Section: The American Interest (USA)
The Strategic Case for Supporting Ukraine
The parade of public servants testifying at Rep. Adam Schiff’s impeachment inquiry has unleashed a shower of praise from pundits (or at least from Establishment pundits). The New York Times columnist David Brooks, perhaps the uber-indicator of such things, found himself “impressed by the quality, professionalism and basic goodness” of these...
It’s Not Us—It’s Him
Washington is a partisan and notoriously navel-gazing place. Diplomats, academics, and intellectuals often blame foreign policy failures on Presidents of the opposite party rather than on deliberate decisions by American adversaries. As hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled Turkish forces moving into Syria, and Trump’s domestic critics moved...
Rebuilding Reality
Donald J. Trump and his supporters advance a conspiracy theory holding that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in our 2016 elections. Daniel Coats, the former director of National Intelligence, is on record stating there is no doubt Russia interfered in our elections. Moscow did so, according to Coats, comprehensively and in unprecedented ways....
The Puzzle of Singapore
Singapore, known locally as the little Red Dot, is not called red because it was or is Communist or left-wing in some respect. It’s just because cities are generally indicated by red dots on world maps, and former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie once referred to the country dismissively as a “little red dot.” Singaporeans, naturally,...
Is Singapore a Democacy?
Singapore, known locally as the little Red Dot, is not called red because it was or is Communist or left-wing in some respect. It’s just because cities are generally indicated by red dots on world maps, and former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie once referred to the country dismissively as a “little red dot.” Singaporeans, naturally,...
Erdoğan’s Undeserving and Underwhelming Visit to DC
Foreign leaders have long coveted invitations to Washington to meet with the President in the White House. Such encounters should be hard to come by, but President Trump has thrown open the Oval Office doors to a number of undeserving foreign officials, including Egypt’s authoritarian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Russian Foreign Minister...
Laughter As Medicine
As we survey open societies across the world since the heady days of 1989-91, we cannot help but observe—as Freedom House annually documents—not an increase but rather a steady decline in the number of democracies in the world. Once open societies across the democratic world—some so-called new, others old established ones— are one by one turning...
Look Forward, Not Back
It is not altogether surprising that the thirtieth anniversary of the collapse of communism has prompted many to question the choices made during post-communist transitions in the Central and Eastern Europe. In many places, Soviet-style planning was replaced by cronyism and mafia regimes, while other countries saw ethnic strife and war. And even...
Who Do We Think We Are?
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of three essays, commissioned by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, examining the legacy of Reagan’s Westminster Speech and its relevance for democracy promotion today. Read the first installment by Carl Gershman here. The second, by Daniel Twining, is here.In...
America’s Security Is Still Tied to the Fate of Freedom
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of three essays, commissioned by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, examining the legacy of Reagan’s Westminster Speech and its relevance for democracy promotion today. Read the first installment by Carl Gershman here. Coming Friday: a contribution by Richard...
