All Policy Analysis by James Jeffrey

By moving to an airpower-focused approach, Washington could avoid an unending stabilization mission, calm tensions with Turkey, and help allies with the bigger goal of countering Iran and Russia.

Ankara is a difficult friend, but that doesn't mean the United States should cut it loose.

U.S. support for Iraqi oil export projects involving Turkey, the Gulf, and Europe can help keep undue Iranian influence at bay.

Fighting between two vital U.S. allies will only strengthen Assad and Iran.

In the national security advisor's hawkish view, the possibility of military action against Pyongyang could be understood not so much as a good thing, but as the 'least bad' option.

If taken as a whole, the document supports a largely traditional brand of U.S. foreign policy, but many elements of it could be used to justify a very different approach to the world.

It's not too late to discourage Iranian adventurism and lead a return to relative calm, but mistakes by successive U.S. administrations and the region's own weaknesses have contributed to a dangerous situation.

Washington has ample reason to maintain a long-term military presence in eastern Syria, but it will need to overcome a host of political, legal, and logistical problems along the way.

The Vietnam War gets Ken Burns's signature "docutainment" treatment, and the result is a worthy one, if not always up to full scholarly standards.