Putin hopes to dangle development deals in front of Kushner and Witkoff to lift U.S. sanctions. He made some progress when Trump announced that the US would be importing diesel fuel from Russia. But most sanctions remain in effect, and Congress passed legislation to strengthen them. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

While Witkoff and Kushner say they would not benefit from the Lukoil sale, the deal reeks of conflicts of interest at best and outright corruption at worst. It is emblematic of the de facto Trump Doctrine — mixing private and public interests to an unprecedented degree. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

Putin hopes to dangle development deals in front of Kushner and Witkoff to lift U.S. sanctions. He made some progress when Trump announced that the US would be importing diesel fuel from Russia. But most sanctions remain in effect, and Congress passed legislation to strengthen them. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

Countries that do what Trump wants get lucrative business deals; those that don’t get higher tariffs.
Trump is pursuing his own version of “dollar diplomacy,” a term coined during the Wm Howard Taft administration. The problem is there’s little evidence that “dollar diplomacy” works. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

When the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia, Trump refused to come to their aid because he is reluctant to be trapped in another endless war. Even with Trump, who is turning the presidency into a multibillion-dollar profit center, there are sharp limits to what money can buy. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

The Saudis and Emiratis have invested so much in business projects associated with the Trump clan in large part because they are hoping to buy influence. But while they got access to AI chips (UAE) and civilian nuke tech (Saudis), they also got dragged into a costly war with Iran. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

While Witkoff and Kushner say they would not benefit from the Lukoil sale, the deal reeks of conflicts of interest at best and outright corruption at worst. It is emblematic of the de facto Trump Doctrine — mixing private and public interests to an unprecedented degree. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

You would think Trump et al. would have figured out by now that dictators are not primarily interested in economic development. While Trump & Co. have devoted their lives to making money, the leaders of N Korea, Hamas, Iran & Russia have devoted their lives to accumulating power. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

In his first term, Trump hoped to lure Kim Jong Un into giving up his nukes in return for Western investment. The pitch didn’t work. Undeterred by the failure of his North Korea diplomacy, Trump offered a similar deal to Hamas in 2025: disarm in return for beachfront condos. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

As Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they are also working with the Kremlin to sell $20 billion in international assets owned by the Russian oil company Lukoil to a group of investors that includes their own business partners. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Opinion | ‘Dollar diplomacy’ doesn’t work. Yet Trump keeps using it.

Trump administration pursuit of profit and peace blurs line between public and private interests.

wapo.st

Over at my Substack--"The Long View"--I have some thoughts about how the Trump-Zelensky relationship is again in crisis mode because of Trump's incorrigible pro-Putin bias. bit.ly/4s0v9VI

Trump turns on Ukraine--again

The Trump-Zelensky relationship is again in crisis mode, because of Trump’s pro-Putin bias

bit.ly

Talking on CNN International about the Trump administration's "performative cruelty," as manifested in the plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood killer. The spectacle is a revolting one. video.snapstream.net/Play/3TmGkhK...

Isa Soares Tonight

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video.snapstream.net

The lack of self-awareness is something else. As if the Trump administration has any credibility lecturing any other country about its international obligations. One of the first things Trump did was pull out of the WHO. www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Exclusive | U.S. Escalates Pressure on Russia Over Siberia Lab Death

The U.S. has warned Moscow that its failure to disclose details about the death violates international health obligations.

wsj.com

Without a deal, Iran is more likely to lash out than to surrender; it retains plenty of missiles and drones it could use to target oil facilities and ships across the region. Indeed, in recent days, Iran has stepped up attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

More Oil, Same War: Why Increased Exports Aren’t a Sign of Iran’s Collapse | Council on Foreign Relations

Oil exports from the Middle East have rebounded, fueling claims that the United States is winning its war with Iran. But the Strait of Hormuz remains treacherous, Tehran isn’t any closer to accepting ...

bit.ly

The failure of the Iraq War has made me into a chastened hawk acutely conscious of the limits of American power. I hope our leaders have learned the same lessons, but as I read news that Trump is sending a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, I fear that they have not. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Opinion | We’ve left Iraq. But we haven’t learned its lessons.

Political dogma breaks down when it meets on-the-ground reality.

wapo.st

Without a deal, Iran is more likely to lash out than to surrender; it retains plenty of missiles and drones it could use to target oil facilities and ships across the region. Indeed, in recent days, Iran has stepped up attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

More Oil, Same War: Why Increased Exports Aren’t a Sign of Iran’s Collapse | Council on Foreign Relations

Oil exports from the Middle East have rebounded, fueling claims that the United States is winning its war with Iran. But the Strait of Hormuz remains treacherous, Tehran isn’t any closer to accepting ...

bit.ly

Most of the increase in exports is coming not from the Strait of Hormuz but from alternative, bypass routes that are longer and more expensive: The cost of moving a tanker of oil from the Middle East to China has skyrocketed from $7 a barrel before the war to $35 a barrel today. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

More Oil, Same War: Why Increased Exports Aren’t a Sign of Iran’s Collapse | Council on Foreign Relations

Oil exports from the Middle East have rebounded, fueling claims that the United States is winning its war with Iran. But the Strait of Hormuz remains treacherous, Tehran isn’t any closer to accepting ...

bit.ly

Trump claims he's winning the war. But if oil is flowing so freely, why was the Brent crude oil price on Friday still over $100 a barrel—i.e., roughly 40 percent higher than the day before the war began? The price of diesel fuel in the US has risen even faster: by almost 75 percent. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

More Oil, Same War: Why Increased Exports Aren’t a Sign of Iran’s Collapse | Council on Foreign Relations

Oil exports from the Middle East have rebounded, fueling claims that the United States is winning its war with Iran. But the Strait of Hormuz remains treacherous, Tehran isn’t any closer to accepting ...

bit.ly

I recall getting briefings from officers who told me that the previous unit in their “AO” had screwed up, but they had all the trend lines going in a positive direction. A few years later, I would visit the same base and get the same briefing from a new unit that had just rotated in. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Opinion | We’ve left Iraq. But we haven’t learned its lessons.

Political dogma breaks down when it meets on-the-ground reality.

wapo.st

I supported the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, convinced that it would lead to greater democratization in the Middle East. We all know how that worked out. Since then, I don’t have a lot of certainties about the world in general, and the Middle East in particular. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Opinion | We’ve left Iraq. But we haven’t learned its lessons.

Political dogma breaks down when it meets on-the-ground reality.

wapo.st

The invasion was a catastrophic mistake that resulted in huge costs without any appreciable strategic benefit. It’s true that things are much better in Iraq now than they were a decade ago, but the most lasting consequence of the conflict was to entrench Iranian influence in Iraq. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Opinion | We’ve left Iraq. But we haven’t learned its lessons.

Political dogma breaks down when it meets on-the-ground reality.

wapo.st

The longer I spent in Iraq, the less I understood it. It was easy to talk in Washington about the war as a battle between “good guys” and “bad guys.” It was harder to do when you saw how murderous and corrupt even many of our allies in the Iraqi government were. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Opinion | We’ve left Iraq. But we haven’t learned its lessons.

Political dogma breaks down when it meets on-the-ground reality.

wapo.st

The whole experience of Iraq has taught me to be more wary of America’s ability to transform foreign lands and made me more skeptical of wars of choice. The ongoing conflict with Iran only reinforces those lessons. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Opinion | We’ve left Iraq. But we haven’t learned its lessons.

Political dogma breaks down when it meets on-the-ground reality.

wapo.st

The failure of the Iraq War has made me into a chastened hawk acutely conscious of the limits of American power. I hope our leaders have learned the same lessons, but as I read news that Trump is sending a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, I fear that they have not. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Opinion | We’ve left Iraq. But we haven’t learned its lessons.

Political dogma breaks down when it meets on-the-ground reality.

wapo.st

I spoke yesterday at a @CFR_org roundtable with @WillHitchUVA about his important, and highly readable, new book, "A Shadow Over the World," about America, FDR, and the rise of fascism in the 1930s. It's a masterpiece of narrative history. bit.ly/4rJhSR3

America's Struggle Against Fascism in the 1930s

Subscribe to our channel: https://goo.gl/WCYsH7 This work represents the views and opinions solely of the author. The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher, and takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. Visit the CFR website: http://www.cfr.org Follow CFR on X: http://www.twitter.com/cfr_org Follow CFR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/councilonforeignrelations/

bit.ly

"The U.S. military needs a radical change in its thinking: It can no longer expect to operate from invulnerable bases near the front," @maxboot.bsky.social writes.

Opinion | Iran destroys a fundamental U.S. military assumption

The war exposes a vulnerability that could be disastrous in a conflict with China.

wapo.st

A good summary of how @washingtonpost continues to do kick-ass journalism. Rumors of its demise were greatly exaggerated. It is recovering from the cutbacks and continuing to produce important stories. www.washingtonpost.com/impact?itid=...

The military can no longer expect to operate from invulnerable bases near the front. But it’s hard to imagine that the armed forces can focus on such a major strategic reorientation when they are dealing with Hegseth’s destabilizing political purges & his retrograde T-count demands. wapo.st/4jsqNEo

Opinion | America’s military bases are no longer safe

Iran exposed a vulnerability that could be disastrous in a war with China.

wapo.st

And it’s about to come out in paperback.

Max Boot@maxboot.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ron Reagan.... happened to mention that Max Boot had written what was probably the best biography of the 40th President, an opinion shared by many others. It's a 731 page tome, published in 2024, entitled "Reagan: His Life and Legend." potus-geeks.livejournal.com/1963874.html

Ron Reagan.... happened to mention that Max Boot had written what was probably the best biography of the 40th President, an opinion shared by many others. It's a 731 page tome, published in 2024, entitled "Reagan: His Life and Legend." potus-geeks.livejournal.com/1963874.html