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

AEI This Week

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

FROM AID RECIPIENT TO DEFENSE INNOVATOR

How Ukraine Helps the West

May 23, 2026

After years of reliance on NATO-supplied weaponry, Ukraine’s own innovative military capabilities are now in high demand from Western countries like Germany and the United States. Dalibor Rohac and former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov explain ([link removed] ) how Ukraine has revolutionized 21st-century warfare and become a net contributor to the free world’s security.

The war in Iran has exposed the United States’ own vulnerabilities to cheap drone warfare. Mackenzie Eaglen takes stock ([link removed] ) of the lessons our military must learn after losing more than 40 aircraft in Operation Epic Fury.

Energy shortages caused by the conflict contributed to inflation outpacing wage growth in April, as the consumer price index surged 3.8 percent over the year. Writing in Financial Times, AEI Economic Policy Studies Director Michael R. Strain surveys ([link removed] ) the president’s options to stymie price growth—including eliminating tariffs.

China has become the world’s largest car producer, and even though Chinese cars are not sold in the US, Chinese components are now a significant part of US automotive supply chains. In a new AEI report, Chris Miller and Caroline Nowak assess ([link removed] ) the security risks these components generate in our age of connected and autonomous vehicles.

Over his many years at AEI, Jonah Goldberg has been a fearless warrior against all things progressive, woke, and statist. He’s also been a thoughtful critic of President Trump. In his latest column, Goldberg looks ([link removed] ) at how our founders would have treated the president’s unprecedented use of executive power this week.

Haunted by Tariffs and Trade Wars: A Positive Trade Policy for US Agriculture

US farmers have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of US free trade agreements and the rules-based global trading system, which contributed to farm incomes more than doubling over the past three decades. In a new working paper, AEI agricultural trade expert Joseph W. Glauber and coauthors argue ([link removed] ) that the Trump administration’s embrace of high, frequently changing tariffs has put these gains at risk—inviting retaliation, threatening access to key export markets, and raising input costs. Instead of relying on subsidies to compensate for export losses, the authors put forward a positive trade policy that would better serve American farmers by improving trade rules and expanding exports into growing sectors like Southeast and South Asia, building on the successes of the 1990s trade liberalization.

More from AEI

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Why There's Still No "Science of Reading" Equivalent for Math Instruction ([link removed] )

Frederick M. Hess | Education Week

Mamdani's "Race" to Solve New York City's Housing Crunch Masks His True Goal ([link removed] )

Howard Husock | New York Post

Old Space, New Story ([link removed] )

James Pethokoukis | AEIdeas

Conservatives Should Care About Affordability ([link removed] )

Samuel J. Abrams | The Wall Street Journal

The Declaration of Dependence ([link removed] )

Christine Rosen | Commentary

PODCASTS AND VIDEOS

More Presidential Tiers! ([link removed] )

Jay Cost and Sean Trende | Stubborn Things

Monkey Business ([link removed] )

Jonah Goldberg and Jonathan Leaf | The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Ben Thompson ([link removed] )

Ben Sasse et al. | Not Dead Yet

A Bloated Executive and a Starved Congress Is a Bad Combination ([link removed] )

Kevin R. Kosar and Andy Craig | The Reconstruction Agenda

Education for Freedom ([link removed] )

Christopher J. Scalia and Zena Hitz | The Back of the Book

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

If progressives continue to reduce politics to victims and victimizers and elevate identity and group membership above individual rights, the Democratic Party will remain captive to an ideology at odds with American principles and the American mainstream.

—Matthew Continetti ([link removed] )

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