The Military Is Being Forced to Plan for an Unthinkable Betrayal
Attacking an ally would be a perversion of everything the armed forces have been trained to do.
| CARVIEW |
Select Language
HTTP/2 301
server: Varnish
retry-after: 0
location: https://www.theatlantic.com/
accept-ranges: bytes
date: Tue, 20 Jan 2026 10:08:36 GMT
via: 1.1 varnish
x-served-by: cache-bom-vanm7210055-BOM
x-cache: HIT
x-cache-hits: 0
x-timer: S1768903717.935894,VS0,VE3
set-cookie: atltestbucketv1=0; Domain=.theatlantic.com; Path=/; Max-Age=7776000
vary: Origin
set-cookie: atl_trackid=9c86e0be-83a9-4e82-b6d0-f9febb9f0afb; Max-Age=31536000; Path=/; Secure; SameSite=Lax; Domain=.theatlantic.com
x-is-gdpr: 0
set-cookie: is_gdpr=0; Domain=.theatlantic.com; Path=/; Max-Age=3600
set-cookie: kppid=tixaw7cxxlk; Path=/; Max-Age=31536000; Domain=.theatlantic.com
state: HIT-SYNTH
set-cookie: atl_uuid=a1f58d6a-011c-4f25-81b7-37287cf3cc6b; Path=/; Expires=Tue, 19 Jan 2038 03:14:07 GMT; Domain=.theatlantic.com
set-cookie: blaize_session=0022e7d8-e094-4006-88df-12dde48fe4c9; Path=/; Max-Age=31536000; Domain=.theatlantic.com
set-cookie: blaize_tracking_id=0022e7d8-e094-4006-88df-12dde48fe4c9; Path=/; Max-Age=31536000; Domain=.theatlantic.com
strict-transport-security: max-age=300
content-length: 0
HTTP/2 302
date: Tue, 20 Jan 2026 10:08:38 GMT
content-length: 0
cf-ray: 9c0dc586efc61f95-BLR
retry-after: 0
location: /world/
accept-ranges: bytes
via: 1.1 varnish
x-served-by: cache-rtm-ehrd2290025-RTM
x-cache: HIT
x-cache-hits: 0
x-timer: S1768903718.912359,VS0,VE3
set-cookie: atltestbucketv1=0; Domain=.theatlantic.com; Path=/; Max-Age=7776000
set-cookie: is_gdpr=1; Domain=.theatlantic.com; Path=/; Max-Age=3600
set-cookie: __cf_bm=om.OFVL6xeOny5zvc2XYIw9TfgYe59GlfLbdoesplpw-1768903718-1.0.1.1-Sa46.Lsr1nXK8iy3iwJur69Fj0S9knz4H4T43Cy3biM040TQjPiEMtykcqiD05STfTzpa0OJCn4_vEZRUXIx5Q3TZT5ewl7ctgLTjDa0eBE; path=/; expires=Tue, 20-Jan-26 10:38:38 GMT; domain=.theatlantic.com; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=None
vary: Origin
x-is-gdpr: 1
state: HIT-SYNTH
strict-transport-security: max-age=300
cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC
server: cloudflare
HTTP/2 200
date: Tue, 20 Jan 2026 10:08:38 GMT
content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
content-encoding: gzip
cache-control: s-maxage=180
via: 1.1 varnish, 1.1 varnish
age: 105
x-served-by: cache-iad-kcgs7200099-IAD, cache-rtm-ehrd2290025-RTM
x-cache: HIT, HIT
x-cache-hits: 5, 1
x-timer: S1768903718.185121,VS0,VE2
set-cookie: atltestbucketv1=0; Domain=.theatlantic.com; Path=/; Max-Age=7776000
set-cookie: is_gdpr=1; Domain=.theatlantic.com; Path=/; Max-Age=3600
vary: X-JWT-State, X-JWT-PaymeterAccess, X-JWT-AdFree, X-Socialbot, Accept-Encoding, x-is-gdpr,Origin
x-is-gdpr: 1
x-jwt-state: Anonymous
state: HIT-CLUSTER
strict-transport-security: max-age=300
cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC
server: cloudflare
cf-ray: 9c0dc58df8181f95-BLR
World Edition - The Atlantic Brendan Smialowski / Getty 
David Mareuil / Anadolu / Getty 
Subscribe
YOAN VALAT / POOL / AFP via Getty Images 
Illustration by Ben Hickey
Bob Miller / Getty Those Who Try to Erase History Will Fail
The Equal Justice Initiative’s historical sites in Montgomery, Alabama, show what’s possible when history isn’t subject to federal funding cuts or executive orders.
Illustration by Jordy van den Nieuwendijk My Students Write Their Papers Backwards
My job is to help them move beyond their assumptions, in literature and everything else.
Frank Rockstroh / Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Minnesota Had Its Birmingham Moment
In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. outlined a strategy to expose official brutality. Anti-ICE protesters are following it—and it’s working.
Illustration by Alicia Tatone The Bots That Women Use in a World of Unsatisfying Men
AI is offering people a way to figure out what they really want in romance.
Alex Wong / Getty Why Harry Reid Went Nuclear
Why the former Senate majority leader decided to end the filibuster.
Bridgeman 
Rosalind O'Connor / NBC SNL Aces the Heated Rivalry Meme
The show’s Harry Potter spoof was the ultimate mash-up for a fan culture that can’t let go.
Rod Lamkey Jr. / AP Take a Close Look at Trump’s Portrait
The National Portrait Gallery removed key details from the caption under the president’s photograph. It still has a story to tell.
The Snow Monsters of Mount Zao
Winter conditions atop Japan’s Mount Zao can create “monsters” made of snow and ice that accumulates on trees. These snow monsters, called juhyo, attract visitors to one of the country’s oldest ski resorts.
America’s Moral Malady
The nation’s problem isn’t that we don’t have enough money. It’s that we don’t have the moral capacity to face what ails society. (From 2018)
Jill Freedman / Getty Grieving the Future I Imagined for My Daughter
I now had two children, but was only just beginning to understand what it means to be a parent. (From 2019)
Maria Nguyen 
Ben Kothe / The Atlantic Put Your Husband in the Kitchen
“I am tempted to think that the perplexed businessman might discover a possible solution of his troubles if he would just spend a few days in his wife’s kitchen.” (From 1932)
Library of Congress
Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Atlantic’s journalism, in the print edition and online.
Octavio Jones / AFP / Getty radio atlantic•Episode 165Do ICE Officers Have ‘Immunity’?
States don’t often prosecute federal officers, but they can.
the david frum show•Episode 42Trump Has Redefined Presidential Scandal
The historian Timothy Naftali on Donald Trump’s presidential library, comparing the many scandals of the Trump presidency to those of Richard Nixon’s, and Trump’s foreign policy of American weakness. Plus: a head-spinning week of terrifying crises, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
The Atlantic galaxy brain•Episode 10The Problem Is So Much Bigger Than Grok
The internet was built to objectify women.
LIMITED SERIESAutocracy in America
There are authoritarian tactics already at work in the United States. To root them out, you have to know where to look.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. how to age up•Episode 6How to Age Up on a Warming Planet
Younger generations are having a hard time imagining their future.
/media/img/mt/2025/05/HTAU_episode_Template_climate/original.gif)
Scroll →
AI Watchdog
,,
Works Taken
Track the creative works that tech companies are using to train their large language models.
Search NowThe Atlantic Daily
Get our editors’ guide to what matters in the world, delivered to your inbox every weekday and Sunday mornings.
