Stephen Wertheim

Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran

“If the United States wants to stop plunging into Middle East wars, it needs to value its own interests more than it hates its old enemies.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/o...

Solid weekend cover

Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran

This is very good
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/o...

Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran The president’s unique attributes have combined with the ordinary pathologies of American foreign policy.

“For all its Trumpian characteristics, this war is the logical conclusion of how the United States has long dealt with Iran,” Robert Malley and Stephen Wertheim write.

We’re joined by @stephenwertheim.bsky.social discussing how the U.S. is continuing to resort to force, at growing cost, in a region of diminishing importance as Trump issues megalomaniacal orders to the Iranians that he will choose their next leader. soundcloud.com/user-8304426...

Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran

Very good piece from Rob Malley and @stephenwertheim.bsky.social:

"No meaningful constraint exists in a system that judges wars on how they end up rather than whether they are warranted and wise." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/o...

🧵Was a war with Iran inevitable? In a new piece for @nytimes.com, @stephenwertheim.bsky.social and Robert Malley argue the current conflict is the culmination of decades of U.S. foreign policy framing Iran as a threat.

I am not able to reply to your multiple misreadings of the article, nor am I interested in doing so, given your vitriolic language, but hopefully we can discuss in person at some point down the line.

Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran

“If the United States wants to stop plunging into Middle East wars, it needs to value its own interests more than it hates its old enemies.” Rob Malley in @nytopinion.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/o...

Photo of Tomorrow, the World, taken in Birmingham

"With isolationism as its foil, primacy became the only basis through which the United States could participate in the world" (179).

Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran

Rob Malley and @stephenwertheim.bsky.social for @nytopinion.nytimes.com on this Iran war as a product of both Trump's uniquely diseased brain and more longstanding, bipartisan pathologies of U.S. politics: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/o...

Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran

When politicians inflate a threat and stigmatize peaceful means of handling it, an enterprising leader will one day reach for a radical solution.

Robert Malley and me on the road to Trump’s war in @nytopinion.nytimes.com:

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/o...

Trump’s Foreign Policy: Resurrecting Empire

I told @nytimes.com: “Despite widespread fears that Trump might pull back from the world, he is working to reinvigorate U.S. military dominance across the board. It’s America First globalism. Far from exiting alliances, Trump is weaponizing them as platforms for coercion.”

In effect, Trump has given himself a deadline to figure out his actual negotiating position toward Iran — or else he will inflict a potentially very costly war on himself (and everyone else)!

Trump touží být vnímán jako zachránce NATO. Toho by měla Evropa využít, říká americký analytik Stephen Wertheim je americký odborník na zahraniční politiku, jehož názory dlouho stály mimo americký mainstream. To se ale rychle mění. Svědčí o tom i fakt, že jej do jednoho z hlavních diskuzních pa...

I argue in this interview that Europe has stronger leverage over Trump than it realizes, because Trump does not in fact want to leave NATO or slash the U.S. military presence in Europe. denikn.cz/1980647/trum...

The President's Echo System: How Foreign Policy is Sold to Americans, Chad Levinson. "The Imperial Presidency is also the PR Presidency" - Stephen Wertheim, author of Tomorrow, the World. A groundbreaking look at the outside groups that translate foreign policy agendas into public support. Coming June 2026. Harvard.

A moment of self-promotion, following @unlawfulentries.bsky.social who also has a book on the way (and who manages the APD starter kit go.bsky.app/FnNTVdS, where most of my followers come from).

What AOC’s ‘embarrassing’ Munich remarks tell us about her 2028 prospects JD Vance may have mocked her for comments on China and Taiwan, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance at the security conference has raised her profile

www.thetimes.com/us/american-...

I told @thetimes.com that @aoc.bsky.social's answer on Taiwan was not only reasonable but better than Biden's:

Yeah, you struck a nerve by making a false accusation for which you take no responsibility.

Nor have you provided an iota of evidence to justify your slanderous suggestion that I want Russia to defeat Ukraine. I will no longer be engaging with you.

“What she said excludes neither of these” was exactly my point in my original comment.

That comment address U.S. alliances globally, whereas you incorrectly assumed Ukraine was the focus. Ukraine is not a treaty ally, so if anything you should have assumed my comment did *not* pertain to Ukraine.

She could advocate alliances to stop authoritarian aggression while shifting a greater share of the defense burdens onto allies. And greater aid to Ukraine could be compensated for by cuts elsewhere.

You falsely, appallingly suggested I want Russia to win.

A sincere and pertinent question that is on the mind of many Americans. You dismiss it as a sophism and add completely false insults to boot.

Europeans Quietly Press U.S. Lawmakers for Clues on the Midterms While the main focus of the Munich Security Conference was on the alliance, top leaders wanted to know all about November.

After AOC spoke in Munich, I told @wsj.com: “Some of her allies on the left are already asking how her vision of maintaining military alliances to stop authoritarian aggression leaves room for controlling Pentagon spending, avoiding future wars and shifting defense burdens to allies and partners.”

YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment Spheres of Influence or American Primacy? The World Trump is Making

A great pleasure to discuss with Chris Chivvis what Trump’s foreign policy amounts to after year one, and where it might go. A really substantial conversation (albeit edited down from the original 2+ hour endurance contest!): youtu.be/upCED52yaS8

There will be U.S. foreign policy after Trump. I look forward to discussing its contours on Friday 9 am at @munsecconf.bsky.social. Spots are open for registration.

A pleasure to discuss realism — what it is, what it isn't, and what it has to do with Trump — with Linda Kinstler and @martindicaro.bsky.social.

Listen here through this ad-free gift link: historyasithappens.supercast.com/subscriber_v...

This says a lot about perception, mood and confidence (or lack thereof), so useful as a barometer despite the fact that it doesn’t correspond with reality.

Only 35% of Americans say the United States has more global power and influence than China does.

I am with the 19% who say the United States is more powerful than China — but that’s the least popular of the three options polled in the new @carnegieendowment.org / YouGov survey.

What Americans Think About American Power Today Most Americans believe the United States is declining in global power and influence, and nearly two-thirds say China’s power now equals or exceeds that of the United States.

carnegieendowment.org/research/202...