The Two-Year Anniversary of Why it Matters

A Look at the Past Year and a Preview of What’s Next

Raising my right hand and swearing to tell the truth as I testified before the House Intelligence Committee in the first impeachment of Donald Trump.

Dear Readers,

Today marks two years since I launched Why It Matters and time certainly flies.

When I started this publication, my goal was to explore the challenges confronting our country and the world: from Russia’s war against Ukraine, to conflicts in the Middle East, to the growing threats to American democracy. What began as a small experiment in public analysis has grown into a thriving community of more than 110,000 readers. I’m deeply grateful to each of you for joining me on this journey.

Over the past year, I’ve tackled a wide range of global and domestic issues. “From Syria to Sudan” examined Ukrainian special forces operations against Russian proxies across Africa and the Middle East. Following the 2024 election, I drew on my own experience serving in South Korea to write a long-form piece about Seoul’s struggle against democrati…