Debating the Obama Doctrine
Analysts respond to our April cover story and assess the president’s foreign policy
Obama’s Former Middle East Adviser: We Should Have Bombed Assad
Philip Gordon says the administration did just enough in Syria to perpetuate the conflict without resolving it.
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Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters Obama Promised to End America’s Wars—Has He?
The president’s military record, by the numbers
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In Praise of Political Reporters
Last night, President Obama gave the keynote lecture at an annual dinner to honor excellence in political reporting.…
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Rebecca Cook / Reuters Obama on What Trump and Cruz Get Wrong About Islam
The struggle against jihadist terrorism isn’t the same as the struggle against communism—and it’s dangerous to conflate them.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Are European Countries Really ‘Free Riders’?
Obama’s recent comments on the trans-Atlantic alliance neglect what it has achieved recently—and what it still needs to do.
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Michael Kappeler / Reuters How Obama Views the Men and Women Who (Also) Rule the World
A rough guide to the president’s relationships with other leaders
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Is Obama a Hadrian or a Jovian?
A previous reader—the attorney who used to work for a Republican senator—crafted a comprehensive case against Obama’s foreign policy record…
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The Obama Doctrine, Cont'd
Jeff ventured into The Facebook today for a live discussion with Uri over his new cover story, pondering deep…
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'No, Mr. Obama, We Are Not the Free Riders'
President Obama’s use of the term “free riders” in Jeffrey Goldberg’s cover story to describe some U.S. allies has prompted…
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Obama Confronts the Joker of the Middle East, Cont'd
Responding to my note about the ISIS/Joker analogy from Obama’s interview with Jeff, a reader analyzed a…
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters The Obama Administration's Drone-Strike Dissembling
Debunking John Brennan’s claim that “the president requires near-certainty of no collateral damage” to allow a drone killing to go forward.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Why Credibility Matters
It’s not just a Washington fetish, as Obama suggests.
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The Disappointment of Barack Obama, Cont'd
My colleague Chris passed along several reader criticisms to my piece on the “The Obama Doctrine,” and my…
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Tim Wimborne / Reuters Obama: Fighting Wars He Believes Unwinnable
What’s behind the president’s inaction?
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Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP Barack Obama’s Revolution in Foreign Policy
When you think you’re the smartest person in the room, it’s tempting to make up your own grand strategy.
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Chris Helgren / Reuters The End of the U.S.-Dominated Order in the Middle East
Obama has prioritized global goals over regional ones.
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Ammar Abdullah / Reuters The Slipperiest Slope of Them All
An American president who rejected the notion of a “global war on terror” has now launched one.
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So About That Special Relationship ...
President Obama’s comments about Britain and Prime Minister David Cameron in Jeffrey Goldberg’s cover story are dominating headlines in the…
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How to Get the President to Open Up
Jeffrey Goldberg on Obama’s on-the-record bluntness in The Atlantic’s April 2016 cover story
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Reuters How Russia Saw the ‘Red Line’ Crisis
Did Obama’s refusal to strike Syria really give Putin the green light in Ukraine?
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Carlos Barria / Reuters How Iraq Warped Obama’s Worldview
The president is certain he’s right. Is that what we want in a leader?
