Changing U.S. foreign policy is hard. Any new president entering the Oval Office needs a plan--not just for what to do, but how to do it. We did an in-depth study of multiple historical cases and distilled the findings into five factors that really help make change possible:

Delighted with the new @stephenwertheim piece in our @CarnegieEndow series on the Future of American Power. He lays out the domestic reality reshaping America's role in the world: U.S. leaders must heed the real interests of the American public--or pay the price.

New from @CEIPStatecraft & @CarnegieSAsia: "The Populist Turn in Middle Power Diplomacy," edited by @CChivvis, @rohan_mukh & me. Featuring Aries Arugay, @JeremyCliffe, @SDestradi, @CFieschi, Federico Merke, @murat_somer_eng & @VeghZsuzsanna assets.carnegieendowment.org…

ICYMI, here is the @YouTube link for yesterday's @CarnegieEndow discussion of the populist turn in middle-power diplomacy featuring @VeghZsuzsanna, @CFieschi & Federico Merke, in conversation with @CChivvis piped.video/watch?v=hDbLVxxv… Full report here: assets.carnegieendowment.org…

The United Nations: a useful failure BRILLIANT essay by @hpenatzer unherd.com/2026/09/the-unite…

Live now: @CChivvis, @VeghZsuzsanna, @CFieschi, and Federico Merke discuss how right-wing populists in middle powers have transformed their countries’ approaches to the world. Watch here: piped.video/live/hDbLVxxv-mM…

Fun to join the new Buffer State podcast with @SashainDenver @reidtsmith @ChartWestcott to talk about why America repeats its foreign policy blunders. Check it out here: piped.video/xJQhTMEsEfc

This September 11 marks 25 years since our nation was forever changed. For a quarter century, Tribute in Light has served as a powerful symbol of remembrance, illuminating the New York City skyline in honor of the nearly 3,000 people whose lives were lost. This year, for the first time, people across the country will have the opportunity to witness the Tribute in Light together. Join us on Friday, September 11, at 8 PM ET for "9/11 Tribute in Light: Live from Lower Manhattan, presented by @ABC in partnership with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum." The special will air across ABC, @DisneyPlus, @hulu, @NatGeo, and @ABCNewsLive, with live performances from @laineywilson, Cyndi Lauper, and @johnondrasik of Five For Fighting. Twenty-five years later, it is more important than ever that we come together to remember those we lost, honor their lives and legacy, and ensure that their stories are never forgotten.

Three stories about vets and their actual experiences in the post 9/11 wars, sketching the complex and conflicting realities of their experiences. An important piece of the puzzle of why this all happened and what it means.

This is a great piece, which I had missed back in August.

As the Iran war drags on, the Trump administration's attempts at ending the war in Ukraine are growing futile. "They are steering into the storm, not out of it," says @CChivvis in the Guardian. Full article here: theguardian.com/commentisfre…

CIA Director Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow last week was evidence of the dangerous and growing enmeshment of the Iran and Ukraine conflicts. Both are getting worse and going nowhere at the same time, and Trump is steering into the storm, not out of it. New piece in @guardian theguardian.com/commentisfre…

With @CChivvis and @Rob_Malley: piped.video/Lbh_sKoqhsU?si=QwDS…

Iran wants every American—today and tomorrow—to understand that the US cannot wage war without paying a heavy price. @Rob_Malley breaks down how Tehran views its hold on the Strait. @stephenwertheim @CChivvis

I will read the book, but it is extraordinary to say that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was as spectacular an own goal as the current war with Iran. As Phil Gordon points out in the review, there was no stable equilibrium to preserve in Afghanistan — only a war that the U.S. side was losing, and with greater effort could have at best lost more slowly, causing only more death and waste: “Bergen is highly critical of [the withdrawal] decision and argues that even a force of only 2,500 U.S. troops, along with twice as many Europeans, contractors, and the Afghan National Security Forces, would have been enough to ‘hold off the Taliban.’ But this critique overlooks the fact that the Taliban had been refraining from attacks on U.S. forces only because Trump had committed in 2020 to pull them all out. If Biden had abandoned that commitment and stayed in Afghanistan, the Taliban would certainly have resumed their military offensive, and the Afghan army might have collapsed anyway in the long run. That would have meant extending the U.S. war in Afghanistan into its third decade and draining scarce resources even as the United States dealt with other major conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. And then Biden’s successor would have been faced with the familiar choice between ordering a further surge of forces or risking military defeat.”

New from @CChivvis, @rohan_mukh + me: How Populist Middle Powers Are—and Are Not—Reshaping Global Politics This is the culmination of our year-long series on the populist turn in middle power diplomacy carnegieendowment.org/resear… Read all 7 case studies here carnegieendowment.org/collec…

Much enjoyed participating in this @CarnegieEndow project on "middle-power populism". In their concluding essay, convenors @MilanV, @CChivvis and @rohan_mukh draw it all together with a sharp assessment of what unites, and what divides, the middle-power populists:

New in @ForeignPolicy: @CChivvis, @rohan_mukh & I address the troubling fact that many middle powers--and the right-wing populists who run them--find Donald Trump’s vision for the world more compelling than Mark Carney’s. foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/29…

New @ForeignPolicy essay with @CChivvis & @rohan_mukh: "Defenders of the erstwhile order need to accept that right-wing populism is neither an aberration nor a uniquely American phenomenon and that they must work within the limits it imposes." foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/29…