Do economic sanctions serve U.S. policy objectives? An important new report from the Government Accountability Office raises the question, but supplies an unsatisfactory answer: Although the departments of Treasury, State and Commerce all pay close attention to the impact of specific sanctions on their targets, there’s no reliable way to assess whether — or even […]

The United States may not be the only target of Vladimir Putin’s social media warfare, but many Americans do seem particularly vulnerable to Russian agents’ tricks. Consider Russian operatives’ malicious use of social media platforms to upend our democracy and influence the 2016 election, outlined in a Senate Intelligence Committee report released last week. Despite […]

When Beto O’Rourke ran for U.S. Senate in Texas last year, he presented himself as someone who could reach across the political divide and work with those he disagrees with. Now as he runs for president this year, Candidate Beto is embracing the politics of sharp divisions. That’s how we read his response to a […]

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled four years ago in favor of same-sex marriage, gay Americans in many parts of the country found that they could be married on Sunday only to be fired from their jobs on Monday because of their sexual orientation. This unjust situation endures today, but the court has an opportunity […]

President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, opening the way for a possible incursion by Turkish forces, is everything his critics say it is: impulsive, unwise and a betrayal of the Syrian Kurds on whom the United States relied in the war against Islamic State. Characteristically, the president is now engaging […]