The Eternal Return of Unenlightened Despotism

Whatever else it does, the Trump campaign will test the willingness of the American electorate to support a candidate who asserts his right to run roughshod over the Constitution and flout traditional constraints on the exercise of power. … Trump’s entire campaign is premised on the primal assault of an […] Read more »

With Russia a campaign issue, Clinton gains on foreign affairs

Hillary Clinton’s post-convention bump extends to enthusiasm about voting and trust on a slew of issues, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll. And on the most prominent foreign policy issue of late, Russia and its relationship with the US, nearly 6-in-10 see the country as unfriendly, and about half say […] Read more »

Republicans get behind Trump, but not all of his policies

As the Republican National Convention gets under way in Cleveland, the party’s top goal will be to unite Republicans and expand Donald Trump’s appeal to the general electorate. A new survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, conducted June 10-27, 2016, found that a large majority of Republicans are […] Read more »

American attitudes toward Muslims and Islam

With the violence in the Middle East continuing, and further attacks on American soil in the name of Islam, the election campaigns have paid significant attention to policy issues related to the Middle East. But as both Republicans and Democrats prepare for their national conventions, how do Americans prioritize Middle […] Read more »

Despite high public support for defense spending in Europe, discord over burden sharing emerges

The NATO summit in Warsaw that wrapped up on July 9 demonstrated once again that the defense spending effort of European allies remains a contentious issue in the alliance. On the eve of the summit, news reports indicated that American officials had prepared a briefing designed in part to “name […] Read more »