EDITORIAL

Mr. Trump on Afghanistan: More of the Same; No End in Sight

The president’s vague plan can’t be called a strategy. His goal, other than “victory” in a war that’s gone on for 16 years, is unclear. comment icon Comments

ROGER COHEN

Trump’s Afghan Illusions

President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday.

The new Afghan strategy is a mess because it has no diplomatic component.comment icon Comments

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

From Kabul to Baghdad, My Bird’s-Eye View

An Air Force service member preparing for an antiterrorism mission in the Middle East last year.

A five-nation tour offered a close look at the war on terror and disturbing context for Trump’s plans for Afghanistan. comment icon Comments

ANNA SAUERBREY

How Germany Deals With Neo-Nazis

A sign depicting Bjöern Höecke, a leader of the Alternative for Germany party, with the slogan “Never again” after a protest against the party in Cologne in April.

And why, even after Charlottesville, America has the better approach.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Dick Gregory Was a Sledgehammer of Truth

Dick Gregory, the comedian, social critic and lifelong civil rights activist, in 2016.

Watching the legend in person made me desperate to tell jokes with his piercing honesty.comment icon Comments

OP-DOCS

Have Head Shot, Seeking Wife

Is a single photograph enough to find your soul mate? comment icon Comments

LINDY WEST

The Right Way to Brag on Instagram

Louise Linton with her husband Steven Mnuchin, center, and Canada’s Finance Minister Bill Morneau, right, in Canada this June.

Tips for the spouses of cabinet secretaries or anyone else who needs them. comment icon Comments

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Barcelona Dares to Stay Open

A banner that says “We are not afraid” lies among a memorial to victims of the Aug. 17 attack on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas promenade.

In response to terrorism, Catalonia refuses to fall prey to fear or xenophobia.

ROGER COHEN

Military Valor and Presidential Vacillation

President Trump’s chief of staff, John F. Kelly, during a “Make America Great Again” rally in West Virginia, this month.

Serving a commander in chief who knows nothing of personal sacrifice.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Why Trump Loves Arizona

President Trump during a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday.

The state’s ideas and style match those of the 45th president. What better place for him to revert to his natural form?

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Why Trump Is Right to Get Tough With Pakistan

United States Army soldiers in Afghanistan, near the border of Pakistan, in 2011.

The success of the president’s Afghan strategy will turn on ending Pakistani impunity for sheltering terrorists.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

No Alternative for The Village Voice

A Village Voice newspaper stand on the ground in the East Village on Monday.

The end of the print edition of The Village Voice has the unmistakable feel of one more piece of Old New York slipping away.comment icon Comments

EDITORIAL

Mr. Trump Sides With Wall Street; You Lose

If the Trump administration gets its way, an Obama-era rule to protect retirement savings will not be enforced until mid-2019, at the earliest.

OPINION

Steve Mnuchin’s Wife Has a Talent for Being Tone-Deaf

Stephen Mnuchin and Louise Linton, then his fiancée, at the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump in January.

When Louise Linton is done apologizing for her latest gaffe, maybe she’ll join me for dinner at my grandmother’s in Zambia.

LETTERS

President Trump’s Speech on Afghanistan

President Donald Trump speaks during a presidential address to the nation on Monday.

Readers object to spilling more blood without a clear end in sight.

LETTERS

Seeing Unity and Enlightenment in Solar Show

Viewers cheered and howled as they took in the total eclipse in downtown Jackson, Wyo.

The eclipse brings to readers much more than a moon shadow.

LETTER

Praise for Chief Executives Who Quit Advisory Panels

Stephen A. Schwarzman, chief executive of the Blackstone Group, meeting with President Trump in April.

Readers urge them to “go beyond mere gestures” and warn of presidential reprisals.

LETTER

Single-Payer Rigidity

Two retired doctors fear that rigid support for a single-payer system could backfire.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Why I Refuse to Avoid White People

Protesters and counter-protesters argue during a demonstration last week in New Orleans, Louisiana that was held in solidarity with Charlottesville after the death of a protester.

Hearing the words “white power” is deeply painful for me as a black woman. But it’s worse for the broken people chanting them. comment icon Comments

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Back to Nation-Building in Afghanistan. Good.

Members of the Afghan National Army training with United States Army soldiers in Afghanistan last year.

The president denies it, but that is what extending the American military presence means. And it’s the right policy.

PATRICK CHAPPATTE

The four features below have received nominations for the 2017 News and Documentary Emmy Awards.

OP-DOCS

‘The Voter Suppression Trail’

Find out if your vote can survive the great, flawed adventure of American democracy.

OP-DOCS

The Click Effect

Dive under the sea and listen to the language of dolphins and whales in virtual reality.

OP-DOCS

4.1 Miles

In this short documentary, nominated for an Academy award, a coast guard captain on a Greek island is charged with saving thousands of refugees. comment icon Comments

PAMELA DRUCKERMAN

‘If I Sleep for an Hour, 30 People Will Die’

A World War II hero saved the lives of rebels and refugees. Now it’s our turn.

VIETNAM ’67

Reading Vietnam

I used to think “Dispatches” was the greatest book on the war. Now I’m not so sure. comment icon Comments

LETTER

Chinese Students and ‘Obedient Autonomy’

Students in a university classroom in Beijing.

An anthropologist says the term “has little to do with people monitoring themselves or others.”

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Why More Migrants Are Dying in the Sahara

Desert roads outside of Agadez, Niger, last year. Smugglers are abandoning hundreds of migrants as they try to cross the Sahara.

Niger’s E.U.-funded crackdown on smuggling is pushing desperate people to attempt more hazardous desert routes.

OPINION

By Day, the Sky Was Black. By Night, We Were Talking Af-Pak.

People view the solar eclipse throughout New York on Monday.

For a few hours, the nation was captivated by celestial splendor. But by sundown, attention shifted to more earthly matters.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

A New Tune on Women’s Rights in the Arab World

An activist from the NGO Abaad, dressed as a bride and wearing bandages, is symbolically released from a cage in Beirut last week. Activists were celebrating after the Lebanese Parliament abolished a law that shielded rapists from prosecution if they married the victim.

Recent reform of rape laws in several countries is welcome, but changing cultural attitudes is harder.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Can Fearless Journalism Survive Rodrigo Duterte?

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines gestures to protesters in Quezon City in July.

The Philippines’ president is forcing an independent newspaper into the hands of one of his allies.

EDITORIAL NOTEBOOK

The Game of the Name

Is it worth it for the M.T.A. to brand subway stops? The Irish Spring Street station?

VIETNAM ’67

Why Vietnam Was Unwinnable

An American paratrooper sergeant shouts orders to his squad as they charge brushline while subject to sniper fire in Vietnam on June 1, 1965.

Revisionist historians argue that America could have prevailed, but the media and politics got in the way. It’s not that easy. comment icon Comments

ON CAMPUS

My University Is Named for Robert E. Lee. What Now?

Washington and Lee University campus in Lexington, Virginia.

We need to change how we honor this former college president.

DAVID BROOKS

What Moderates Believe

Instead of ideology, moderation is a way of coping with the complexity of the world. comment icon Comments

Vietnam ’67: A Newsletter About the War

American soldiers watching helicopters landing as part of Operation Pershing in South Vietnam in 1967.

Patrick Christain/Getty Images

Examining America’s long war in Southeast Asia through the course of a single year.