David Ignatius's Blog, page 86

Trump is Wile E. Coyote

Tough talk and weak policies have transformed America into something of a hapless cartoon villain on foreign policy.

America ignores Russia at its peril

Vladi­mir Putin has been advertising his desire to restore Russia’s lost glory since he took office.

Are Saudi Arabia’s reforms for real? A recent visit says yes.

The leader of the Muslim World League, as well as men on the street, have positive things to say about a wave of reform in Saudi Arabia.

The crown prince of Saudi Arabia is giving his country shock therapy

Mohammed bin Salman says the wave of reforms are needed to modernize the kingdom.

The Syrian conundrum: A shared end goal, but how to get there?

To maintain leverage, each side backs its proxy forces and seeks to maintain or expand its areas of control — and the bloody conflict continues.

Syria has become a gruesome cockpit once again

Washington, Jerusalem, Moscow and Tehran are struggling to define and communicate the rules amid the rubble of Syria.

The billionaire who does Putin’s dirty work

Yevgeniy Prigozhin sounds like a real-life version of a James Bond villain

How to tackle the biggest obstacle to finishing the war with the Islamic State

What’s the answer to the toxic mix in Syria’s battlespace? Not empowering Turkey’s deeper meddling, surely.

The lessons the United States should learn from Raqqa

The former Islamic State capital has been liberated — but at a great cost.

Only one sexy couple can stop a Russian spy from taking over the CIA

‘The Kremlin’s Candidate’: The final book in Jason Matthews’s best-selling Red Sparrow trilogy.