Is the U.S. Winning Russia’s War in Ukraine?

Putin Is Losing, Ukraine Is Suffering, And It’s America’s Geopolitical Battle to Lose

The Russian war in Ukraine is a calamity—for the people suffering through it, for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe (which has lost its strategic compass), for China (which needs stability to develop faster than its competitors), and for most of the world (due to the energy and food crises it is triggering).

But it is by no means a calamity for the United States.

Please forgive the complexity of the argument that follows. But geopolitics, which I study, addresses complexity. And this war has taken geopolitics backwards.

When a war breaks out, we …

by Manlio Graziano | May 19, 2022

Our Favorite Essays of 2021

At a Moment Where There Are No Easy Answers, Zócalo Contributors Asked Unexpected, Tough—and Sometimes Quixotic—Questions

December 23, 2021

It felt like 2021 was a year of firsts—the first rollout of new vaccine technology; the first insurrection in Washington, D.C.; the first female U.S. vice president; and the first …

California-Baja Border | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Let Local Residents Govern the California–Baja Border

The People Living with the Mess the U.S. and Mexico Made Have the Best Chance of Cleaning It Up

by Joe Mathews | November 2, 2021

To: Baja California Gov.-elect Marina del Pilar Ávila and California Gov. Gavin Newsom
Cc: Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria
Re: A Borderlands Assembly

All four of …

The United States Didn’t Really Begin Until 1848

Forget 1619 or 1776—America’s Origin Debate Has a California-Sized Blind Spot

by Joe Mathews | October 5, 2021

America, you’ve got the dates wrong.

Your intense debate over which year marks the real beginning of the United States—1619 (slavery’s arrival) or 1776 (Declaration of Independence)—has become predictably polarizing. You …

What It Takes to Change Your Adopted Nation’s Foreign Policy

Armenian Americans’ Long Fight for Genocide Recognition Is a Victory—And a Cautionary Tale

by Kamyar Jarahzadeh | August 12, 2021

In the media and in politicians’ minds, foreign policy often seems to take a backseat to other subjects such as the economy or social issues. But for the United States’ …

A Fictional Calexit Scenario Offers a Real Warning

Conservative Writer David French Argues That if Americans Can’t Live by Pluralism, the Country Could Split Apart

by Joe Mathews | August 10, 2021

It was gun violence that finally drove California to secede from the United States.

A series of mass shootings culminated in a savage, Columbine-style attack on a Sacramento-area school that killed …

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