Section: The American Conservative (USA)
Is Rapprochement with Russia Still Possible?
U.S.-Russian relations are at one of their lowest points since the end of the Cold War—and there seems to be little appetite for improvement on the part of the Trump administration and Congress. Egged on by anti-Russia hysteria in many parts of the American media, Congress has imposed new sanctions to penalize Moscow over its alleged meddling in...
Trump Would Be a Fool to Arm Ukraine
John Hudson reports on the push to get Trump to approve sending arms to Ukraine: President Donald Trump’s top advisers are closer now to achieving what seemed unthinkable at the start of his presidency: Shipping millions of dollars of US weapons to Ukraine’s embattled military. According to the report, Trump’s advisers think...
More ‘Fake News,’ Alas, From the New York Times
Disregarding President Trump’s insistent claim that the establishment press propagates “fake news” requires a constant effort—especially when a prestigious outlet like the New York Times allows itself to be used for blatantly fraudulent purposes. I cherish the First Amendment. Mark me down as favoring journalism that is loud, lively, and...
Nobody’s Quaking in Their Boots, Anymore
A major goal of this Asia trip, said National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster, is to rally allies to achieve the “complete, verifiable and permanent denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.” Yet Kim Jong Un has said he will never give up his nuclear weapons. He believes the survival of his dynastic regime depends upon them. Hence we are headed...
U.S. Commandos Training Right On Russia’s Doorstep
The following was reprinted from Tom Dispatch.com “They are very concerned about their adversary next door,” said General Raymond Thomas, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), at a national security conference in Aspen, Colorado, in July. “They make no bones about it.” The “they” in question were various Eastern European and Baltic...
Can the EU Stand Up and Take America’s Place?
Despite the promise of a Europe “whole and free” following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Old World today features a division between a bloc of states that heavily favor a pro-NATO Atlanticist outlook—Britain, Poland and the Baltics—and a grouping that remains more amenable to friendly relations with Russia—including Slovakia, Greece, Bulgaria...
Chicken Littles Insist U.S. Military Is Too Old, Too Small
According to a recently released report by The Heritage Foundation, the condition of the U.S. military is “marginal.” The report claims that the U.S. military is “too small” and “too old.” Moreover, “the readiness that we have seen over the several years has been in dramatic decline, given the sorts of things we want the military to accomplish...
Muller Breaches The Manafortress
Republican supporters of the president had better understand how much trouble Donald Trump might be in — this, because of the news from Robert Mueller’s office today. First, there is the Paul Manafort indictment, as reported by the NYT: Paul Manafort and his former business associate were indicted on Monday on money laundering, tax and...
Stalin, 1929-1941: Brutal and Brilliant
Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941, volume II, Stephen Kotkin, Penguin Press 1119 pp. In April 1934, the poet Osip Mandelstam bumped into Boris Pasternak on a Moscow street. He recited verses that he had read a few weeks earlier to a few intimate friends. The verses ridiculed a “Kremlin highlander” with a criminal past and part Ossetian...
The Perils of Arming Ukraine
Rajan Menon and Will Ruger elaborate on why arming Ukraine would be an extremely foolish thing for the U.S. to do: The proposition that Putin won’t be provoked by a U.S. decision to send lethal arms to Ukraine amounts to a hunch. It’s not supported by evidence, and Putin’s past behavior contradicts it. This is not a minor point:...
