The Trump Era

In less than a week, Americans will vote for their next president. The choice this year is stark, particularly with regard to the two candidates’ character and qualifications. For all her flaws, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is clearly qualified and prepared to assume the presidency. By contrast, her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump, has demonstrated a lack of seriousness and a cavalier amateurishness that makes him ill-suited for the office. This is not so much an endorsement of Clinton as a statement of fact for most unbiased observers of international affairs and national security. It is also unfortunate, since the campaign—while [...]

It is time for a serious assessment of what a Donald Trump presidency would mean for the United Nations. For most of this year, this prospect has seemed little more than a topic for passing drollery. In May, for instance, I wrote that “as president, Trump will love the U.N.: He loves bloviating, so he should feel right at home in Turtle Bay.” With the U.S. elections just over 40 days away, this seems less amusing. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is still the frontrunner, but opinion polls suggest her lead is narrow. U.S. officials and diplomats in foreign capitals are [...]

On Monday, 50 Republicans signed a letter denouncing the party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, as a “risk” to America’s “national security and well-being.” These aren’t any ordinary Republicans. They are some of the party’s leading national security and foreign policy voices, people like Michael Chertoff and Tom Ridge, who both served as secretary of homeland security under former President George W. Bush; Michael Hayden, who previously headed both the CIA and National Security Agency; Eric Edelman, who worked for former Vice President Dick Cheney; and Richard Fontaine, who was a foreign policy adviser to Sen. John McCain. They were merciless [...]