Robert Gates Articles

We Bow to the God Bipartisanship

Bipartisanship: the Holy Grail of American politics. Long the go-to buzzword for presidents, elusive cross-aisle support at home has all too often been purchased at the price of good policy abroad.

Unintelligent Design

In the wake of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, Americans cried out for catharsis. The 9/11 Commission delivered. What we are left with is an ill-conceived bureacracy in the guise of reform.

Spoils of Babylon

Kirkuk is about to bring Iraq back into civil war. The Obama administration is moving toward a settlement of this disputed region that will anger everyone.

Republican Reckoning

Mismanaged for eight years by the Bush administration, the Republican Party is in peril. Neoconservative table scraps are neither appropriate nor wise. But the GOP has another foreign-policy tradition to which it can turn. Presidents from Eisenhow

For God, King and Country

Over the centuries, the causes and justifications for war have evolved. But we remain caught in a Westphalian mindset, even though the nature of today’s substate threats demands an altogether-different mentality and a new breed of soldier—or at le

Kurdistandoff

When it comes to Iraq's Kurds, the United States needs to make a deal with Turkey or face the consequences later.

New Year, Old Story on Iran

A year after their assessment of Iranian nuclear ambitions, the authors look back. There are still no good options for dealing with Iran.

From Awakening to War

Without quick mediation, the politicization of religion could lead to conflict.

Religion and the West

American religiosity and European secularity spring from the same source.

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May 26, 2012