Edward Alden

Bellingham

Columnist at Foreign Policy Magazine

Ross Professor at Western Washington. Senior fellow at Council on Foreign Relations. Columnist @foreignpolicy. Proud Dad. RTs not endorsements

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Articles

Trump's Wanton Tariffs Will Shatter the World Economy—and Test American Democracy

3 weeks ago | foreignpolicy.com | Edward Alden

Economic warfare is also a test for U.S. democracy.
America's Eroding Airpower

1 month ago | foreignaffairs.com | Oscar Berry |Michael Froman |Stacie L. Pettyjohn |Edward Alden

For more than 80 years, a cornerstone of the United States’ military strength has been its unparalleled ability to project power through the air. Washington has the most sophisticated fleet of combat aircraft in the world. Because these planes can be refueled by the country’s many tankers, they have global reach. From domestic bases, stealthy bombers can fly through heavily defended airspace unmolested and destroy multiple targets in one mission.
The Myth of the Hardened Border

1 month ago | foreignaffairs.com | Edward Alden |Laurie Trautman |Paul C. Avey |Nicholas Mulder

When the COVID-19 virus began spreading across the world, five years ago, countries handled the crisis in myriad ways. Some locked down their populations; some encouraged testing, masking, and social distancing; some traced the outbreaks to cut off new infections; and some did almost nothing at all. But amid this variety of domestic public health measures, nearly every country pursued one common policy: closing their borders. Conservatives and liberals alike embraced border closures.
Donald Trump Wants Reciprocity in Trade: Here’s a Closer Look | Council on Foreign Relations

2 months ago | cfr.org | Edward Alden

The president’s plan for reciprocal tariffs sounds good in theory. But there was a reason the United States abandoned the approach a century ago. The gains would be few and the costs enormous.
Looking Back at the 2020 ‘Summer of Love,’ Major Lessons Emerge

2 months ago | thetyee.ca | Edward Alden

[Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Edward Alden and Laurie Trautman’s new book, ‘When the World Closed Its Doors: The COVID-19 Tragedy and the Future of Borders.’ Stay tuned for a forthcoming Tyee Q&A with the authors.] For the thousands who came to Peace Arch Park in the summer of 2020 as the COVID-19 virus was spreading across the world, it would come to be known as the “Summer of Love.” Announcements, Events & more from Tyee and select partners Healing Fund Provides Up to...
Trade, international trade, tariffs

2 months ago | homelandsecuritynewswire.com | Edward Alden

TRADETrump’s Risky New Era of Broken Trade NormsPublished 3 February 2025For many decades now, the international economy has been backstopped by a reasonably predictable set of rules, led by a United States that believed it had a strong national interest in nurturing that sort of predictability. With President Donald Trump’s decision over the week to declare a specious “emergency” for the purpose of slapping crippling tariffs on his continental neighbors, that era has come to an end.
Trump’s Risky New Era of Broken Trade Norms

2 months ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Edward Alden

For many decades now, the international economy has been backstopped by a reasonably predictable set of rules, led by a United States that believed it had a strong national interest in nurturing that sort of predictability. With President Donald Trump’s decision over the week to declare a specious “emergency” for the purpose of slapping crippling tariffs on his continental neighbors, that era has come to an end. What follows now is, well, hard to predict.
Pandemic Response Should Not Rely on Border Closures

2 months ago | thinkglobalhealth.org | Edward Alden

Five years ago, President Donald Trump ordered that U.S borders be closed to any foreigners arriving from China after the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Over the two months that followed, travel across the world would be restricted in unprecedented ways. In the absence of better options for controlling a deadly and highly contagious virus, hardening borders was one of the few tools governments had in their arsenal—despite the risk of human and civil rights violations.
The Path to a Transformed Middle East

2 months ago | foreignaffairs.com | Edward Alden |Abigail McGowan |Dennis Ross |David Makovsky

Donald Trump begins his presidency with ambitions of being a peacemaker. He laid out this vision in his inaugural address, declaring that his administration “will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars we end, and perhaps most importantly, by the wars we never get into.” Later that day, he basked in the success of the hostage cease-fire deal in Gaza, including by bringing the families of Israeli hostages to the inaugural parade.
“America First” vs. Primacy

2 months ago | foreignaffairs.com | Edward Alden |Abigail McGowan |Mitch McConnell |Dennis Ross

In his recent essay, “The Price of American Retreat” (January/February 2025), Senator Mitch McConnell lamented the failures of the Biden administration’s foreign policy and warned that “the response to four years of weakness must not be four years of isolation.” McConnell fears that an American “retreat” would embolden adversaries to advance while forcing allies to cower. His remedy: restore industrial capacity to sustain U.S. military predominance indefinitely.