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AEI's weekly digest of top commentary and scholarship on the issues that matter most

A Lost Party

The Democrats Go AWOL on Iran

June 28, 2025

In response to Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear program, Democrats have struggled to formulate a coherent response. Domestic Policy Studies Director Matthew Continetti explains how this failure reflects deeper issues within the party.

 

 

Political analysts and critics on the right have suggested Trump’s attack on Iran threatens to splinter his base. Using public opinion data, Marc A. Thiessen debunks the idea that Trump’s supporters are isolationist.

 

While the US tries to neutralize Iran’s nuclear ambitions, China is continuing a vast buildup of its nuclear forces. In a new AEI report, Kyle Balzer and Dan Blumenthal analyze the geopolitical implications of this growing threat and detail how the US and its allies can respond.

 

A strong case can be made that the current administration’s policies are undermining America’s economic influence and prosperity and harming our ability to counter China. In a new AEI working paper, Steven B. Kamin reveals how tariff policies are eroding the dollar’s status as a safe-haven currency. 

 

The rise of artificial intelligence will also continue to be one of the most important contexts for the United States’ future economic and geopolitical prospects. In a new AEI report, Brent Orrell assesses how AI will reshape the skills workers need to succeed in the knowledge economy.

 

    


Lessons from the New Cold War

Over the past decade, Washington has placed its contest with Beijing at the center of its national strategy, forging a rare consensus across the political spectrum. But as this global confrontation intensifies―across supply chains, the Taiwan Strait, and cyberspace―key questions remain. Where is America succeeding? Where is it falling short? And how can it prepare for what lies ahead? In the new book Lessons from the New Cold War, Hal Brands assembles the most influential thinkers in foreign policy, defense strategy, technology, and economics, including AEI scholars Michael Beckley, Zack Cooper, Chris Miller, Kori Schake, and Audrye Wong, to grapple with the defining geopolitical rivalry of our time. Covering vital topics like semiconductor supremacy, democracy’s durability, India’s strategic role, and the future of US leadership, these essays offer an unflinching assessment of the new cold war’s stakes―and a roadmap for navigating its challenges.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

The irony is that Mr. Trump is imposing tariffs in the name of national security. They will undercut his proposed defense buildup by reducing supply of the materials most critical to building the weapons on which America’s security rests. As political economist Henry George observed, with protective tariffs we ‘do to ourselves in peace time what enemies seek to do to us in times of war.’

Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux