- +11
Frances Z. Brown, Nate Reynolds, Priyal Singh, …
{
"authors": [
"Frances Z. Brown"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "MEP",
"programs": [
"Middle East"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"North America",
"United States",
"Middle East",
"Iran"
],
"topics": [
"Political Reform",
"Democracy",
"Security",
"Military",
"Foreign Policy"
]
}Source: Getty
Trump Says He Wants Out of Costly Foreign Wars. But His Actions Say Otherwise
Altering American foreign policy while maintaining national security imperatives is never a matter of just pulling the plug.
Source: Los Angeles Times
How can the United States draw back from endless costly foreign wars? President Trump campaigned on a promise to do just that. He presented himself as a Washington outsider who could push aside the foreign policy establishment, which has a habit of getting entrapped in Mideast quagmires.
Certainly, that policy goal remains popular across the political spectrum. There’s just one problem: Trump’s tactics could never achieve that objective. Altering American foreign policy while maintaining national security imperatives is never a matter of just pulling the plug. Ending armed conflicts actually requires a long-term strategy and disciplined execution at every step. Every action Trump has taken in the Middle East has been quite the opposite, and has made it even harder for the U.S to leave the region.
This article was originally published by the Los Angeles Times.
About the Author
Vice President for Studies
Dr. Frances Z. Brown is a vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Brown served on the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff over the past three presidential administrations. Her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy, Africa, the Middle East, and governance.
- Russia in Africa: Examining Moscow’s Influence and Its LimitsResearch
- Africa’s Democratic Kaleidoscope: Trends to Watch in 2026Article
Saskia Brechenmacher, Frances Z. Brown
Recent Work
Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie India
- AI in Outer Space: Opportunities, Risks, and the Governance GapCommentary
How is AI reshaping space security, creating governance challenges, and where does international diplomacy stand today?
Tejas Bharadwaj, Almudena Azcárate Ortega
- Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with ChinaPaper
After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.
Saheb Singh Chadha
- Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026Article
This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.
Vrinda Sahai
- India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible PathwaysArticle
A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.
Rajiv Bhatia
- The Unresolved Challenges in U.S.–India Semiconductor CooperationCommentary
The U.S.–India semiconductor cooperation story is well-stocked with top-level strategic intent. What remains unresolved, however, are some underlying challenges that will determine whether the cooperation actually functions. Three such friction points stand out.
Shruti Mittal