat and government cuts Hope you will tune in TOMORROW at 12:30p. Don’t forget to download the Substack app subscribe to Cosmopolitics so you get a notification when we start.

America's withdrawal has created a strategic vacuum that China is rushing to fill. The question is no longer whether America's retreat will create opportunities for China, but how quickly Beijing will seize them – and at what cost to the global order thepreamble.com/p/like-a-lan...

There's an unmistakable culture of casualness permeating this administration that tracesdirectly to the top. President Trump, who has made no secret of his disdain for traditional guardrails, redefined presidential technology norms from day one. x.com/eliselabott/...

European leaders, former officials, and Russia experts—virtually everyone except President Trump—recognizes Putin's strategy: prolong negotiations while advancing militarily,exhaust Western resolve, and force Ukraine into a ceasefire that leaves it permanently vulnerable substack.com/home/post/p-...

Nothing says "America First" quite like pink-slipping 1,300 journalists who literally export American values for a living. open.substack.com/pub/labott/p...

Here is what's missing from this conversation on USAID: It's a strategic instrument of American foreign policy, developed with bi-partisan support as a cost-effective way to advance our national interests without deploying troops or imposing sanctions. thepreamble.com/p/cutting-fo...

If we're serious about American leadership in a competitive world, we need to recognize that soft power isn't just charity -- it's strategy. thepreamble.com/p/cutting-fo...

Nobody is naive enough to think peace bought at the cost of Ukraine's sovereignty would put an end to Putin's revisionist ambitions. Precisely the same warnings were issued about North Vietnam and the Taliban. We ignored them then. We should heed them now www.cosmopoliticsbyelise.com/p/ukraines-p...

The irony is that Donald Trump's "America First" approach may accomplish what decades of gentle EU encouragement never could: forcing Europe to develop genuine strategic autonomy. Is this a gift, a wake-up call, or a burden for Europe? In many ways, it's all three. thepreamble.com/p/trumps-piv...

When competent officers are dismissed not for military disagreements but for insufficient personal loyalty, when combat experience matters less than political enthusiasm, we're crossing a line that America's allies and adversaries are watching closely. substack.com/@eliselabott...

The truth is that while Trump's instincts aren't wrong, his method of getting there is actively undermining his own goals. You can't bully your way to lasting cooperation, especially when your negotiating partners are already inclined to work with you. www.cosmopoliticsbyelise.com/p/trumps-all...

Recent polling that shows 60% of Israelis prefer Trump's vision of Saudi normalization with a path to Palestinian statehood over the annexation dreams of the far right creates an opening for Trump open.substack.com/pub/labott/p...