“The consequences of the Iran conflict, which are already being felt in the region, will reverberate globally as an exacerbated food crisis swells.” www.cfr.org/articles/the...

"The idea of making difficult trade-offs — sacrificing this for the greater good of that; denying instant gratification for larger future gain — is as foreign to Trump as Mongolian... Such a person gets bored very easily — bored of reading, bored of listening, bored of thinking and bored of peace."

“Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes…” www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/p...

Who are “we”?

NEW: Before the Iran War, Trump ignored warnings that Iran could retaliate across the region and stop oil shipments. Now, with energy markets in chaos, some aides are pessimistic about the lack of a strategy to end the war. But they haven't told Trump. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/u...

@colinkahl.bsky.social on Trump's utter lack of clarity of purpose in Iran: "Wars are not judged by how well they start. They are judged by how they end—and by whether the country that started the fight is stronger or weaker when the guns finally go quiet." www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/what-en...

"Vile as the Iranian regime is ... it did not pose an imminent danger to the American people. Mr. Trump’s war, however, does create immediate and acute risks to American civilians in the region."

“Trump appears strangely uncertain about where the war is heading. ‘The worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person,’ Trump mused on Tuesday…seeming to be considering this very real possibility for the first time. ‘It would probably be the worst.’”

“The contrast between Washington’s near-unlimited willingness to compromise and demonstrate patience when it comes to persuading Russia to end its aggression against Ukraine and its unrealistic demands and lack of patience with Iran in the run-up to this war is as stark as it is telling.”

“This war started at a time of our choosing,” said Yael Lempert, a career diplomat who served as ambassador to Jordan in the Biden administration. “It should have come as no surprise that airspace would close, and commercial flight options would be curtailed.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/u...

Trump’s plan for Iran, in two phone calls yesterday: NYT: [W]hen asked whom he wanted to lead Iran, he said, “I have three very good choices.” He added: “I won’t be revealing them now. Let’s get the job done first.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/u...

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death at the hand of a nation he worked very hard to kill is a hinge moment in the history of Iran’s revolution, Karim Sadjadpour argues. theatln.tc/rGrjs2Wh

“Who wants this? Nobody wants this,” said [Aaron David] Miller at the @carnegieendowment.org “We’re sleepwalking towards a war, in search of a strategy.” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... ‘Crisis of his own making’: Donald Trump weighs another war with Iran

Thomas Wright: "What exactly has changed since June that justifies a more extreme course of action now? Until that question is addressed, the case for urgency, and for war, does not add up." www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

“Military operations look quick and easy — right until they are not,” said @jkdemp.bsky.social. “What we did in Venezuela was such a unique operation, and a one-off. And even that — I’m not sure it will turn out fine.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Congratulations to @nancygoodman.bsky.social for all the hard work getting the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act over the finish line. If you are not familiar (and even if you are) this is worth a read: www.thebulwark.com/p/pediatric-...

Major efforts in policy and diplomacy to address the fentanyl crisis in the United States have begun to see a remarkable decline in overdose cases. @jeffreyprescott.bsky.social discusses this milestone: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

It is rare in foreign policy to find hard proof of success. Rarer still for diplomacy to save thousands of American lives in short order. I wrote about new research here: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

“Don’t ever leave the U.S. chair empty.” www.justsecurity.org/128658/unite...

Americans now spend more on Halloween candy than Trump does on feeding the starving. Gross. Sam Vigersky on Trump and Rubio's great humanitarian aid recession: cfr.org/expert-brief...

The President of the United States just called for my arrest and execution. In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage:

Joint Statement from Goodlander, Slotkin, Kelly, Crow, Deluzio, and Houlahan

“The international order that the United States built and maintained for decades is coming to an end, and what follows is up for grabs.” Read Jeffrey Prescott and Julian Gewirtz on China’s “new, more active diplomatic strategy”: