Lawrence Freedman

1 week ago | samf.substack.com | Lawrence Freedman

An Indian solider patrols the Line of Control in North Kashmir (Photo by Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto via Getty Images). Watching two nuclear powers fight each other is not good for the nerves and inevitably leads to fears of a cataclysm. The best reason to stay calm is that the situation is not unprecedented.

2 weeks ago | samf.substack.com | Lawrence Freedman

On 27 April US Secretary of State Marco Rubio observed that the Trump administration would soon decide whether to continue to try to negotiate an end to the Russo-Ukraine War or give up and move on to other matters: ‘We have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in or if it’s time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally if not more important in some cases.’ He wanted the effort to succeed: ‘There are reasons to be...

2 weeks ago | samf.substack.com | Lawrence Freedman

I wrote this piece for the May/June 2025 edition of Foreign Affairs. I am very grateful to the journal for kindly giving me permission to distribute it to subscribers. Coalition forces in Bagramm Afghanistan (2002)In Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 campaign to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, the United States and its coalition allies unleashed massive land, air, and sea power. It was over in a matter of weeks.

3 weeks ago | foreignaffairs.com | Lawrence Freedman |Thomas Maier

In May 1940, almost as soon as he became prime minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill was convinced that the only way to defeat Nazi Germany was to get the United States directly involved in the war. He asked a friend, the Canadian businessman William Stephenson, to mount an operation to convince Americans to join the fight and to counter pro-German and isolationist factions in the United States.

3 weeks ago | samf.substack.com | Lawrence Freedman

‘You have been watching the greatest economic master strategy from an American President in history.’Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, X, 9 April 2025Donald Trump, who wishes to be known as an all-round great strategist, made a dramatic announcement on 2 April imposing world-wide tariffs, one of his signature policies. He spent the rest of the month coping with the consequences. It took only a week before the backtracking began, on 9 April.