For almost half a decade, the world’s only superpower has mostly abdicated its role in helping to resolve the world’s most consequential conflict. Now former President Barack Obama’s excessive caution about Syria has given way to President Donald Trump’s unstrategic uncertainty. The question is whether this qualifies as an improvement. It’s certainly good news that Russia has invited the ...

  US President Donald Trump’s immigration ban and curb on refugee admission sparked a global backlash. It is highly confusing and utterly condemnable. Refugees, visa holders and permanent US residents are all among those affected. On the other hand, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly issued a statement declaring that the entry of green-card holders is in the national interest. He ...

  For much of my life, I loved the idea of nuclear power. The science was so cool, futuristic and complicated, the power plants so vast and majestic. I devoured science-fiction novels like “Lucifer’s Hammer,” where a plucky nuclear entrepreneur restarts civilization after a comet almost wipes us out. I thought of accidents like Three Mile Island and even Chernobyl ...