While President Trump has continued to use punitive tariffs disproportionately against US partners and allies like Canada, he has had less success cajoling adversaries like Russia and China—as evidenced in his talks with Xi Jinping this week. Hal Brands shows why Trump’s foreign policy instincts leave him ill-equipped to face down our serious authoritarian rivals.
The president’s ability to unilaterally set tariffs at whim poses a fundamental challenge to the separation of powers and Congress’s control over the purse. While the Supreme Court has been careful to pick its battles in 2025, Charles Lane makes clear why the justices must stand up to the president as they consider the legality of this exercise of power.
American and Israeli action this year has destroyed much of Iran’s and its Axis of Resistance’s military strength and influence across the Middle East. In a new AEI report, Critical Threats Project experts Nicholas Carl and Brian Carter assess the impact of these defeats and propose measures to further contain Iran.
Universities across the country are revitalizing liberal education and the study of self-government through new schools of civic thought, which have so far created about 200 teaching and tenure-track positions. Writing in City Journal, Benjamin Storey and Jenna Silber Storey provide an overview of the impact this growing movement is already having.
