Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Giorgio Cafiero

“The roles played by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey in facilitating the ‘Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding’ underscore the extent to which regional actors have invested in creating off-ramps for the United States and Iran, and steering the conflict away from further escalation. Across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), this diplomatic off-ramp has garnered broad relief that the conflict appears to be moving toward de-escalation as Washington and Tehran prepare for talks on the sensitive nuclear and non-nuclear issues. But where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fits into this broader picture is far from straightforward.” (06/18/26)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/uae-iran-war/

Source: Common Dreams
by Roger D Harris & John Perry

“Donald Trump’s second term has precipitated a tsunami of criticism from Democrats over his foreign policy. Yet when it comes to Washington’s efforts to dominate Latin America and the Caribbean, the substantive dispute (if there is any substance remaining, once stripped of partisan bickering) is less about ends than means. Beneath the rhetoric of inter-party conflict lies a broad bipartisan consensus in favor of promoting US hemispheric hegemony and crushing governments that resist it, with Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua at the forefront. While Democrats frequently portray Trump as reckless, they generally accept the underlying premises of economic coercion, political intervention, and regime-change pressure. Their objections mainly focus on the execution of policy rather than its legitimacy. Under Democratic administrations, the US forged and institutionalized what may be its most effective instrument of hegemony.” (06/18/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dems-donroe-doctrine

Source: Liberal Currents
by Eric Robinson

“A new liberal foreign policy must be built on personnel with real experience, not glossy yes-men with ivied pedigrees.” (06/18/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/no-more-cupbearers/

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen

“In recent years, critics on both sides of the aisle have taken aim at the longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan. They argue that Washington should abandon ambiguity and embrace ‘strategic clarity,’ explicitly pledging to fight China over Taiwan. Others, such as Hoover Institute Fellow Eyck Freymann, have offered more sophisticated sounding alternatives like ‘structured ambiguity,’ attempting to codify precisely what America would and would not do in various contingencies, particularly involving gray zone activities. But abandoning a long-established policy that, whatever its faults, has prevented a major war between great powers for over half a century, in favor of a new policy, would be a serious mistake.” (06/18/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/strategic-ambiguity-if-we-must/

Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander

“In 1917, three children in Fatima, Portugal claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary. They promised she would perform a miracle on a certain day in October. Nearly 100,000 pilgrims arrived, hoping to see whatever happened, and nearly all report that the sun turned pale, changed color, and spun around. Many other writers have investigated the children and their visions, but I was fixated on this sun miracle. … One of the first things I found was that there were many other sun miracles – at least ten! – similar to Fatima.” (06/18/26)

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/waiting-for-the-miracle