Trump Is Putting America’s Weaknesses on Display
What China can learn about the limits of American military capacity
Latest
Atta Kenare / AFP / Getty Why Trump Didn’t Plan for the Strait of Hormuz
In wartime, the enemy always gets a vote.
Illustration by Allison Zaucha Davis / The Atlantic* U.S. Capabilities Are Showing Signs of Rot
When a military force begins to decline, the first symptoms may be subtle.
Nathan Howard / Getty A ‘Trump Class’ Folly on the High Seas
Ukraine sees the future of naval warfare. The White House doesn’t.
Roman Pilipey / AFP / Getty Trump’s Devastating Plan for Ukraine
The White House is giving Putin permission to try again.
Oleksii Filippova / AFP / Getty The U.S. Is on Track to Lose a War With China
Modern warfare is decided by production capacity and technological mastery, not by individual valor.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Taiwan's Defence Ministry Handout / Anadolu / Getty; Scott Olson / Getty. Russia Tested NATO in Poland. NATO Flunked.
A drone incursion shows the limits of an alliance without America at its head.
Kacper Pempel / Reuters Trump Is Stringing Ukraine Along
Any help the White House provides is less decisive than the obstacles that it places in the Ukrainians’ way.
Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Getty What Trump—And the U.S.—Can’t Understand About Air Strikes
American leaders refuse to learn from allies and overestimate the benefits of showy tactical attacks.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / Getty; Maxar Technologies / Getty. Ukraine’s Warning to the World’s Other Military Forces
Expensive planes, tanks, and ships can be destroyed on the cheap.
NurPhoto / Getty
