Barack Obama

Shutter Island

Why does Obama think it will be easier to close Gitmo this time?

BY PHILLIP CARTER | MAY 24, 2013

The Indispensable Nation's Indispensable Weapon

Obama can't live without drones, Pakistan can't live with 'em. So the president bowed to the Islamic street.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 24, 2013

Freedom Begins at Home

How can the Obama administration credibly promote freedom of speech abroad while restricting it in the United States?

BY SUZANNE NOSSEL | MAY 23, 2013

Authorize This

Can Obama put the war on terror on a new legal footing?

BY ROSA BROOKS | MAY 23, 2013

The War Professor

Can Obama finally make the legal case for his war on terror?

BY ROSA BROOKS | MAY 23, 2013

Gitmo's Fallen Czar

Daniel Fried was the perfect man for the hardest job in Washington, but even he couldn’t close Guantanamo.

BY MICHELLE SHEPHARD | MAY 22, 2013

Too Fast, Too Soon

Why Obama's embrace of Myanmar is putting the cart before the horse.

BY JOSHUA KURLANTZICK | MAY 21, 2013

No, They Can’t

Why American presidents always disappoint us.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MAY 20, 2013

Obama's Plumbers

This time, a secretive president has gone too far.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 17, 2013

Dead on Arrival

I co-wrote the Arab Peace Initiative. And I doubt Kerry's good-faith attempt to revive it will succeed.

BY MARWAN MUASHER | MAY 16, 2013

Yes, Iraq Is Unraveling

And it's about to become Obama's problem all over again.

BY MICHAEL KNIGHTS | MAY 15, 2013

It’s a Nice Place to Visit, But I Wouldn’t Want to Be a Reporter There

How did Turkey become the world's leading jailer of journalists?

BY CHRISTOPHE DELOIRE, JOEL SIMON | MAY 15, 2013

Obama's Self-Inflicted Scandal

The only thing transparent about the White House is its perverse penchant for secrecy.

BY RICHARD A. EPSTEIN | MAY 15, 2013

You Know It's Bad…

When progress in the Middle East seems more in reach than a Washington that works.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | MAY 14, 2013

Rudderless in the Desert

Five reasons Obama can’t will his way into fixing the Middle East -- even if he wanted to.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MAY 14, 2013

The Trust Deficit

How the U.S. 'pivot' to Asia looks from Beijing.

BY HE YAFEI | MAY 13, 2013

Pakistan’s Rollercoaster Election

Is this a generationally significant change of power, or more of the same dysfunction?

BY MICHAEL KUGELMAN | MAY 10, 2013

Leave Bad Enough Alone

The United States should forget about intervening in Syria. Asia's what matters.

BY EDWARD LUTTWAK | MAY 7, 2013

Send the Nukes Back to South Korea

At the stroke of a pen, President Obama could reassure a key ally and put Pyongyang back in its box. Here’s how.

BY BENNETT RAMBERG | MAY 6, 2013

Neighbors in Arms

How U.S. guns are turning Central America into one of the most dangerous places in the world.

BY COLBY GOODMAN | MAY 3, 2013

How to Close Guantanamo

Why Obama doesn’t need Congress to start to make good on his promise.

BY LAURA PITTER | MAY 1, 2013

What Was Obama Thinking?

How the administration backed itself into a corner on Syria.

BY BARRY PAVEL | MAY 1, 2013

The Ghost of Iraq

How the last war is haunting the Syria debate.

BY JOHN NORRIS | MAY 1, 2013

The Mexico Bubble

Is President Enrique Peña Nieto about to fall to Earth?

BY JOHN M. ACKERMAN | MAY 1, 2013

Blow Back

Sorry, Washington. If, after 30 years, Colombia can't win the war on drugs, no one can.

BY JONAH ENGLE | APRIL 30, 2013

The Angst in Foggy Bottom

Many in the State Department aren’t happy with the president’s policy on Syria. And they’re speaking out.

BY GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON | APRIL 30, 2013

Is Obama’s Red Line a Green Light?

It’s time for the president to back up his words with action.

BY SALMAN SHAIKH | APRIL 29, 2013

Minority Report

Should presidents seek out dissent?

MAY/JUNE 2013

Assad’s Chemical Romance

How the Syrian dictator’s cynical and clever chemical weapons strategy outfoxed Obama.

BY JOSEPH HOLLIDAY | APRIL 26, 2013

Obama's Syria Dilemma

Damned if he does; damned if he doesn't.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | APRIL 26, 2013