The catastrophic war in Syria is nearing what could be a diplomatic endgame, as America, Russia and Israel shape a deal that would preserve power for President Bashar Assad in exchange for Russian pledges to restrain Iranian influence. Checking Iranian power has become the only major Trump administration goal in Syria, now that the Islamic State is nearly vanquished. President Trump appears ready to embrace a policy that will validate Assad, an authoritarian leader who has gassed his own people,

Viewpoints July 1, 2018

President Trump has hurled so many thunderbolts recently that people may have missed the one that could have the greatest long-term impact on America’s national security -- his directive to the Pentagon last week to start creating a new military service that he dubbed the “space force.” It’s certainly a Trumpian idea: big and bold, with a Hollywood glitz factor; highly disruptive of the status quo; and lacking in any detailed planning about implementation. But many experts say the idea of revamp

Viewpoints June 29, 2018

A bright banner at NATO’s lavish new headquarters here proclaims the core conviction of the trans-Atlantic alliance: “We are together. We are strong.” But the words seem a bit hollow these days, as US President Trump escalates his attacks on America’s traditional European partners.Trump’s “America First” policies have shaken many of the nations that looked to Washington as their ally and protector. He has imposed steep tariffs on European steel and aluminum imports and is said to be preparing si

Viewpoints June 24, 2018

President Trump boasted last weekend that his “denuclearization deal” with Kim Jong-un could “save potentially millions & millions of lives!” He even proclaimed in the exhilaration of his return from Singapore: “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” But as the Great Dealmaker should know, it’s important to read the fine print. And after a week’s reflection, the Singapore joint communique, for all the dramatic television coverage that surrounded it, looks like what real-estate ma

Viewpoints June 21, 2018

Credit President Trump for seizing the diplomatic moment at the Singapore summit. But the person who most shaped this extraordinary encounter was North Korean leader Kim Jong-un -- who is indeed, as Trump said Tuesday, a “very talented” young man who has achieved something that “1 out of 10,000 probably couldn’t do.” It’s almost a magic trick, what Kim has accomplished: He has obtained Trump as a partner in rebranding his poor, brutally autocratic country as a modern condo-resort investment proj

Viewpoints June 13, 2018

“Are you on the road or in the ditch?” That’s the question labor reporters used to ask about big contract negotiations back when I covered the United Steelworkers union 40 years ago in Pittsburgh -- and it’s the right one to pose now as US President Trump zigs and zags toward a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump and Kim appear to be firmly back on the road to a June 12 meeting in Singapore, after a near-death experience last week. Trump sent his coy breakup letter last Th

Viewpoints May 30, 2018

So what’s next with Iran? Even if you think President Trump has made a big mistake in withdrawing from the nuclear agreement, as I do, that’s not the end of the story. Where does this bumpy road lead in the future?What’s distressing about the Iran question is that nobody in this administration seems to have a good answer. Trump’s move was a chest-thumping political decision, but not a clearly articulated strategy. As unwise as Trump’s action was, it was probably inevitable, given his overblown r

Viewpoints May 14, 2018

Sitting at the controls of a Boeing space-flight simulator, “docking” the company’s planned “Starliner” craft with an imaginary space station, you begin to understand why the Pentagon is so focused on such advanced systems. Space is the new frontier of warfare. That was the theme of a “Space Symposium” here this week that gathered thousands of military and corporate experts from around the globe. A version of the Boeing simulator may someday be training the 21st-century version of fighter pilots

Viewpoints April 22, 2018

A word of advice for Congress as it ponders new schemes for internet regulation after the “perp walk” this week of Facebook tycoon Mark Zuckerberg: Don’t do it. Zuckerberg is a very tempting target. His serial apologies show how Facebook became so entangled in its corporate mission to “bring the world closer together” that it stopped putting the customer first. Facebook is paying for its mistakes in loss of customer trust -- its main asset -- and this market punishment has only just begun. It’s

Viewpoints April 12, 2018