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Josef Joffe

Josef Joffe

An editorial board member of American Purpose, Josef Joffe serves on the editorial council of the German weekly Die Zeit. He teaches international politics and political theory at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he is a senior fellow at the Kissinger Center. He is also a distinguished visiting fellow of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

Articles and Events

How Would Clausewitz See Modern War?

How Would Clausewitz See Modern War?

His insights into the nature of war are forever. But he would be stumped by the new ways and means, from Hamas and Putin's "little green men" to China's oblique strategies.

Josef Joffe
BRICS and Stones Can’t Break Western Bones

BRICS and Stones Can’t Break Western Bones

The Global South will fail to build a New World Order, in spite of China and Russia. Only the West can damage the current order by forsaking liberal trade and strategic stability.

Josef Joffe
Ukraine Into NATO? Hold Your Breath

Ukraine Into NATO? Hold Your Breath

For moral as well as strategic reasons, the West must give Kyiv all the weapons it needs. But Alliance membership is a noble dream.

Josef Joffe
Prison or the History Books?

Prison or the History Books?

Some suggestions from a friend in Bibi’s Washington days.

Josef Joffe
Ukraine's Harvest of Sorrow
Books

Ukraine's Harvest of Sorrow

A generation ago, Stalin crippled Ukraine through famine. Robert Conquest’s 1986 recounting of the Holodomor bears somber relevance, yet again.

Josef Joffe
Breaking the Nuclear Taboo

Breaking the Nuclear Taboo

Are Putin’s threats credible, or is he just playing the madman?

Josef Joffe
The Puzzle of the Posse

The Puzzle of the Posse

The “decadent” and “dissolute” West has risen against Putin’s imperialism because moral duty and callous self-interest are in tandem—a rarity in statecraft.

Josef Joffe
Will the Real MAGA Man Please Stand Up?

Will the Real MAGA Man Please Stand Up?

Back to the “indispensable nation:” Corralling a global coalition against Russian imperialism, Joe Biden is leaving America’s retrenchment phase behind and returning to the best traditions of U.S. diplomacy.

Josef Joffe