Tehran’s Fight for Great-Power Status; Ukraine Can Turn Imminent Peril to Its Advantage; The Global AI Bust
Foreign Affairs This Week

October 16, 2026 | View in Browser | Sponsored by America in the World Consortium

 

This week’s highlights:

- Iran’s Theory of Victory by Narges Bajoghli and Vali Nasr

- Ukraine Can Turn Imminent Peril to Its Advantage by Eric Ciaramella

- The Global AI Bust by Ruchir Sharma

- America Shouldn’t Let Go of the Middle East by Philip H. Gordon

- Podcast: Ali Vaez and Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar discuss the stalemate in Iran

- A Democratic Reckoning in India by Pratap Bhanu Mehta

- Trump Is Gutting America’s Core Geopolitical Advantage by Robert B. Zoellick

 

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A banner of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Tehran, September 2026

Iran’s Theory of Victory

Tehran’s Fight for Great-Power Status in the Post-American Middle East

By Narges Bajoghli and Vali Nasr

 
A gas station hit by a Russian drone strike, Kyiv, Ukraine, September 2026 

Ukraine Can Turn Imminent Peril to Its Advantage

How a True “Energy Cease-Fire” Can Curb Putin

By Eric Ciaramella

 

The Global AI Bust

What Will Survive When the Boom Ends

By Ruchir Sharma

 
U.S. Navy sailors loading munitions onto a fighter jet in the Arabian Sea, September 2026

America Shouldn’t Let Go of the Middle East

Why Disengagement Is Not the Answer

By Philip H. Gordon

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AWC Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship Applications are OPEN!

The America in the World Consortium at Duke University, Johns Hopkins SAIS, & the University of Texas–Austin are seeking applications from current and recently acquired PhDs for our predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowship program. Applicants from all disciplines whose research bears directly on American Grand Strategy, broadly defined, are welcome to apply. Deadline: December 1, 2026 (11:59pm ET).

 

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New Podcast Episode

The Foreign Affairs Interview

Iran’s Long War

A Conversation With Ali Vaez and Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar

Listen Now

Iran’s Long War

A Conversation With Ali Vaez and Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar

Listen Now

Supporters of India’s Cockroach Janta Party in New Delhi, July 2026

A Democratic Reckoning in India

The Battle on the Streets Over the Foundations of the State

By Pratap Bhanu Mehta

 
Crossing a bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, July 2026

Trump Is Gutting America’s Core Geopolitical Advantage

The Strategic Costs of Antagonizing Canada and Mexico

By Robert B. Zoellick

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