Donald Trump

Even as we remember that Jesus rose from the dead in Jerusalem, Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere experience some of the highest levels of persecution in the world.

While quarantined with my family during the COVID-19 pandemic, the following five lessons with international affairs applications have come into focus.

In the almost-19 years since they dispatched their military to Afghanistan, US policymakers and the people they represent have learned, relearned, and unlearned several lessons.

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic in which the United States must seemingly make the frightful choice between saving lives and saving the economy, we inexplicably have a legion of volunteer mathematicians lining up to show off how well they can make the terrible calculations to decide who lives and who dies.

Some in the West may hope that COVID-19 exposes the Chinese Communist Party’s lies and human rights violations while sparking mass protests. Meanwhile, the pandemic spreads in the West and complicates the geopolitical rivalry between the US and China.

After years of crossing their fingers and hoping for the best, NATO members are rebuilding their military capabilities, preparing for worst-case scenarios, and posturing the alliance for deterrence.

The US Navy has fielded a low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, which is a smart move that is an appropriate response to what adversaries are doing.

The realism in Christian Realism lies in the tension between the redemption and hope that the Gospel brings for a world ensnared in sin and cynicism, and the reality that sin and its effects are still pervasive and will continue to cripple and limit the possibilities for justice this side of paradise.

If Trump’s goal with the “Deal of the Century” was actually securing peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, it may become one of his presidency’s biggest failures.