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Articles by A. Wess Mitchell
Does Trump Have a Strategy?
Play Listen to the Episode 00:00 / 00:00 MP3 Close audio player Both of Donald Trump’s presidential administrations have prompted sharp debates about the direction of U.S. foreign policy. But how to discern a strategic logic behind Washington’s approach, and whether it’s even possible to do so, have been particularly vexing questions since Trump returned to the White House. A.
The Illusion of Progress, the Reality of Power A. Wess Mitchell argues that diplomacy still depends on tragedy, force, and historical realism.
Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft from Attila the Hun to Kissinger By A. Wess Mitchell Princeton, 2025, 352 pages, $27 “In history,” wrote Winston Churchill, “lies all the secrets of statecraft.” In his new and important book Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft from Attila the Hun to Kissinger, A.
A Grand Strategy of Consolidation
The country’s new defense strategy envisioned a dramatic shakeup. It prioritized the homeland and repositioned forces that had patrolled distant frontiers for nearly a century. It handed the task of securing farther-flung defensive perimeters to allies, many of which appeared unprepared to take on the burden. Establishment experts were appalled. Hawks warned that the new strategy would embolden adversaries and advocated for the old approach of being strong everywhere at once.
The Paradox of Great Power Diplomacy
The United States today faces a number of hostile allied great powers, and it lacks the raw military might to deter them all. So A. Wess Mitchell’s new book Great Power Diplomacy lands in our hands at a critical moment.
Recovering the Lost Art of Diplomacy
By A. Wess Mitchell Author, Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft from Attila the Hun to Kissinger The following is adapted from a speech delivered at Hillsdale College on October 21, 2025, sponsored by Hillsdale’s Center for Military History and Strategy. Diplomacy is an instrument of strategy that great powers use to survive and gain an advantage in competition with other powerful states. Excellence in diplomacy is a vital prerequisite to the success and endurance of great powers.
Rubio and Ocasio-Cortez just made cases to Europe. Only one is right.
Rubio and Ocasio-Cortez just made cases to Europe. Only one is right. (washingtonpost.com) Rubio and Ocasio-Cortez just made cases to Europe. Only one is right. By A. Wess Mitchell 2026021811320100 Remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) at this past weekend's Munich Security Conference didn't just offer different policy roadmaps for the U.S. relationship with Europe.
Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft From Attila the Hun to Kissinger
Mitchell makes the case for the importance of diplomacy as the world enters a dangerous new era of great-power competition. This richly researched book offers a series of detailed portraits of leaders who used the tools of diplomacy to fend off rival great powers.
The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy
U.S. Foreign Policy Geopolitics China Russia The Trump administration’s release of a new U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) last month has provoked two basic lines of criticism. Some critics say the document lacks a unifying strategic vision and amounts to a transactional wish-list aimed at satisfying competing camps inside the administration; others say that it signifies a retreat from competition that implicitly accepts—and even encourages—rival powers to seek dominance in their regions.
The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy
3 hours ago Bic Cristal, the world’s best-selling ballpoint pen, turns 75 this year, and to celebrate the anniversary of such an icon, Seletti has recreated its legendary form into a larger-than-life lamp. The Bic Biro: a timeless design icon Perhaps best known as the Bic Biro, the pen has been ubiquitous since …
Strategy in Contention: Debating America's Global Priorities - War on the Rocks
Does the United States need a new playbook — or just fewer plays? In this charged episode, big ideas collide over how to sequence American power across the Middle East, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific. Ryan is joined by A. Wess Mitchell (Marathon Initiative), Stacie Pettyjohn (Center for a New American Security), and Justin Logan (Cato Institute) for a scintillating debate over the future of U.S. strategy. Image: Army Pfc. Brent Lee
Marco Rubio's State Department Overhaul Is Long Overdue
U.S. Foreign Policy Foreign & Public Diplomacy U.S. State Department United States U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plan for overhauling the State Department’s 300-plus bureaus and offices has drawn howls of protest from the usual quarters. Critics contend that by restructuring Washington’s diplomatic bureaucracy, Rubio is pursuing an ideological agenda that will disembowel the department, undercut U.S. diplomacy, and impair the country’s reputation abroad. But the critics are wrong.
America is overextended. Here’s a better way forward.
America is overextended. Here’s a better way forward. (washingtonpost.com) America is overextended. Here’s a better way forward. By A. Wess Mitchell 2025070212000000 The "simultaneity problem," as it's known in military circles, has been the most serious grand strategic challenge facing the United States for some time now. The past two National Defense Strategies made clear that the U.S. is prepared to militarily confront only one major adversary, and that it should be China.
Wake up, Europe. Vance’s criticisms have merit.
Wake up, Europe. Vance’s criticisms have merit. (washingtonpost.com) Wake up, Europe. Vance’s criticisms have merit. By A. Wess Mitchell 2025050711300200 Vice President JD Vance's criticisms of European allies have sparked the biggest collective psychotherapy session in the history of the transatlantic alliance. His landmark Feb. 14 speech at the Munich Security Conference may have drawn the most attention, but his arguments since have been persistent — and obviously heartfelt.
The Return of Great-Power Diplomacy
Since returning to office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has sparked an intense debate about the role of diplomacy in American foreign policy. In less than three months, he initiated bold diplomatic overtures to all three of Washington’s main adversaries.
Opinion | How Biden Let Europe Slip Away
The centerpiece of the administration’s approach was a new entity called the Trade and Technology Council. A brainchild of the European Commission, its nominal purpose was to compartmentalize areas for agreement after years of failed attempts to create a comprehensive trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement.
US Strategy Should Be Europe First, Then Asia
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U.S. Strategy Should Be Europe First, Then Asia
U.S. Foreign Policy Geopolitics NATO China Russia Europe The United States’ ability to cope with the pressures of great-power competition hinges on securing Europe and preserving the trans-Atlantic alliance. While it is true that there are serious and pressing national security problems in Asia and the Middle East, these can only be dealt with effectively once the Atlantic foundation of Washington’s global strength is secure.
Biden Administration Out of Step With Ukraine, Israel War Decisions
Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s SitRep. FP’s Amy Mackinnon is our all-star relief for Robbie this week, who’s out on vacation. Also, let’s honor Larry Tesler, the inventor of the cut, copy, and paste commands, who died at 74 this week, by copying and pasting an inspiring quote. After all, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” There, we just did it.
Ukraine's Kursk Offensive in Russia Is a Geopolitical Opportunity for the US
Geopolitics China Russia Iran Ukraine Ukrainian offensives onto Russian soil, such as the one currently underway in the Kursk region, present an opportunity to end the war more quickly as part of a wider strategy of sequencing the United States’ geopolitical challenges. Such a sequencing strategy, as I wrote in Foreign Policy on the second day of Russia’s invasion, is the best option for avoiding wars against China, Iran, and Russia simultaneously and on multiple fronts.
NATO at 75: Time for Celebration - and Sobriety
Leaders from across Europe and North America will gather in July in Washington to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The meeting will be a chance to celebrate NATO’s accomplishments as an alliance as well as the improvements it has made since the start of the Ukraine war. But it should also be a gut-check on the real state of NATO capabilities at a time of renewed geopolitical rivalry and attendant mounting dangers worldwide.
What Sweden’s Accession Shows About NATO’s Future
The fact that Sweden applied for NATO membership is itself an indication of how much European security has deteriorated since the end of the Cold War. For more than two centuries, the Nordic country maintained a policy of scrupulous non-alignment, on the rationale that doing so would enable Stockholm to claim neutral status in wartime. The country stayed out of both world wars.
Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan: 5 Rules for Superpowers Facing Multiple Conflicts
U.S. Foreign Policy Geopolitics Middle East and North Africa Taiwan Ukraine In 2017, we wrote a book arguing that the United States faced simultaneous tests from Russia, China, and Iran. We argued that these tests, or “probes,” were occurring at the outer perimeter of U.S. power—the “unquiet frontier,” as we called it.
Will DRC Opposition Unite Against Tshisekedi in Congo Election? - Foreign Policy
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief. The highlights this week: A coup attempt in Sierra Leone, severe floods hit Ethiopia and Somalia, and Germany makes a gas deal with Nigeria. In July, amid a tense political climate, the body of an opposition legislator was found in his car with gunshot wounds on a main highway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
Reports and Publications
Sino-American Competition, Global Strategy, and the Place of the Middle East by David Hale The Middle East has for so long dominated the United States’ vision of its threats that it has come to distort the latter’s picture of the globe; a correction of these distortions is overdue. The United States also has a significant, if at present strained, informal alliance structure in the region and considerable assets — soft and hard — that should not be abandoned.
Egypt Looks to IMF, Again - Foreign Policy - Foreign Policy
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief. The highlights this week: Court strikes down Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan, Liberia’s incumbent president loses and steps down, and Madagascar’s election. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) could increase Egypt’s rescue program due to the impact of the war in neighboring Gaza. Last month, Egypt was in talks with the IMF on a potential increase of its $3 billion loan to more than $5 billion.
America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.
America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
2 hours ago DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates said Thursday it will purchase 15 additional Airbus A350-900s worth $6 billion after a spat between the airline and the European manufacturer went unusually public during this week’s Dubai Air Show. The Emirates’ order, far smaller than …
9 Experts Weigh In on Ukraine, Russia, China, and More
What was NATO before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? A Cold War relic in search of a mission, a drain on Washington as it pivoted to Asia, a needless irritant to a nonthreatening Russia—or so a chorus of academic and media pundits told us.
Western Europe Is Still Falling Short in NATO’s East
Western Europe Is Still Falling Short in NATO’s East
Western Europe Is Still Falling Short in NATO’s East
More than a year into the largest land war since 1945, Europe has yet to get serious about defending its eastern frontier. Western European allies still aren’t doing enough to protect the eastern territories that came into NATO nearly two decades ago. At first, this might sound like a surprising claim. For months, there has been a steady stream of reports about how Europe is finally waking up to the threat from Russia.
Western Europe Is Still Falling Short in NATO’s East
Sign in and save to read later Print this article Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Get a link Page url Request Reprint Permissions More than a year into the largest land war since 1945, Europe has yet to get serious about defending its eastern frontier. Western European allies still aren’t doing enough to protect the eastern territories that came into NATO nearly two decades ago. At first, this might sound like a surprising claim.
Western Europe Is Still Falling Short in NATO’s East - Tribune Content Agency (July 3, 2023)
More than a year into the largest land war since 1945, Europe has yet to get serious about defending its eastern frontier. Western European allies still aren’t doing enough to protect the eastern territories that came into NATO nearly two decades ago. At first, this might sound like a surprising claim. For months, there has […] To purchase full-length Foreign Affairs articles, please email Tribune Content Agency at tcasales@tribpub.com
African Peace Mission to Ukraine Met With Russian Missile Strike on … – Foreign Policy
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time. The delegation of African leaders was met with a missile barrage on Kyiv and made little progress in talks with Zelensky. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) looks at South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as they address the media after their talks in Kyiv on June 16.
A Drawn-Out Ukraine War Should Not Change U.S. Strategy
It’s in Washington’s interest to make the best possible use of Moscow’s barbaric folly. U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walk in front of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv on Feb. 20. Evan Vucci/Pool/AFP via Getty Images On Feb. 23, 2022—the day before Russia attacked Ukraine—I wrote in Foreign Policy that if an invasion were to occur, it would represent a strategic opportunity for the United States to sequence the China and Russia threats.
Why Biden’s China Reset Is a Bad Idea
Signaling neediness to an adversary has never been effective. Chinese President Xi Jinping walks past an honor guard of People's Liberation Army sailors at the Great Hall of People in Beijing on Sept. 16, 2013. Feng Li/Getty Images Now is not the time for the United States to pursue détente with China, as the Biden administration has been trying to do for several weeks now.
The Latest @ USIP: Russia's Influence in the Middle East and North Africa
When Russia intervened in the Syrian civil conflict in 2015, many analysts believed it marked Russia’s return as an influential actor in the Middle East and North Africa. But the war in Ukraine — and the Russian military’s lackluster performance in that war — have since altered Russia’s standing in the region.
America, China, Russia, and the Return of Great-Power Politics
Sign in and save to read later Print this article Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Get a link Page url Request Reprint Permissions U.S. foreign policy is, by most accounts, in disarray. Headlines—including in these pages—proclaim the death of global American leadership. Famous columnists send regular dispatches from the frontlines of U.S. President Donald Trump’s supposed campaign against the postwar liberal order.
‘The Twilight Struggle’ Review: Welcome to the New Cold War
April 29, 2022 11:13 am ET The Cold War strategist George Kennan, in his “Memoirs” (1967), tells how he once escorted a group of drunken congressmen to meet the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The year was 1945, and Kennan was charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The congressmen had traveled to Moscow in hopes of seeing the reclusive dictator, who agreed to meet the delegation but not before having the NKVD ply them with large quantities of tea spiked with vodka.
The Case for Ukrainian Neutrality
A Deal Doesn't Have to Be a Death Sentence
The Case for Ukrainian Neutrality
In his address to the U.S. Congress this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for expanded U.S. support, including additional weapons and a NATO-imposed no-fly zone, as his country continues its fight against Russian invaders. But even as they fight, the Ukrainians are also exploring off-ramps to end the conflict—including possibly accepting the idea of neutrality.
The Case for Ukrainian Neutrality
In his address to the U.S. Congress this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for expanded U.S. support, including additional weapons and a NATO-imposed no-fly zone, as his country continues its fight against Russian invaders. But even as they fight, the Ukrainians are also exploring off-ramps to end the conflict—including possibly accepting the idea of neutrality.
To Prevent China from Grabbing Taiwan, Stop Russia in Ukraine
The quickest way to motivate Xi Jinping to invade Taiwan would be to fail to deal decisively with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. If the United States and its allies can inflict enough pain on Putin for his gamble in Ukraine, then Xi is likely to conclude that Taiwan, at least for the foreseeable future, is not worth the risk it would entail.
Putin United the West-but Now Comes the Hard Part
Members of the German Bundeswehr attend a ceremony to honor the veterans of Germany's Afghanistan mission in Berlin on Oct. 13, 2021. Sean Gallup/Getty Images When NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg asked us to co-chair a high-level group to provide recommendations for strengthening the Western alliance in 2020, NATO seemed to many to be more divided than ever—including over the question of how to deal with Russia.
Putin United the West-but Now Comes the Hard Part
Security will require painful trade-offs Western governments may not be ready to make. By Thomas de Maizière, a former German defense minister, and A. Wess Mitchell, a principal at The Marathon Initiative and a former assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia. Members of the German Bundeswehr attend a ceremony to honor the veterans of Germany's Afghanistan mission in Berlin on Oct. 13, 2021.
Invasion in Europe a window of opportunity for America in Asia
Putin's decision to invade Ukraine offers strategic options for the United States, and it involves arming and supporting Ukrainians. Ukrainian soldier in Avdiyivka, Donetsk Oblast, on 24 February 2022, in Ukraine (Image: AAP/Goktay Koraltan) The Russian invasion of Ukraine offers an unexpected opportunity for the United States to deal decisively with Russia in a way that also advances US strategic objectives in Asia.
Putin's Invasion Is a Strategic Opportunity for the United States
The impending Russian invasion of Ukraine offers an unexpected opportunity for the United States to deal decisively with Russia in a way that also advances U.S. strategic objectives in Asia. The impending Russian invasion of Ukraine offers an unexpected opportunity for the United States to deal decisively with Russia in a way that also advances U.S. strategic objectives in Asia. This may seem counterintuitive, given that the crisis has so far pulled U.S. attention away from Asia.
A Habsburg to Be Reckoned With: Two Books on Maria Theresa
On Dec. 13, 1740, the Prussian king Frederick II slipped out of a masquerade ball and mounted his horse at the head of 27,000 well-drilled troops. Three days later, he crossed the frontier into neighboring Silesia, northernmost province of the Habsburg Monarchy, then at peace with Prussia. Frederick had chosen his moment wisely.
The Godfather Doctrine: A Foreign Policy Parable (Part 1)
“The Don, rest in peace, was slippin.' Ten years ago would I have got to him?” —Virgil ‘The Turk’ Sollozzo The age of American global dominance is drawing to a rapid and definitive end. In the space of barely a decade, the United States has slipped from a position of seemingly inexhaustible national strength to one of breathtaking vulnerability. Crowning its victory in the Cold War, the American Republic sat atop an economic, diplomatic and military power base rivalling that of the Roman Empire.
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