We must engage with China when it is in our interests to do so. But our most urgent task is to successfully play balance of power politics in Asia until a new regime emerges in China that is more accepting of the international order and less afraid of its own people.

Obama's take on foreign policy reads less like the story of an adult politician's evolving view of foreign issues and more like the story of the wildly oscillating opinions of a college student now in his junior year.

The question today is whether suffering preemptive strikes, and not committing to a prolonged wartime national-mobilization-type effort, might stop Iran’s program both operationally and politically.

Any prudent U.S. policy would recognize that abandoning Taiwan is highly unlikely to lead to greater stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

President Obama's inaction in the face of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi's counteroffensive will have lasting consequences.

Dov Zakheim admits that his own appointment as coordinator for Afghanistan reconstruction – on top of his day job as Pentagon comptroller–in 2002 was a reflection of the Bush administration's lack of a serious policy. His concluding confession is notable for its mature humility, both about the need for American power and on the part of those who wield it.

There has been an exaggeration on Israel being the source of problems in the Middle East.

The Obama administration is not the first to fail to articulate a post-Cold War strategy for the United States, but the farther this can is kicked down the road the more difficult the challenge becomes. Our ability to secure the Middle East gives us enormous leverage over potential rivals like China, and is equally critical to our Asian allies like Japan and South Korea.