Ted Snider

Former President and President-elect Donald Trump has been tarred, inconsistently with his actual record, with the charge of being soft on Russia. He has never been charged with being soft on Iran. Trump unilaterally and illegally pulled out of the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran. He imposed devastating sanctions on Iran. He ordered the assassination … Continue reading “A Common Thread Runs Through Trump Appointments: Look Out Iran!”

The concept of “the West” is a complex and difficult one. At times it excludes countries in the geographical west, like Cuba and Venezuela and sometimes Brazil. At times it includes countries not in the geographical west, like Japan and Australia. As Richard Sakwa has explained, the West can refer to a 500 year old … Continue reading “The Political Price Being Paid for Being in the West”

For the past several decades, as the leader of a unipolar world, all diplomatic pathways to peace went through Washington. Any negotiated settlement had to be an American led negotiated settlement. But enforcing hegemony means not being impartial. It means rewarding one side with weapons and diplomatic support and coercing the other with sanctions and … Continue reading “Multipolarity and Its Potentials for Peace”

Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, needs a way to lose the war with Russia. American voters may have just given it to him. In his victory speech early in the morning of November 6, President-Elect Donald Trump said, “I will govern by a simple motto: Promises made, promises kept. We’re going to keep our promises.” He … Continue reading “Why Trump’s Election Could be the Best Thing for Zelensky”

For over two and a half years, a semi-proxy war has been raging in Ukraine. In a proxy war, two powers avoid direct conflict by fighting through weaker intermediary partners. The Russia-Ukraine war is a semi-proxy war because one power, Russia, is directly involved, while the other power, the U.S. and its Western partners, fights … Continue reading “It’s Time to Find a Way To End the War in Ukraine”

In recent weeks, a number of shifts in relations have taken place in far apart regions that continue to highlight that the world is not aligning America’s way. The first took place between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Maintaining a coalition against Iran has long been a key feature of U.S. policy in the Middle East. … Continue reading “The World’s Not Aligning America’s Way”

On October 1, Iran launched around 180 missiles, of various types, against Israel. Israel promised a response that “will be lethal, precise and above all, surprising.” On October 23, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said that “after we attack Iran, everyone will understand [the Israeli military’s] might.” The U.S. has promised ironclad support for Israel against … Continue reading “Is a THAAD for Israel Worth a War With Iran?”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been on a tour of the capitals of Europe promoting his Ukrainian Victory Plan. It is apt that he has billed it a victory plan and not a peace plan because there is nothing of peace in it. The plan aims to strengthen Ukraine militarily so that Russia is forced … Continue reading “The Nukes or NATO: The Hidden Threat Behind Zelensky’s Victory Plan”

“We’re going to do everything we can to keep a wider war from breaking out,” U.S. President Joe Biden promised when war erupted in Gaza. But that foreign policy legacy is in tatters. War has spread from Gaza to Lebanon and has arrived at the doorstep of Iran. There is a real danger that the … Continue reading “A Pathway from Gaza to a Wider War”

Publicly, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, continues to insist that Ukraine will not cede any of its territory to Russia. But, privately, in Kiev, Washington and some European capitals, the realization is firming up that the war will end at the negotiating table, and it will end without Ukraine recapturing its lost territory. Officials “close to … Continue reading “Ukraine Could Lose Territory and Its Dream of NATO”