Commentary
The United States ignores the region’s lived experience—and the tough political and social trade-offs the war has produced—at its peril.
Evan A. Feigenbaum
Research
Diplomacy in Crisis, Subnational Diplomacy Evolves
For practitioners of subnational diplomacy, 2025 has required quick adaptation and evolution to tectonic shifts.
Published on Dec 15, 2025
About the Authors
Marissa Jordan
Program Manager, Carnegie California
Marissa Jordan is the program manager of Carnegie California at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She has a master’s degree in conflict analysis and resolution from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. Her previous research has focused on how anti–human trafficking service providers understand climate change’s role in driving human trafficking in their particular regions.
Ian Klaus
Founding Director, Carnegie California
Ian Klaus is the founding director of Carnegie California. He is a leading scholar on the nexus of urbanization, geopolitics, and global challenges, with extensive experience as a practitioner of subnational diplomacy.
Carnegie 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 Endowment for International Peace
- In Its Iran War Debate, Washington Has Lost the Plot in Asia
- The Iran War Is Uncovering the Weakness in U.S.-Gulf TiesCommentary
Neither the Abraham Accords nor the presence of large U.S. bases are enough to protect Arab Gulf states.
Marwan Muasher
- The Afghanistan–Pakistan War Poses Awkward Questions for RussiaCommentary
Not only does the fighting jeopardize regional security, it undermines Russian attempts to promote alternatives to the Western-dominated world order.
Ruslan Suleymanov
- Rewiring the South Caucasus: TRIPP and the New Geopolitics of ConnectivityArticle
The U.S.-sponsored TRIPP deal is driving the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process forward. But foreign and domestic hurdles remain before connectivity and economic interdependence can open up the South Caucasus.
Thomas de Waal, Areg Kochinyan, Zaur Shiriyev
- Is France Shifting Rightward?Commentary
The far right failed to win big in France’s municipal elections. But that’s not good news for the country’s left wing, which remained disunited while the broader right consolidated its momentum ahead of the 2027 presidential race.
Catherine Fieschi
