Doug Bandow

America’s most fervid cheerleaders sometimes make the most devastating criticisms of the U.S. Although usually inadvertently. For instance, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently took to twitter to declare that "The Islamic Republic of Iran is not a normal state." He listed several of Tehran’s illicit activities, including "Normal states do not attack embassies and … Continue reading “Is America Fit To ‘Lead’ the World?”

When the new American nation was created, it was a lightweight in an international political game dominated by heavyweights. The U.S. was forced to develop a serious, measured, and realistic foreign policy. The colonists outlasted the British during the Revolution in part because the New World revolt triggered an Old World war, in which the … Continue reading “American Foreign Policy: The Problem of Applying the Monroe Doctrine Everywhere”

Promoting human rights is a central tenet of US foreign policy. Sometimes. In practice, Washington is most enthusiastic about defending life, liberty, and happiness where America has the least clout. And American policymakers most often remain silent when allied governments, whom the US could most influence, are detaining, torturing, and murdering opponents. The Trump administration … Continue reading “The Trump Administration’s Human Rights Confidence Game: Targeting Adversaries, Excusing Allies”

The Washington foreign policy community is in permanent uproar over Donald Trump. There is no greater sacred cow than American troop deployments. Whenever the president proposes the slightest change – bring home some military personnel from Afghanistan, South Korea, Syria, or Germany – what Ben Rhodes called the Blob explodes. The hysteria surrounding the latter … Continue reading “NATO Continues Forever as ‘North America and the Others’”

More than a month ago Beirut suffered a massive explosion at its port, killing scores of people, wounding thousands, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, and creating widespread destruction. Reconstruction will cost billions of dollars. The government did a good job selecting scapegoats but since has achieved little else. The old, discredited cabinet resigned under fire. … Continue reading “Lebanon Slides Toward the Sectarian Brink Again”

With the election just weeks away, both President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden claim to be the best person to protect Americans in a dangerous world. Yet neither one has explained when they would take the U.S. into war. Trump was recently asked whether he would let China "get away with" invading … Continue reading “Trump and Biden Should Tell Americans When They Plan To Go to War”

America’s post-9/11 wars have had disastrous consequences. They have been a geopolitical bust, fragmenting rather than eliminating terrorist groups, enhancing Iran’s influence, and destabilizing the Middle East. The humanitarian consequences have been even worse: thousands of Americans killed, tens of thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, millions of people displaced, al-Qaeda in Iraq … Continue reading “Saudi Arabia and America Are Responsible for the ‘Houthi Threat’ in Yemen”

Seventy-five years ago Japan was preparing to officially surrender. On August 23, 1945 Lt. John K. Bremyer was working at the Office Messenger Mail Center in the navy complex on the Mall in Washington, D.C., when he received orders from Adm. William "Bull" Halsey to bring a precious item to the battleship Missouri for the … Continue reading “The Roots of America’s Disastrous Overseas Failures: Hubris as Foreign Policy Goes Back More Than a Century”

It isn’t easy to analyze President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. It is at times reckless and foolish. And the president has failed to fulfill his promises to halt America’s "endless wars." Yet, unlike his predecessors going back to Ronald Reagan, Trump has not started any new or joined any old conflicts. Today that passes for … Continue reading “Time To Halt America’s Endless War in Afghanistan”

When a country’s foreign policy begins to resemble that of Nazi Germany it’s time for a rethink. That undoubtedly is a shocking thought to some. But noting how Washington brutally treats both friends and foes doesn’t mean the U.S. is Nazi Germany, in intent or behavior. However, anyone who wants America to be the fabled … Continue reading “America Was Supposed To Be a City on a Hill, Not Model Its Foreign Policy After Nazi Germany”