Ted Galen Carpenter

For Western officials and their news media conduits who have carefully crafted the myth that Ukraine is a vibrant democracy, the past few weeks have been extremely challenging.  First came the revelation that members of the country’s draft boards had engaged in a pervasive degree of corruption. Prospective conscripts were paying $5,000 bribes to avoid … Continue reading “Will Ukraine’s Western Apologists Finally Admit the Truth?”

The 8 candidates for the Republican presidential nomination featured in the August 23 televised debate feuded on several issues, including U.S. aid to Ukraine and the future role of former president Donald Trump.  There was no meaningful discord on one issue, however.  All 8 participants agreed that the flow of illegal drugs out of Mexico, … Continue reading “The GOP Declares War on Mexico”

This originally appeared at the Future of Freedom Foundation. Western leaders have long fostered the self-serving myth that NATO is an organization solely for the mutual defense of its members. The corollary is that other nations therefore have no legitimate reason to fear the most powerful military alliance in history. After all, it is an … Continue reading “The Myth of NATO as a Defensive Alliance”

Since the end of World War II, America’s political elite have cycled through a variety alleged foreign demons to justify a militarized, global interventionist policy.  Vladimir Putin and the Great Russian Menace is the latest version.  Not surprisingly, U.S. officials cite it as the reason for providing extensive military and economic aid to Ukraine.  The … Continue reading “Russia as the New, All-Purpose US Pretext for Military Intervention”

All signs indicated that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the most popular political leader in Pakistan.  Yet the country’s military worked behind the scenes to remove him from power through a cash-lubricated parliamentary vote.  Subsequently, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and a 5-year ban on involvement in politics for alleged misuse of … Continue reading “Pakistan Events Confirm that Washington Prefers Compliant Autocrats Over Feisty Democrats”

People who recall how the United States and its NATO partners (along with their propaganda mouthpieces in the news media) generated public support for a proxy war in Ukraine may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu.  A similar effort is now underway with respect to Niger and other countries in West Africa.  Washington is … Continue reading “Niger May be the Next US Proxy War”

The military takeover in Niger is the latest example of U.S.-trained officers overthrowing a democratic government.  Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, the chief of Niger’s Special Operations Forces and one of the leaders of the coup, received training at both Fort Benning, Georgia, and the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.  The events in Niger … Continue reading “Washington’s Undemocratic Military Offspring”

Renewed attention on two historical episodes has revived debate about the wartime conduct of the United States. One was the release in theaters of the movie Oppenheimer, which highlights the role played by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in developing the first atomic bomb. The other episode was the 70th anniversary of the Korea Armistice, which … Continue reading “Americans Need to Acknowledge Washington’s Wartime Atrocities”

The U.S. government has long tolerated and excused Ukraine’s authoritarian behavior even as Washington and its NATO partners have lavished financial and military aid on Kyiv. Evidence has now emerged, though, that the US national security apparatus has actively assisted Volodymr Zelensky’s regime to undermine the Constitutional rights of Americans. CNN notes damning revelations in … Continue reading “FBI Serves as a Conduit for Ukraine’s Censorship Campaign”

This originally appeared at the Future of Freedom Foundation. U.S. officials invariably stress their commitment to human rights and are extremely quick to condemn other countries for alleged violations. However, Washington’s conduct too often makes a mockery of that supposed commitment. The latest examples of such hypocrisy are two aspects of U.S. policy regarding the … Continue reading “Uncle Sam, War Criminal”