سیاست آمریکا

If Moscow can get away with boldly flouting U.S. interests in a key American security zone such as the Middle East, where might it interfere next, and at what cost to the international security system?

The last thing Putin wants is a U.S.-led safe haven inside Syria, since it would erode his leverage over Europe and raise the military costs of fighting on Assad's behalf.

The potential risks of inaction -- including thousands more civilians killed, millions more refugees, the spillover of fighting into Turkey, Jordan, and Israel, and a Russian-Iranian military victory -- greatly outweigh the dangers of moving forward.

Diplomacy is shaped by facts on the ground, not the reverse, so Washington must be prepared to alter those facts by increasing its support for the opposition or expanding its own military involvement.

If the Obama administration sees the nuclear agreement as a strategic win capable of transforming Tehran's hostility, then America's ability to deter and contain Iranian challenges will be eroded.

A bipartisan group of American diplomats, legislators, policymakers, and experts cites the need for vigilance in enforcing the nuclear deal and urges the administration to reject the idea of Iran as an ally in the anti-ISIL campaign.

Russia's summer 2015 entry into the Syrian war and Turkey's subsequent shootdown of a Russian jet reportedly violating its airspace have upended previously smooth ties between Ankara and Moscow. Yet the ensuing tensions have given the United States an unprecedented opportunity to restore strong cooperation with Turkey, not only in

By taking an overcautious approach in Syria, the president has highlighted America's failure to have an open discussion about the real strategic lessons of the Iraq war.

Once Washington sees that defeating ISIS and dealing with the aftermath are two separate, albeit linked, operations, then the cost and benefits of using U.S. ground troops for the former can be soberly assessed.