The US is now six months into a war with Iran.

It refuses to recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

At the same time, Washington is talking to Moscow even as Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine.

So what determines whether America talks to or fights an enemy? And what makes the US decide that an adversary is a permanent one? 

Those are some of the questions addressed in Adam Weinstein's new essay for Foreign Policy entitled "Washington is Creating Forever Enemies."

Mr. Weinstein is Deputy Director of the Middle East Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and Director of its Veterans in Foreign Policy Initiative. He is also a former US Marine who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012.