Policy

We Are Less Educated Than We Think

More people than ever have a bachelor’s degree. But the content, rigor, and quality of college education has changed dramatically.

Biden’s Employer Vaccine Mandate Outlives Its Usefulness Before It Even Begins

In the months that have passed since he announced it, the trajectory of the pandemic has gotten better.

Is It Time to Fight?

Our differences are best solved through the ballot and the protest, not through the bullet or the bomb.

How the U.S. Drone Warfare Program Evolved Over Two Decades

As this technology further develops, leadership gains access to increasingly precise weapons of war.

Climate Change Is a Problem. Big Summits Are Not the Answer.

Decarbonization is key. It will be achieved through practical efforts by individual nations, not sweeping international pledges.

No, The $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill Does Not Cost $0

The president is passing off his proposed expansion of government as costless, and a lot of smart people are going along with it.

The Paradox of Pandemic School Reform

Parents are mad about curriculum and pandemic mandates but love their schools. And while they are exhausted by reform, they’ve learned they want more choices.

How We Kept Poverty Down in 2020

Good public policy staved off hardship for many, but at a cost.

The Fall of Kabul and the Decline of World Order

The Afghan capital might seem like a small domino. But the entire world is less safe, less stable, and less free than it was last week.

Afghanistan Didn’t Have to End This Way

There is no shortage of explanations and justifications for our withdrawal. They are myths.

Cleaning Out the War Powers Closet

Congress reassesses which Authorizations for the Use of Military Force are past their sell-by date.

Our Best Stuff From a Week We Went Big on Policy

The Afghanistan withdrawal, our intelligence bureaucracy, and a really (really) big ‘human infrastructure’ package.

Explaining Infrastructure: How a Bill Becomes a Road

How does Congress dole out highway funds, and will the bipartisan infrastructure plan change that if it passes?

The 20 Years’ War: America in Afghanistan

Strategic blunders by each administration virtually assure that the future of Afghanistan will reflect the interests of the Taliban, not the United States.

Welcome to the New Cold War

The ideology of the Putin regime is hardly less toxic and is perhaps more incendiary than communist totalitarianism.

Wildfire Season Is Upon Us. It’s Going to Be Bad.

Heat waves and drought are exacerbated by years of mismanaging our forests.