Jonathan Guyer
- Program Director, Institute for Global Affairs
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Foreign policy journalist, now directing a program at @InGlobalAffairs. Host of @PodcastNOTA. Polling Americans on the wars nobody asked them about.
Articles by Jonathan Guyer
WAR PRESIDENT: THE IRAN TRAP
Introduction The war the president said would take four to five weeks, and has repeatedly declared won, now stretches on for a half-year. It has claimed the lives of at least 18 US service members, killed thousands of civilians across the Middle East, and its core objectives have gone unmet. The Iranian regime remains in power, the status of its nuclear program is uncertain, and Tehran has weaponized its hold on the Strait of Hormuz.
What We Know About AOC's Foreign Policy
U.S. Foreign Policy Politics United States When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered her first major foreign-policy remarks during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in February, a moderator asked her whether the United States should send troops to Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Shifting Views of Israel
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner, Monday, July 7, 2025, at the White House. Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok This post is part of IGA’s new report on American public attitudes, War President. Read the executive summary here and the methodology here. Click here to read the next chapter. American support for Israel is fraying.
How Americans View the Iran War
This post is part of IGA’s new report on American public attitudes, War President. Read the executive summary here and the methodology here. Click here to read the next chapter. Americans disapprove of the Trump administration’s handling of the war with Iran, don’t think it’s making the United States any better off, and are pessimistic about its chances of success.
War President
Nearly twice as many people disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the war with Iran as those who approve. Fifty-eight percent of Americans disapprove, 33 percent approve, and 9 percent are not sure. About four in five Americans (79%) say the war has affected cost of living, and more than half (62%) say it’s become harder to pay the bills in the past six months.
Opinion: For Kushner and Witkoff, C.E.O. diplomacy is no longer working
In late March, Jared Kushner sat woodenly on the stage of a Saudi investment conference in Miami. It was 26 days into the Iran war. He was introduced not as President Trump’s unofficial envoy but as the founder and chief executive of Affinity Partners. The host of the conference — the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, via his personal think tank — has thrown billions at Affinity Partners through his sovereign wealth fund.
Trump Is Waging One Big War Against the Rest of the World
Before Donald Trump’s recent military campaigns, Iran and Venezuela weren’t often spoken of in the same breath. But in fact, the countries share much in common. They’ve both been demonized as evil, as bad guys, formally designated as states that promote terrorism. They’ve both suffered under intensive sanctions that have damaged life for civilians. And influential advocates from both places have been gunning for regime change for decades.
For Kushner and Witkoff, C.E.O. Diplomacy Is No Longer Working
You have been granted access, use your keyboard to continue reading. Guest Essay April 13, 2026 Credit...Illustration by The New York Times; source photographs by Atta Kenare/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images and Liesa Johannssen/Reuters In late March, Jared Kushner sat woodenly on the stage of a Saudi investment conference in Miami. It was 26 days into the Iran war. He was introduced not as President Trump’s unofficial envoy but as the founder and chief executive of Affinity Partners.
What the Future Holds for Gaza
Get Involved Our work relies on the generosity of individuals like you. Your donation helps us fill a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement. Get in Touch info@justvision.org 1835 7th Street NW #110, Washington, DC 20001
The Blowback From an Unpopular Iran War
Nobody wants this. President Trump stands ready to expand his war against Iran, but the numbers already show how unpopular it is. Six out of ten Americans disapprove of U.S. military action against Iran, according to a new CNN survey. Fifty-six percent of Americans think the president is too willing to use military force, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll fielded over the weekend.
Trump’s Diplomats Act More Like Cowboys. Could That Be a Good Thing? - The New York Times
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Opinion Guest Essay Illustration by Javier Jaén It was on an October flight from the Middle East to Miami that everything-envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, decided it was time to turn to Ukraine.
America’s Gaza Policy Is a Bipartisan Catastrophe
Generate Key Takeaways The ceasefire celebrations in Gaza last January were so exhilarating that Palestinian Al-Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif could barely be heard on air over the shouts of his countrymen. “Now I can finally remove this helmet, which has exhausted me throughout this period, and this vest, which has become part of my body,” he said as he shed the protective equipment he had been wearing almost constantly for 15 months.
America's Gaza Policy Is a Bipartisan Catastrophe
By contrast, Zohran Mamdani won New York's Democratic mayoral primary and provided an emphatic message on Gaza: End U.S. military and diplomatic support for the war.
Big Tech’s push into military AI is troubling
Get Involved Our work relies on the generosity of individuals like you. Your donation helps us fill a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement. Get in Touch info@justvision.org 1835 7th Street NW #110, Washington, DC 20001
Big Tech’s push into military AI is troubling
The writer is programme director of the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group When OpenAI and Mattel announced a partnership...
The War on Terror Never Ended. Now It’s Spreading to Iran.
Two decades of foreign policy failure have led us to the brink of another catastrophic war in the Middle East. The war on terror never ended. It simply evolved into a series of forever wars humming in the background. With never-ending conflict in the Middle East normalized, it’s all too easy to stumble into a new Middle East war.
The War on Terror Never Ended. Now It’s Spreading to Iran.
The war on terror never ended. It simply evolved into a series of forever wars humming in the background. With never-ending conflict in the Middle East normalized, it’s all too easy to stumble into a new Middle East war. Over the past week, President Donald Trump has waffled on whether America would directly join Israel’s bombing of Iran, which may soon include commando raids and even ground forces.
The Forgotten Forever War That Cost Mike Waltz His Job
When Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic was accidentally added to a group chat in March with the leaders of the national security cabinet, the incompetence and sloppiness on display distracted from what the other participants in that chat were actually doing: Planning a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen. It’s fitting that the purpose of the group chat was largely overlooked: Every president since George W.
The Forgotten Forever War That Cost Mike Waltz His Job
When Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, was accidentally added to a group chat in March with the leaders of the national security Cabinet, the incompetence and sloppiness on display distracted from what the other participants in that chat were actually doing: planning a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen. It’s fitting that the purpose of the group chat was largely overlooked: Every president since George W.
The Trump Factor in the Middle East
This article appears in the April 2025 issue of The American Prospect magazine. Subscribe here. Before President Trump even took office in January, his personal envoy delivered an unlikely win. Since last spring, President Biden’s diplomats had been unable to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire. But Trump’s man, real estate billionaire Steve Witkoff, joined the Biden team’s effort weeks before the inauguration.
TAP: The American Prospect
Two new books about the politics of love stress the importance of intimate relationships as part of organizing for a better world.
Inside Elon Musk's Killing of USAID
Around 8 p.m. on Sunday, a USAID staffer pushed forward $78 million for food and shelter to Palestinians living in Gaza. Two hours later, that staffer and contractors working in over 100 countries were locked out of their email accounts. Then just past midnight, staff received an email from Gavin Kliger, a young engineer working for Elon Musk, announcing that headquarters was closed for business.
Antony Blinken’s Legacy Is Buried Under the Rubble of Gaza
World / January 13, 2025 Antony Blinken’s Legacy Is Buried Under the Rubble of Gaza Despite valedictory speeches, the secretary of state will be remembered not for his successes—or his guitar playing— but for the humanitarian catastrophe he aided and abetted.
Antony Blinken’s Legacy Is Buried Under the Rubble of Gaza
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Wall Street Embraces MBS’s Money Man
November 25, 2024 Wall Street Embraces MBS’s Money Man After the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, business leaders made a show of shunning Saudi Arabia, doing deals only behind closed doors. Now it’s all out in the open.
The Price of Power
This article was featured in One Great Story, New York's reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. As Samantha Power looked out from the stage at the U.S. Embassy in Jordan this past February, many of the hundred or so American diplomats and humanitarian workers before her were visibly upset. The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, she was in the region to try to convince Israel to stop holding up humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Fairness for Ambassador Yun
The Marshall Islands and the United States signed new agreements under the Compact of Free Association at the East-West Center in Honolulu HI. Pictured from left, Carmen Cantor, assistant secretary of insular affairs; Joseph Yun, presidential envoy to compact negotiations; Jack Ading, RMI’s trade and foreign affairs minister; and Phillip Muller, RMI’s chief negotiator.
The Military Industrial Complex Has an Inside Man in the Pacific
The following article was first reported and published by The Lever, a reader-supported investigative news outlet that holds the powerful accountable. When Biden’s presidential envoy Joseph Yun landed in the Marshall Islands in June 2022, he took every precaution. Everyone involved wore teal N95 masks. Yun kept his distance from his Marshallese hosts, who exchanged handmade gifts without physical contact, the U.S. military base’s newspaper Kwajalein Hourglass reported.
The Defense Industry’s Inside Man In The Pacific Arms Race
When Biden’s presidential envoy Joseph Yun landed in the Marshall Islands in June 2022, he took every precaution. Everyone involved wore teal N95 masks. Yun kept his distance from his Marshallese hosts, who exchanged handmade gifts without physical contact, the U.S. military base’s newspaper Kwajalein Hourglass reported.
A Biden Envoy to the Pacific Had Major Conflicts of Interest
When Biden’s presidential envoy Joseph Yun landed in the Marshall Islands in June 2022, he took every precaution. Everyone involved wore teal N95 masks. Yun kept his distance from his Marshallese hosts, who exchanged handmade gifts without physical contact, the US military base’s newspaper Kwajalein Hourglass reported.
Foreign Correspondence, Vol 93
Hello, and happy Friday! By the time you receive our next correspondence, Israel’s war in Gaza will have passed the six-month mark. I’ve spent much of that time reporting on the various statistics coming out of the Strip, from the more than 32,000-person death toll to the 1.7 million people who have been displaced to the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza facing crisis levels of hunger. I can understand why these figures don’t necessarily move people.
How Biden Boxed Himself In on Gaza
This article appears in the April 2024 issue of The American Prospect magazine. Subscribe here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a knack for making world leaders do the jobs of their subordinates. President Joe Biden had to call Netanyahu himself in October—in the first weeks of Israel’s brutal assault on the occupied territory of Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attacks of October 7—to urge that Israel allow more than 100 trucks of relief aid a day into Gaza.
Davos in the Desert, on the Coast
Larry Summers was reminiscing on stage with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt about their old friend Henry Kissinger. “Henry had many fascinating, complex, and nuanced beliefs, but I’m not sure any was more central than the idea of order and predictability as a prerequisite for anything else good to happen,” Summers, the Harvard economist and former Treasury secretary, said. “Henry could not have said it better, and we miss him,” Schmidt replied.
Fetal Attraction
FTC Blocks Kroger-Albertsons Merger on Labor Grounds The lawsuit alleges that a combined grocery giant would make collective bargaining more difficult. BY DAVID DAYEN & LUKE GOLDSTEIN The Auto Workers Go All In By devoting $40 million to its campaign to organize non-union auto plants, the UAW is challenging not just corporate America but also labor’s status quo.
The Stakes of Rafah
Over the past several months, the Israeli military has gradually forced about 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza to the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. Now, the Palestinians displaced to what Israel has called a safe zone are under severe risk of Israeli bombardment and a military ground campaign. Many of the refugees have been displaced several times since Israel began its military operation in Gaza in October.
The GOP Putin Cult
AIPAC’s Surprising Salvo in Orange County A swing seat in California is seeing a flurry of attack ads from pro-Israel forces. Why? BY DAVID DAYEN Reversing Private Equity’s Looting of Hospitals The right remedy is to claw back the billion-dollar payday Cerberus Capital and other insiders took out of Steward Health Care and give the money back to the hospitals.
The State Department Is Still Pale, Male, and Yale Original
The State Department’s diplomats represent America. But do they really represent America? Their reputation is Yale, pale, and male. During the Trump years, the State Department became even whiter, as diplomats from diverse backgrounds resigned in protest or were forced to leave.
How war has transformed Ukraine, and Zelensky
In May 2022, Russian troops prepared to cross the strategic Donets River in Donbas. The Ukrainians on the other side were under heavy fire and, like other brigades, were running low on ammo. Then, midway through the battle at Bilohorivka Crossing, M777 howitzers, artillery guns furnished by the United States, were rushed to the front lines. The Russians were routed after they tried nine times to cross the river.
How war has transformed Ukraine, and Zelensky
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Review | How war has transformed Ukraine, and Zelensky
It’s hard to imagine a more gifted communicator or a more effective representative of a country. Those capacities are on display in two new books that explore, from above and below, how the war in Ukraine is being fought. They go into its first year in great depth and examine what may come next as the conflict sits at a standstill.
The Guardian: ‘Everyone and their bubbie is here’: a lively Jewish Sabbath at a Palestinian restaurant in Brooklyn
By Jonathan Guyer On Friday night in Brooklyn, the kitchen of the Palestinian restaurant Ayat brought out platter after platter of stewed lamb and piles of delicate rice for a line of people wrapped past the grocery next door. “Everyone and their bubbie is here,” a graduate student said, bumping into friends from leftist, progressive, and queer communities.
The Four Final Acts of Henry Kissinger
Kissinger waves to guests at the 78th Annual Alfred E. Smith Dinner in October, in New York. Photo: Timothy Fadek/AP Henry Kissinger was exiting through the bar of the St. Regis Hotel flanked by an entourage, like a minor celebrity or a royal, with a bodyguard, a handler, and what looked to be viziers.
The Israel-Hamas hostage deal, explained
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Israel-Hamas war: The deal to release hostages and pause fighting, explained
On Tuesday, the Israeli government reportedly approved a deal with Hamas that the state of Qatar brokered and that has been more than a month in the making. The final deal has yet to be officially announced, but the rough outlines reported in the media throughout Tuesday include several key planks: Hamas would exchange 50 hostages — women and children who are Israeli and dual-national — with Israel for about 150 Palestinian prisoners currently held in custody, mostly women.
La plupart des importations d'armes d'Israël proviennent des États-Unis. Aujourd'hui, Joe Biden s'empresse d'envoyer encore plus d'armes (Vox)
La plupart des importations d'armes d'Israël proviennent des États-Unis. Aujourd'hui, Joe Biden s'empresse d'envoyer encore plus d'armes. Article originel : Most of Israel’s weapons imports come from the US. Now Biden is rushing even more arms. Par Jonathan Guyer Vox, 18.11.23 À quoi ressemblent les armes que les États-Unis envoient à Israël "à la vitesse de la guerre" ?
Biden pledges $14.3 billion of military aid to Israel. How industry, protesters, and watchdogs see it.
One area where the Biden administration has set itself apart is in sending weapons to partner countries, and now we’re getting a more complete picture of what the US is sending Israel in the weeks since October 7. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the US has ramped up its previously minimal military aid to the country to an unparalleled . Ukraine towers over the other major recipients in bar charts of US security assistance for 2022 and ’23.
The achievement of this year’s Biden-Xi summit is, simply, the meeting itself
As President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in San Francisco today, the two leaders find themselves in different positions than when they met last year in Bali, Indonesia. Back then, each was in a position of strength — Biden coming out of a triumphant midterm election and Xi a well-orchestrated party conference that solidified his rule — and both used that first in-person meeting as an occasion to soothe tensions.
More Than 500 Biden Campaign Alumni Want a Gaza Ceasefire
More Than 500 Biden Campaign Alumni Want a Gaza Ceasefire Published November 10, 2023 For decades, American public opinion and policy on Israel has been near-monolithic. But as Israel’s bombardment and ground incursion of Gaza continues, arguments over Israel policy from inside the Democratic Party and throughout the State Department are spilling out into the open.
How is Biden handling Israel? 500 campaign alumni want a Gaza ceasefire.
For decades, American public opinion and policy on Israel has been near-monolithic. But as Israel’s bombardment and ground incursion of Gaza continues, arguments over Israel policy from inside the Democratic Party and throughout the State Department are spilling out into the open. That, in and of itself, shows that some Americans within the establishment are processing the current war differently — and may feel more empowered than before to shape the contours of US policy.
Will an Israel-Hamas ceasefire happen? The reasons and roadblocks, explained.
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