Daniel Larison

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule is an opportunity for the US to overhaul its bankrupt Syria policy. The US should have abandoned this policy years earlier, but now there are no longer any pretexts for continuing the collective punishment of the Syrian people and the illegal American military presence on Syrian soil. The time … Continue reading “Leave Syria Alone”

The incoming Trump administration seems determined to wage as many economic wars as it can. The president-elect reportedly plans to pursue another “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran with the goal of “bankrupting” the country. Now he is threatening new trade wars with Mexico, Canada, and China at the beginning of his second term. Trump has … Continue reading “Trump’s Senseless Economic Wars”

It was announced on Monday that President-elect Trump has named Rep, Mike Waltz of Florida as his new National Security Advisor. Trump continues his streak of choosing some of the most hardline men in the Republican Party to run his foreign policy. Waltz may not be as well-known as John Bolton or Michael Flynn, but … Continue reading “Waltzing Toward Disaster”

As President Biden’s term approaches its end, the US and several parts of the rest of the world are significantly worse off than they were when he took office. While the president is frequently lauded by members of the foreign policy establishment as a successful foreign policy leader, his tenure has been marked for the … Continue reading “Biden’s Destructive Legacy”

No matter who wins the presidential election next month, US policy towards Iran seems likely to remain extremely hostile and confrontational. Both campaigns seem determined to out-hawk each other. The Iran policy debate in Washington, such as it is, is focused entirely on the same bankrupt coercive measures of sanctions, threats, and military action that … Continue reading “Reject the Failed Hawkish Consensus on Iran”

The Biden administration claims to be pushing for a “temporary ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah to avert a larger conflict, but this is very late in the day and it is not a serious effort to prevent a new war in Lebanon. It is at best a desperate, last-minute exercise in going through the motions … Continue reading “Thanks to Biden, Lebanon Is Burning”

The first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump presented a bleak picture of the future of U.S. foreign policy no matter who wins in November. On the most urgent and important foreign policy issue of the year, the war and genocide in Gaza, Harris repeated empty platitudes about a “two-state solution” and Trump … Continue reading “Debate Debacle: Our Bleak Foreign Policy Future”

Reprinted with permission from Responsible Statecraft. Israeli forces attacked “vital civilian infrastructure” at the port of Hodeidah in Yemen on Saturday in response to a Houthi drone strike in Tel Aviv, according to Mwatana, a leading independent Yemeni human rights organization. The Israeli military claimed that it hit “military targets,” but Mwatana reports that the … Continue reading “Houthis Only Emboldened by Israeli Attacks”

Reprinted with permission from Responsible Statecraft. In March 1906, U.S. forces attacked a group of Moros and killed more than 900 men, women, and children at the top of Mt. Dajo on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippines. Even though the death toll was higher than at well-known massacres committed by American soldiers … Continue reading “Logic of a Forgotten American Atrocity Is Alive Today”

Reprinted with permission from Responsible Statecraft. The U.S. and Israel have been raising the alarm of a possible Iranian retaliatory strike in response to last week’s Israeli attack on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus. The president once again pledged “ironclad” U.S. support for Israel in the event of an Iranian response, and the head … Continue reading “Biden Should Not Follow Netanyahu Into War With Iran”