Battle Lines Drawn
Plus: House GOP defies White House on Israel funding, Gaza City surrounded, SBF guilty, Republican under indictment seeks reelection
Foreign Aid
Don't Believe Janet Yellen's Shoddy Wartime 'Girl Math'
Plus: President Joe Biden’s weird economy and Rep. Mike Johnson as the unlikely new speaker of the House of Representatives.
What Joe Biden Got Right—and Wrong—Last Week in the Middle East
Plus: A listener asks the editors about mandatory maternity leave.
Crisis at the Border
Plus: Empty place settings for the hostages, Biden doxes soldiers, my own Yeltsin moment, and more...
Does It Matter What College Kids Say About Israel?
Plus: The search for a new speaker of the House continues to be a ludicrous mess.
Blaming Hamas Shouldn't Mean Ignoring the Palestinians' Plight
Terrorism does not thrive on peace and normalcy. It thrives on war and chaos and overbroad revenge projects.
After Hamas Attack, There Are No Good Options in the Middle East
Plus: Chaos in Congress, and bums in the parks
Zelenskyy Goes To Washington
Plus: Rupert Murdoch retires, Ibram X. Kendi blew through millions of dollars, and more…
Hunter Biden Gets Caught in America's Double War on Drugs and Guns
Plus: A listener asks for the editors’ advice on how to spend his money.
Ukraine's Sluggish Counteroffensive Raises Questions About U.S. Support
Should the U.S. continue to bankroll the counteroffensive?
The Ukraine War May Engulf the World
What was a local conflict is shaping up as a battle between alliances.
The GOP Split on Ukraine Aid Isn't Really About Ukraine
For most aid critics, the urge to cut off Kyiv appears unconnected to any sort of principled realism, non-interventionism, or even isolationism.
'The U.N. Is a Massive Club for Dictators'
The Human Rights Foundation is mobilizing a global band of activists to fight authoritarianism in China, Iran, Russia, and beyond.
The U.S. Is Spending $130 Million a Day on Military Aid for Ukraine Without Meaningful Congressional Oversight
Lawmakers are avoiding important debates about America's role in the conflict and the potential for misuse of funds and weapons.
Blundering Into Escalation in Ukraine?
Plus: A listener asks if it’s possible for bureaucracy ever to be good.
What's Next for Russia's War in Ukraine?
There’s no endpoint in sight to a war that threatens widespread consequences.
In Afghanistan, Private Aid Fills Void Left by Bureaucratic Failure
Small, private groups are working to feed the hungry and evacuate the endangered.
We Said Good Riddance to the Afghan War in 2021. Unfortunately, It's Not Actually Over.
Our drones still patrol the skies, and our tax dollars will be paying off the costs of failed nation-building for decades.
United Nations Official Suggests Elon Musk Donation Could Solve Global Hunger (Kinda)
How much good can $6 billion really do?
The Afghanistan Lessons America Refused To Learn
A U.S. agency spent 13 years documenting our government's failure to stabilize or rebuild the country.
Does America Need To Be Involved in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?
Neither side needs military aid funded by U.S. taxpayers.
Trump's Immigration Policy Was Brutal and Inhumane. Will Biden Fix It?
Obama was also no immigration hero.
Democrats Say Trump Is Responsible for Ukrainian Deaths. They're Wrong.
Impeachment managers in Trump's Senate trial have overplayed their hand by claiming that Ukrainians perished because he blocked aid from the country.
When Border Defense Becomes Border Offense
Militarized borders and military intervention are two sides of the same coin.
Trump Team Plotted Post-Hoc Justification for Withholding Ukraine Aid, Emails Suggest
Plus: another half-truth from Elizabeth Warren, Rick Perry calls Trump "the chosen one," and more...
A $280 Million U.S. Aid Program Was Supposed To Help 75,000 Afghan Women. It Helped 60.
The "largest women's empowerment program" was supposed to benefit 75,000 women.
George Clooney Leaves Free Market Solutions Out of Proposals to Fight World Poverty
Private enterprise helps global economic development in ways besides simple charity.
The Only Solution to the Trumps' Conflicts of Interest
The heart of the potential for conflicts of interests is not the Trump business empire. It's the presidential power to steer benefits to particular interests.
In Syria, the Wrong Kind of Humanitarian Intervention
Bombs shouldn't be taking the place of aid.
Donald Trump Doesn't Care If Israel and the Palestinians Make Peace
With an off-hand remark, the president indicates the status quo of U.S.-supported Israeli occupation is fine with him.
Why Are Haiti's Coffee Trees So Tall?
Changing café culture and international do-gooderism collide on a troubled island.
U.S. Military Industrial Complex Gets Huge Subsidy in the Form of Record-Breaking Aid Package for Israel
Israel is fully capable of funding its own defense, but now they'll have billions more to spend on U.S. weaponry.
The Universal Basic Income: Innovative Social Welfare Reform or Satanic Plot?
An experiment in international aid hits a snag.
'Sex Trafficking Survivor' at Democratic Convention Not Actually Victim of Sex Trafficking
Ima Matul was a victim of forced labor, or labor trafficking. In the U.S. and around the world, it's as common if not more common than sex trafficking.
South Sudan Rebel Leader Returning to Capital, May Signal End of Civil War
South Sudan, described as an "American creation," has been at war almost since its independence in 2011.
Bono: Send in the Clowns To Beat ISIS
U2 frontman makes some good points in congressional testimony but mostly wallows in showbiz solipsism.
U.S. Foreign Policy Is Too Militarized
How the military became the most powerful diplomatic tool America has - and why that won't help win the fight against ISIS.
Soft Hearts and Hard Minds: The Enduring Challenge of U.S. Foreign Policy
In the case of CIA torture, hard hearts mixed with soft minds to further a policy that was not only grotesque, but unwise.
Foreign Aid Is a Failure
Throwing good money at bad governments makes poor countries worse off.
Death, Taxes, and American Aid to Israel
Three things you can count on: death, taxes, and American support for military contractors channeled through the tiny but prosperous democracy.
Did Western Aid Create the Breeding Ground for Ebola?
Aid-dependent Liberian leaders neglect the needs of their people to please Western benefactors.
