Stephen Wertheim

I propose a new core objective of U.S. strategy toward Taiwan in @inkstickmedia.com: America's Taiwan policy should now balance preventing a war with preventing an American war. inkstickmedia.com/what-is-the-...

Today Americans are no more willing to bear costs for foreign policy than they were in the 1990s. But a far more competitive world is driving up the price of a primacist foreign policy, threatening its domestic foundation. My new @carnegieendowment.org paper: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Look forward to joining this @chathamhouse.org conversation, October 6 in London. Register here: www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/s...

going in for the socialist fraternal kiss

“Just weeks ago,” I told Reuters, “Trump adopted a strategy of squeezing Iran's economy while keeping military conflict at levels too low to squeeze the American economy. The Houthis have shattered Trump's plan." www.reuters.com/world/middle...

I told MSNOW that one lesson of 9/11 that U.S. foreign policy still hasn't learned is this: “The objectives set at the outset of a conflict are fateful — one better be careful about setting objectives that may turn out to exceed our capabilities.” www.ms.now/news/sept-11...

A pleasure to join @tparsi.bsky.social and Tom Switzer. I argued that if U.S. pressure is effective in hurting Iran, Iran will more likely escalate than capitulate. www.youtube.com/live/6kHlAeU...

Some in the Trump administration see the problem I see—that America is militarily overextended and allies should step up. The National Security Strategy rightly says we should no longer hold up the globe like Atlas. But you don't have to drop the globe and start kicking it around, either.

I told Monocle Radio that having attacked Iran to burnish his legacy, Trump may not stop until he can semi-plausibly claim a win. If so, he’ll probably be at war for the rest of his term — and end up as the president who started another forever war. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Insightful piece on the decline of resistance liberals, who cast Trump as a "not normal" outsider and the national-security state as the savior. In their place is an acceptance that Trump is an American problem and the solution is to change what has long passed as normal, foreign policy included.

"All the pathologies I saw in the Iraq War are present in this one, only in more virulent form." kansaspress.ku.edu/blog/2026/08...

Trump went to war because sanctions could not work. Now he’s imposing sanctions because war could not work.

A banger avant la lettre www.nytimes.com/1998/04/27/o...

Only around one-third of Americans alive today were adults at any point in the Cold War.

A pleasure to join Rob Malley and Chris Chivvis to discuss how Trump’s war with Iran might end (if it does). youtu.be/Lbh_sKoqhsU?...

If this is the logic Trump is acting on, he’ll be at war with Iran for the rest of his presidency.

Sharing a few recent international interviews interpreting U.S. foreign policy under Trump: 'Trump zal altijd blijven geloven dat Europese landen erop uit zijn de VS te benadelen' www.knack.be/nieuws/werel... 'La frattura dell’Atlantico è irreparabile' limesonline.com/rivista/nato...

"In being quick to threaten and cavalier with assurances, the president has undercut the vital qualities that enable coercion to succeed. To repair this damage, future administrations will need to cultivate a U.S. reputation for restraint." www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Everything Trump says about Iran is one of two things: 1. They’re desperate to make a deal and there’s going to be a deal.   2. I will bomb their bridges and power plants and end their civilization. The cycle repeats within the week, sometimes daily. For more than four months and counting.

Forget freedom of navigation: it’s now a battle for whose piracy will prevail. Perfect example of what happens when liberal internationalists hitch their wagon to Trump.

Think of it: A NATO summit at which the American president called for taking control of an ally's territory is deemed a success.

At this year’s NATO summit in Ankara, European leaders are building a stronger Europe-led alliance as America’s commitment shifts. @sophiabesch.bsky.social, @iacoskun.bsky.social, Nate Reynolds, and @stephenwertheim.bsky.social examine what’s shaping the summit. carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

the core strategy of the AIPAC faction has been to never give an inch, concede absolutely nothing to good faith critiques, and crush opposition relentlessly. that works until it doesn't, and then it really, really doesn't work at all

Robert Malley and Stephen Wertheim: "What began as the closest, most integrated US-Israeli military campaign in history ended with” Trump publicly rebuking Netanyahu “in the harshest terms, criticizing his 'vicious' bellicosity in Lebanon and accusing him of jeopardizing a deal with Iran."

Today's Briefing: Eric Blanc @ericblanc.bsky.social | Stephen Wertheim @stephenwertheim.bsky.social | Christopher Miller @christopherjm.ft.com soundcloud.com/user-8304426...

In today’s #MustRead, Robert Malley & Stephen Wertheim argue Trump’s war with Iran ended in political and strategic failure, weakening U.S. influence, straining ties with Israel and Gulf allies, and exposing limits of military force without clear long term strategy. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/o...