Terms of Engagement
James Traub is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and author of, most recently, The Freedom Agenda. "Terms of Engagement," his column for ForeignPolicy.com, runs weekly.

Obama's Plumbers

This time, a secretive president has gone too far.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 17, 2013

Out With It

Americans deserve to hear the dirty secrets of the CIA’s war on terror. We’ll all be better off with the truth.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 10, 2013

Slouching Toward Damascus

In Syria's implosion, Secretary of State John Kerry already faces a defining task. How hard is he prepared to push against Obama's weary realism? 

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 3, 2013

The One-Man Show

Secretary of State John Kerry thinks he can singlehandedly solve the world's most intractable problems. But will President Obama even let him try?

BY JAMES TRAUB | APRIL 26, 2013

For Shame

Why don't Americans care more about torture?

BY JAMES TRAUB | APRIL 19, 2013

The Limits of Leading by Example

President Global Zero is learning the hard way that cutting back America’s nuclear weapons arsenal doesn't cut the mustard with rogue states.

BY JAMES TRAUB | APRIL 12, 2013

The Pit of Despair

In the streets of Pakistan, people have had it about up to here. For the Obama administration’s diminished goals there, maybe that’s not a bad thing.

BY JAMES TRAUB | APRIL 5, 2013

The African Century

The unlucky continent finally seems to be on a real path to growth, but is democracy essential to sustain Africa’s rise?

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 29, 2013

How to Pick a Secular Pope

Could the U.N. benefit from a little white smoke?

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 22, 2013

Lost in the Desert

What does the Obama administration make of Egypt's Mohamed Morsy? Not much. But they've still got to figure out how to work with him.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 15, 2013

How Not to Repair a Broken Pot

The lesson of Iraq isn't that American intervention only makes things worse; it's that there's a smarter way to do it.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 8, 2013

A Country Unto Itself

There’s no place like India. Which is precisely why its politics and economy are such a contradictory, beautiful mess.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 1, 2013

Return of the Gandhis

In the new India, everything is moving a mile a minute. Except politics.

BY JAMES TRAUB | FEBRUARY 22, 2013

The Terrible Twos

Can Washington prevent the turbulent Arab Spring countries from going the way of the post-Soviet states?

BY JAMES TRAUB | FEBRUARY 15, 2013

The Five-Year Engagement

As Obama begins his second term, one thing is clear: the administration's Iran policy is failing. What now, Mr. President?

BY JAMES TRAUB | FEBRUARY 8, 2013

The Team of Buddies

Is President Obama’s national security team too like-minded and conservative about the limits of American power?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JANUARY 31, 2013

Nation-Building in the Classroom

Has President Obama given up too soon on hopes for fixing Afghanistan?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JANUARY 25, 2013

Second-Term Heat

What will be the legacy of Obama's next four years?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JANUARY 18, 2013

Exit, Minus Strategy

Barack Obama has clearly decided to cut his losses in Afghanistan. Will all hell break lose when he does?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JANUARY 11, 2013

Welcome, Know-Nothings

The new Congress is a bunch of ignoramuses when it comes to foreign policy. And, frankly, that's probably a good thing right now.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JANUARY 4, 2013

Hope Against Hope

A look back at what I've gotten wrong, and why I'm (mostly) not sorry.

BY JAMES TRAUB | DECEMBER 21, 2012

Secretaries of Safe

Obama’s likely national security picks are going to reinforce his innate caution -- for better and for worse.

BY JAMES TRAUB | DECEMBER 14, 2012

The Climate Scofflaw

Is the United States really the impediment to a universal compact on global warming?

BY JAMES TRAUB | DECEMBER 7, 2012

Extrication Negotiations

The United States is ready to start talking to the Taliban about a peace deal again. But nothing's going to happen without Pakistan.

BY JAMES TRAUB | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Life Inside the Iron Dome

Why President Obama shouldn't accept Israel's policy of defensiveness and despair.

BY JAMES TRAUB | NOVEMBER 23, 2012

Silent but Deadly

How the State Department tried and failed to force Obama’s drone program into the open.

BY JAMES TRAUB | NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Secretary Kerry

Would John Kerry do a good job of filling Hillary Clinton’s shoes?

BY JAMES TRAUB | NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Adapt or Die

Still think climate change is a joke?

BY JAMES TRAUB | NOVEMBER 2, 2012

The Amphibian

How Barack Obama learned to cover his right flank -- and his left.

BY JAMES TRAUB | OCTOBER 26, 2012

Last Hope

I know what I'd like Obama to say at the final presidential debate, but I'm not holding my breath.

BY JAMES TRAUB | OCTOBER 19, 2012