Ivan Eland

As U.S. forces withdraw from parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban is making gains in several areas of the country. The Afghan police and army are slowly giving way, despite the United States spending 13 years and tens of billions of dollars training those forces. When the United States completes its withdrawal from ground combat at … Continue reading “In Afghanistan, a Continuing Trend of US Military Incompetence”

One reason that Barack Obama is slumping in the polls is that Republicans have successfully painted him as weak on foreign policy. Yet, during his tenure so far, Obama has used air power to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, surged American forces in Afghanistan to satisfy the U.S. military, re-entered the civil war in Iraq, … Continue reading “Is Obama Weak on Foreign Policy?”

As President Obama visited China, he insisted that the United States welcomed China’s rise and wanted that country to play a bigger role in regional and global affairs; but that rhetoric is largely hokum. The United States has been either the premier superpower or the only superpower in the world since World War II, exercising … Continue reading “The US Should Give China Room To Rise Peacefully”

American and Iraqi officials are leaking a plan to battle the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). On the surface, the roadmap to victory seems plausible, but as I note in my book, The Failure of Counterinsurgency: Why Hearts and Minds Are Seldom Won, such well-laid plans often go off the rails in execution … Continue reading “Revealed US Strategy to Battle ISIS Is Wanting”

After my recent appearance on the Fox News Channel’s morning show, "Fox and Friends," Donald Trump, appearing after me on the same show, asserted that my ranking of Barack Obama 34th out of 41 presidents rated – in the new, revised edition of Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty – had … Continue reading “Is Barack Obama the Worst President in American History?”

The breathless news coverage of the minuscule number of people in the United States that have so far contracted the Ebola virus has led to a typical irrational response in some quarters. For example, schools have been closed, and the public and thus some politicians support a travel ban of people from the affected West … Continue reading “Public Unease Over Remote Threats”

The questionable continuance of the NATO alliance after the Cold War ended is demonstrated by Turkey’s reluctance to help against the rampaging group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The alliance was originally supposed to defend NATO members against a Soviet attack but in the post-Cold War era has expanded in territory and mission … Continue reading “Turkey’s Reluctance to Help Against ISIS Should Be a Red Flag”

President Barack Obama’s claim that he doesn’t need congressional authorization for his current war in Iraq and Syria is troubling. The country’s founders would pass out upon hearing his claim that the post-9/11 congressional approval of force in 2001 against the perpetrators of those attacks and their abettors and the congressional resolution approving George W. … Continue reading “Presidents and the War Power”

U.S. government officials recently began hyping the threat from a very small and little-known terrorist group called Khorasan and then striking it in Syria. Several of President Obama’s aides told the media that airstrikes were launched to foil an "imminent" terrorist attack, possibly using hidden explosives to blow up aircraft. Yet other government officials seemed … Continue reading “Legal Basis for US War in Iraq and Syria Is Thin”

After an intruder was able to jump over the fence and enter the White House, the Secret Service, an agency in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is talking about augmenting security procedures and widening the White House security perimeter to include surrounding areas in the executive mansion’s neighborhood. Because I work across Lafayette Park … Continue reading “DHS Is a Mess”