Daniel Larison

North Korea may be preparing to conduct a new nuclear test in the near future, and if that happens there will be an outpouring of predictable hawkish demands that the United States take some punitive action in response. The Biden administration should ignore what the hawks want, but it should also revise its policy towards … Continue reading “It’s Time To Talk to North Korea Again”

Hardliners in the US and Europe have spent the last four months agitating for Western escalation in Ukraine with the goal of erasing the remaining limits on direct US and allied involvement in the war. Max Boot is the latest one to insist that it is our war: "We keep thinking it’s their war. We … Continue reading “Whose War Is It?”

Biden will travel to Israel and Saudi Arabia next month on a trip that confirms that the worst of US policies in the Middle East remain unchanged. The visit to Saudi Arabia has rightly been the focus of much of the criticism in recent weeks, but the stop in Israel is just as outrageous in … Continue reading “Biden Lets Client States Get Away With Murder”

Republican hawks are predictably pushing for many irresponsible aggressive policies towards China. The latest example of this came last week in a speech by Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, who called for $1 trillion military budget, an explicit security commitment to Taiwan, and the creation of what he calls a "NATO for the Pacific." Any one … Continue reading “A ‘NATO for the Pacific’ Is Madness”

Some US allies and Russia hawks in Washington are now agitating for the US and other members of NATO to use their naval forces break the Russian blockade of Ukraine. Retired Adm. James Stavridis is one of the latest advocates of this reckless idea, and he tries to sell it as an updated version of … Continue reading “Breaking the Blockade Risks War With Russia”

Earlier this week in Tokyo, Joe Biden said that the US would involve itself directly in the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. This is the third time since taking office that he has said or suggested that the US has a security commitment to defend Taiwan when it does not, … Continue reading “Biden’s Dangerous Words on Taiwan”

Finland and Sweden have broken with their longstanding traditions of neutrality to seek NATO membership, and the U.S. and most other allies are eager to accept them. Like previous rounds of NATO expansion, this one is proceeding without any serious consideration of the possible costs that come from adding new allies. The last thing that … Continue reading “No More NATO Expansion”

Sen. Tom Cotton tried to define what he calls a "conservative foreign policy" in a speech at the National Review Institute earlier this week, and in doing so he demonstrated just how devoid of wisdom and prudence Republican hawks are. "Foreign policy is emphatically not the province of doctrines," Cotton declared, but it would be … Continue reading “Tom Cotton, Fanatical Militarist”

The US has no business joining the war in Ukraine, and Congress should refuse to approve any measure that endorses direct intervention in the conflict. Rep. Adam Kinzinger is sponsoring a new resolution authorizing the use of American military force in the war, and it is vital that Congress rejects it. Kinzinger has been one … Continue reading “Congress Must Reject the Crazy Russia AUMF”

The US and Australian panic over a security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands is a warning sign of how irrational and dangerous Washington’s anti-China containment policy has already become. The security agreement itself seems to be modest in its terms and includes no basing rights for Chinese forces, but that hasn’t stopped US … Continue reading “Breaking the Habit of Bullying Small States”