BULLIED
When President-elect Trump took a congratulatory call from Taiwan’s leader, it inaugurated four years of chaotic foreign policy with China.
Josh Rogin is a Washington Post foreign policy columnist and CNN political analyst. He has reported for The Daily Beast, Bloomberg View, Foreign Policy, Congressional Quarterly, Federal Computer Week, and Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. He lives in Washington, D.C.
But Duke Still Sucks
The legendary Duke coach said Obama is foolishly telling ISIS what the U.S. team will or won’t do – a bad strategy in both war and basketball.
Disappearing Ally
Months after the president stepped in to save the Yazidis from genocide, the airstrikes have slowed to a trickle. Supplies have dried up. And ISIS is closing in on Mount Sinjar again.
Touchy, Touchy
The Pentagon brass placed in charge of implementing Obama’s war against ISIS are getting fed up with the short leash the White House put them on.
Agree to Disagree?
The secretary of state has been trying to thaw U.S.-Russian relations, but the Kremlin just won’t play ball. Now he says they agreed to work together on ISIS—and Russia is denying it.
Interception
In a new video, ISIS shows American-made weapons it says were intended for the Kurds but actually were air dropped into territory they control.
BREAKING RANKS
Carl Levin, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, now says the U.S. needs to create a buffer zone in Syria for the rebels, using Turkish troops and American airpower.
Robot Rock
Turkey is now allowing the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft to fly over Syria. But so far, traditional warplanes are out of the question.
Winning Strategy
Jihadis pouring across the border. Obama powerless to respond to the chaos. Democrats out to lunch. That’s the picture GOP campaigns and political groups are painting—and it’s working.
Ground Forces
Josh Rogin joins CNN Newsroom to discuss the upcoming meeting of the ISIS coalition, its decision not to include representatives of forces inside that country, and whether that coalition's airstrikes can work without coordinating with forces on the ground.