Situation Report

The U.S. president’s foreign-policy staff hopes to make the pivot real with an early trip to the region.

Congress and watchdogs aren’t pleased about billions of wasted taxpayer dollars in the so-called forever wars.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has given the U.S. military instructions to deal with white supremacy as extremists target new recruits in the ranks.

The council’s Indo-Pacific Directorate is set to be the largest, and one of the most influential, arms of Biden’s national security team, administration insiders say.

The U.S. president has already halted some arms sales to the Gulf. How he handles the rest will be a bellwether for progressives’ sway over his foreign policy.

The Biden administration has paused Trump’s plan to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, an early move to reassure allies. 

The U.S.-Saudi relationship and increased Chinese pressure on Taiwan are just two of the and other vexing problems for the new president.

Biden’s cabinet nominees have made a lot of promises in their Senate confirmation hearings. Whether they keep them will define the president’s foreign-policy legacy.

What the growing post-Trump divide within the party means for its policy platform.

Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says Trump will “deservedly be left a man without a country.”

From a showdown with Iran to Trump’s loyalty tests, some of 2020’s major stories will have ripple effects for the Biden administration.

As U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, Taliban attacks are on the rise—and peace negotiations are at risk of collapsing.

Who the U.S. president-elect picks to fill lower-level posts in the State Department, the Pentagon, and other agencies will say a lot about his foreign policy.

Left-wing groups want to ensure Biden doesn’t pick Michael Morrell, seen as linked to post-9/11 counterterrorism policies, as CIA director.

While nothing is set in stone, here are some of the experts in the president-elect’s orbit that could take key posts in the administration.