For decades, the transatlantic alliance has rested on two pillars: a deep trade relationship and Europe’s near-total dependency on U.S. military protection. But recent moves from Washington have shaken that foundation.

Fifty years ago today, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, officially rendering the United States’ decades-long misadventure in Vietnam a failure.[i] The troubling reality of wartime decision-making is that it was not based primarily on whether the United States could feasibly win, or even whether Vietnam was strategically important. Rather, policymakers in Washington escalated the […]

Since President Trump returned to the Oval Office in January 2025, the relationship between the United States and Europe has been in free fall.

“The impacts of climate change on Africa’s development are increasingly evident across the continent. Given the need for collective regional solutions, an essential normative framework is ‘extraterritorial solidarity.'”

“The world today has no shortage of climate shocks, and its impacts continue to be dangerously and disproportionately felt by marginalized groups, perpetuating an enduring cycle of violence.”

“While the magnitude of Jakarta’s air pollution problem is well established, its sources are hard to measure, muddying the task of prioritizing interventions to target root causes.”

In the turbulent theater of global geopolitics, Kazakhstan – sandwiched between two major regional powers, Russia and China – occupies a unique yet precarious position.

“Given the severe danger whistleblowers face in exposing their governments, it is surprising that the international community has not built more solid protections. Proposing frameworks for creating such a protection system using the treaties, bodies, and laws already on the books offers a feasible pathway that considers the current stalemate in geopolitics.”

“Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a wave of speculation in U.S and other media about the rise of new technologies in warfare. However, many policymakers are drawing the wrong conclusions: that due to the rise of robotics, drones, and artificial intelligence, warfare will be radically smaller. Instead, the evidence from Ukraine points to the fact that while technological change is occurring, mass remains an essential component of modern warfare and U.S. national security policy needs to adjust accordingly.”

Japan is closely watching the early days of the Donald Trump presidency.

“Imagine a world where accessing healthcare, education, and financial services is as seamless as sending a message on your smartphone. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is the backbone of this vision – a transformative framework of interoperable, scalable, and inclusive digital systems that empower governments and citizens alike, driving innovation, equity, and sustainable development on an unprecedented scale.”

“With President Trump in the Oval Office, Taiwan must justify continued American support by implementing large-scale and painstaking military reforms to show how seriously it takes its own defense,” writes Naveen Krishnan (HKS MPP 2026). “Large-scale reforms will align with Trump’s focus on allies becoming more self-reliant and deserving of US sacrifice.”