E-Notes

E-Notes are policy-oriented articles covering current developments around the globe that impinge upon American foreign policy and national security priorities. 

How We Misunderstand the Sources of Religious Violence

In these days and in this country, when most people hear the phrase “sources of religious violence,” they tend to conflate religious violence with terrorism, tend to assume that the principal source of that violence is “religious” in nature,...

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The Flawed Hope of Sufi Promotion in North Africa

Sufism has been repeatedly invoked in U.S. foreign policy circles as a possible ideological counterbalance to extremist ideologies in the Middle East and greater “Islamic world.” On a superficial level, for those who view politics as a “battle of...

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South Korea’s Lurking Dangers: From Impeachment to Foreign Policy Paralysis

South Korea is marooned in perilous seas with its ship in more danger of careening off course than at any time since the end of the Cold War. The recent impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, leading to a possible...

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The South China Sea through the Eyes of China’s Military

America’s prolonged involvement in armed conflict in the Middle East and Afghanistan has obscured an important truth: the most consequential strategic confrontation on the planet has been building, not in Iraq and Syria, but in Southeast Asia where the...

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Seventy-five Years Ago: Remembering Pearl Harbor and a World at War

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor offers an opportunity to look back on the world-changing events of 1941. In that year, the United States was shocked into playing the role of a global superpower. This role...

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Donald Trump’s Excellent Middle East Adventure

Auguste Comte once asserted that intellectual confusion lay at the basis of every historical crisis. Whatever Comte’s own confusions may have been, most of them common to his age, he was, on balance, probably right about this. I suspect...

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Trump and Tsai: A Sign of Things to Come?

On December 2, President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan, shattering nearly 40 years of diplomatic protocol. It has been characterized as everything from brilliant to petty and everything else in between. Since defeating Hillary Clinton...

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The U.S.-Russia Relationship: Trump Can’t Fix It, but He Can’t Break It, Either

Over the past several months, much has been made of President-elect Donald Trump’s attitude toward and connections with Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin. Some observers have charged that Trump is naïve about Putin’s real objectives and have implied...

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Another Brick in the Wall: Northern Mexico and the Trump Presidency

“Mexico. It’s unbelievable what’s happened,” President-elect Donald Trump said at an August 10 Fort Lauderdale rally, after warning the audience of the impending departure of 1,400 Carrier Air Conditioning jobs from Indiana. “A friend of mine—he’s one of the...

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Why Did a Pro-Russian Candidate Win the Presidency in Moldova?

On November 13, over 52.1% of Moldovans voted for Igor Dodon of the Socialist Party. He is the country’s fifth elected president and only the third elected directly by the people. Those dissatisfied with the outcome took to social...

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