Walking on the campus of Stanford University, you might spot Michael McFaul in one of its Romanesque buildings or somewhere along one of its well-curated paths. At Stanford, he is a professor of political science and a senior fellow at both the Freeman Institute for International Studies and the Hoover Institution.

Though not something to celebrate, America has reached its highest level of economic policy uncertainty since President Trump’s January 2017 inauguration. It seems that Trump hit a veritable uncertainty bonanza when, in a wide-ranging interview, he indicated that America was winning the trade war even though the trade deficit with China, his preferred measure of success or failure, is rising, and in his opinion, the trade controversy could produce a short recession.

President Trump capped days of advocacy on behalf of Russian President Vladi­mir Putin by announcing here Monday that he intends to invite the leader to the Group of Seven summit in 2020, which Trump will host in an election year amid warnings that Russia is actively trying to interfere again in the U.S. presidential election.

“Hey, Toreador! . . . We head for the edge, and the first man who jumps is a chicken. All right?” In Rebel without a Cause, Jim (James Dean) and Buzz (Corey Allen) play the most famous game of chicken in Hollywood history, driving their jalopies at full speed towards a Californian cliff. At the last minute, Jim jumps. Buzz, his sleeve caught on the door handle, plunges to his death. Games of chicken are all around these days. Indeed, it starts to feel as if the whole world is playing a massive, multiplayer game of chicken. Clearly, Boris Johnson’s jaunts to Berlin and Paris last week were part of a diplomatic game of chicken over Brexit.