Section: The American Conservative (USA)
America’s Unsustainable Empire
Before President Trump trashes the Iran nuclear deal, he might consider: if he could negotiate an identical deal with Kim Jong-un, it would astonish the world and win him the Nobel Peace Prize. For Iran has no nuclear bomb or ICBM and has never tested either. It has never enriched uranium to bomb grade. It has shipped 98 percent of its uranium...
The Ridiculous Proposal to Label Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism
Sen. Cory Gardner made a bizarre proposal last week: The State Department should consider adding the country to its list of state sponsors of terrorism, alongside its close allies Iran and Syria. The moral case for such a designation is sound. Russia has invaded its neighbors Georgia and Ukraine, it supports the murderous regime of Bashar...
Donald Trump is Samson, Blinded by Ring of Delilahs
Samson is blind, only in this case his eyesight has not been taken by a lone Delilah. He’s been blinded by a coterie of White House advisors and West Wing ideologues who tell him one story over and over again, keeping all other narratives far away and out of sight. Unlike her biblical predecessor, Nikki Haley didn’t trim the...
Emmanuel Macron, the New King of Europe?
“You as a political project are in denial.” Those words are now part of the EU lexicon thanks to Nigel Farage’s speech in the European Parliament following the Brexit referendum. Farage’s point: despite Brexit, the European Union was unwilling to concede that its process of centralization had gone too far. Farage had a point then, and...
The Third Bush Presidency
The Never Trump cabal can now claim total victory. Unsuccessful at preventing Trump from winning the nomination or the general election, they have instead co-opted his presidency for their own policies and programs. With the nomination of John Bolton, Never Trump interventionists have installed one of the unrepentant architects of the...
Will the Deep State Break Trump?
“It is becoming more obvious with each passing day that the men and the movement that broke Lyndon Johnson’s authority in 1968 are out to break Richard Nixon,” wrote David Broder on October 8, 1969. “The likelihood is great that they will succeed again.” A columnist for The Washington Post, Broder was no fan of Nixon. His prediction,...
Bolton Will Be Trump’s New National Security Advisor
John Bolton will be the new National Security Advisor following McMaster’s resignation: Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the battle-tested Army officer tapped as President Trump’s national security adviser last year to stabilize a turbulent foreign policy operation, will resign and be replaced by John R. Bolton, a hard-line former United...
No, Putin Isn’t Bluffing on Nukes
Earlier this month in his State of the Nation address to the Russian legislature, President Vladimir Putin unveiled several new strategic weapons designed to nullify any missile defense shield the United States has deployed, is currently deploying, or will seek to deploy in the next 10 to 15 years. Putin said these new Russian weapons were...
Realistic Expectations for U.S. Diplomacy with North Korea
Ankit Panda and Vipin Narang look ahead to the possible Trump-Kim summit and what both sides might be willing to offer. Here they explain why North Korea’s denuclearization is very unlikely to happen: The historical record of voluntary denuclearization does not provide much encouragement. Three former Soviet states relinquished the nuclear...
Where is Real Statesmanship When We Need it Most?
The view that America is the indispensable leader in efforts to make a better world has long been so dominant in American foreign policy thinking as to seem axiomatic. Much of the current hostility to the Donald Trump presidency originated within the foreign policy networks that connect government, think tanks, media, and academia. Trump’s...
