In defense of nothing. Jeremy and Shapiro use the administration’s decision to keep troops in Syria indefinitely to explain why it is sometimes better for the U.S. to do nothing at all.

Maybe the free world doesn’t need a leader. Leonid Bershidsky considers the possible candidates for the role and suggests that the “free world” doesn’t have to have a single leader.

Egypt is a terrible “ally.” Richard Sokolsky and Andrew Miller make the case for significantly reducing military assistance to Egypt.

Congress must debate a possible attack on North Korea. Daniel Davis explains why the “potential costs of nuclear war are too terrifying to be imposed on a people without their consent.”

The strange saga of Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukraine’s authoritarian descent. David Klion puts Saakashvili’s latest stunts in the context of Ukraine’s deepening political dysfunction.