In the wake of the Alaska summit and President Donald Trump’s meetings with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Vladimir Putin seems no closer to making concessions that would make ending the war in Ukraine possible. Dalibor Rohac explains why the only path to peace lies through imposing maximum economic and military pressure on Russia.

Preserving a free and independent Ukraine is so important because if Russia is not stopped, its ambitions extend to its other neighbors. New AEI Russia expert Angela Stent, in a Foreign Affairs essay authored with Daniel S. Hamilton, describes Putin’s broader imperial strategy to dominate the Black Sea by subordinating not just Ukraine but also Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, and Romania.

Since the passage of the new tax legislation, Republicans have mostly focused on touting the permanent extension of the individual income tax cuts, the expanded standard deduction, and new exemptions for tips and overtime. Alex Brill and Paul Teller argue that one of the bill’s most significant pro-growth reforms is being overlooked: permanent immediate expensing for new equipment investment.

On September 16 and 17, the Federal Reserve will have its next policy meeting in the face of tremendous pressure from the president to loosen interest rates. Joseph E. Gagnon and AEI scholar and former Federal Reserve economist Steven B. Kamin assess the US monetary policy environment and highlight the inflationary risks of a rate cut.

The left is increasingly criticizing the Supreme Court’s interim orders to lower courts for allowing the Trump administration to get away with illegal and unconstitutional actions. Jack Landman Goldsmith provides a comprehensive analysis of these orders so far—assessing the difficult dilemmas the Court faces and showing how it is staying largely consistent with past practice.