Richard Sokolsky
Foreign Policy
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Past articles by Richard:
What It Would Take for Blinken to be a Truly Great Secretary of State—and Why the United States May Not Need One Now
What it takes to make a truly great secretary of state—and why the United States may not need one now. → Read More
How to Reset U.S.-Russian Relations Today
Today, the U.S.-Russian relationship is at the lowest point since before the Cold War ended and the best we can hope for is that it will not get even worse. → Read More
The One Thing Trump Gets Right About Middle East Policy
The best hope for Trump’s Middle East policy is that his administration continues to avoid getting America into new conflicts and to think about how to disentangle it from old, unwinnable ones. → Read More
Trump’s Critics Say Leaving Syria Means We Lose. We Already Did.
Trump’s decision didn’t cause the United States to lose in Syria. For all practical purposes, Syria was already lost. → Read More
North and South Korea Take Important Steps to Demilitarize the Korean Peninsula
Further mitigating the risk of a local incident escalating out of control should continue to be a high priority for North and South Korea as well as for the United States. → Read More
Will Trump Once Again Fall for a Saudi Charm Offensive? He Shouldn’t.
The U.S.-Saudi relationship is based on mutual expectations that are unlikely to be met. It will endure but it is likely to remain far more fraught and complex and, in the years ahead, increasingly less beneficial for the United States. → Read More
The (Former) Soviet Empire Strikes Back
Russia’s meddling in the U.S. political system is part of a broader global campaign to undermine what the Kremlin sees as a Western-dominated international order. → Read More
Trump’s Policy on Iran: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
When it comes to Iran, Donald Trump’s foreign policy looks like a scene out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. → Read More
Tillerson’s New Line: Trump Is Right on Everything
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s interview with CNN was a well-orchestrated statement of his intention to remain in his job—at least until the end of 2018. What does the interview tell us about what to expect from him—and the administration—in 2018? → Read More
The Return of Global Russia: An Analytical Framework
Russia has employed a range of policy tools in recent years to undermine elements of the U.S.-led international order and expand Moscow’s influence on the global stage. → Read More
Rex Tillerson Isn’t the Problem. It’s Trump.
Amid reports that the White House wants to dump the secretary of state, it’s important to understand why he failed—and how his successor might, too. → Read More
The Folly of Deploying U.S. Tactical Nuclear Weapons to South Korea
If Washington wants to keep the South Korean nuclear genie in its bottle, the administration may need to draw the South Korea more closely into U.S. nuclear planning for the peninsula and elevate the visibility of its own nuclear footprint in and around the country. → Read More
Trump Said What? How Chaos on Turkey, Kurds, and Syria Could Work for U.S.
The United States should not commit massive resources to roll back Iranian influence in Syria. President Donald Trump’s call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have headed that off. → Read More
Donald Trump Has Unleashed the Saudi Arabia We Always Wanted — and Feared
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has put the Middle East on a collision course. And the White House will own the consequences. → Read More
Donald Trump Has Unleashed the Saudi Arabia We Always Wanted—and Feared
Under Mohammed bin Salman, Riyadh has morphed into an independent force striking out aggressively at home and adventurously abroad, dragging Washington with them. → Read More
Memo to the President: Syria Isn’t a Vital U.S. Interest
The United States can neither transform Syria nor walk away from it. Washington needs to accept the reality that its role will likely be limited. → Read More
Trump’s Foreign Policy Is Neither Strategic nor Competent
In 2017, the United States is contending with a world whose challenges would be excruciatingly difficult even for the most experienced and well-managed administration. Nine months in, President Trump has demonstrated neither strategy nor competence on foreign policy. → Read More
Should Rex Tillerson Resign?
As Donald Trump continues to undermine Rex Tillerson and the Department of State, it's clear that both the office of the secretary of state and the department itself have a diminished role in the current administration. → Read More
On North Korea, Is Trump Flunking Crisis Management 101?
Trump has correctly put the North Korea crisis at the top of the international agenda, but on almost every other aspect of Crisis Management 101, he is failing the course—and the consequences could be deadly. → Read More
Diplomacy Really Can Work Against North Korea. Here’s Why.
There’s no reason the United States cannot pursue a diplomatic track while at the same time deterring, defending, and containing the North Korean nuclear threat to America and its allies. → Read More