Dear Friends,   As we navigate another active week in global affairs, I’m struck by the expansive nature and wide range of Washington’s foreign policy efforts. From President Trump’s surprise confrontation with one of Africa’s most populous nations to the high-stakes electoral drama unfolding in Baghdad, Washington is trying to exert influence through a combination...

Dear Friends,   It’s Halloween and Washington’s closing out a week of tricks and treats designed to counter Chinese influence on both the political and economic fronts. On his trip to Asia, President Trump was able to secure important trade and investment deals with Japan and South Korea to help temper Chinese regional dominance, but...

Dear Friends,   In the competition between the world’s heaviest economic hitters, there’s a ripe space for other well-positioned nations to build clout and exploit the tensions all around them. We’re seeing this in the Middle East, where Qatar continues to have an outsized impact on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, in Afghanistan, where the Taliban...

Dear Friends,   The divide between economic and political deals is narrowing, and with it comes a host of tensions and opportunities. The trade war between China and the United States is heating up again, threatening supply chains and striking market fears, but the volatility is both derived from political tensions and forming new ones....

Dear Friends,   Two years after Hamas unleashed a devastating attack on Israel that spurred a wider regional battle and a tragic war in Gaza, we are in a moment of cautious hope. A Trump-brokered ceasefire promises to lower the temperature and allow both Palestinians and Israelis to pause and take a breath. It’s not...

Dear Friends,   Silicon Valley and the venture capitalists who built it were the first to welcome “disruptors.” It now seems society more broadly has grown to embrace them. Different from innovators or trailblazers, disruptors aren’t too worried about breaking things. They’re fast, nimble, and action-oriented. They’re not afraid to be wrong. When I look...