Ivan Eland

Despite all of the hand wringing in the United States about Russia’s soft invasion and annexation of Crimea and its intimidation of eastern Ukraine, President Barack Obama’s tour of East Asia demonstrates why U.S.-Russian relations probably will avoid plummeting into a new Cold War. Although President Obama insisted during his trip to four East Asian … Continue reading “Despite the Crisis Over Ukraine, America Will Likely Need Russia Soon”

Although President Barack Obama pledged to curtail U.S. drone attacks in the war on terror, recently in Yemen, he has done just the opposite. Three such attacks whacked more than 40 alleged Islamist militants. It seems that three civilians were accidentally killed in the attacks. In terms of limiting "collateral damage" to noncombatants, that’s a … Continue reading “Accelerating the Counterproductive Drone War in Yemen”

Even more threatening to Israel these days than the sporadic violence on its borders from the civil war in Syria or Islamist opposition to the military coup in neighboring Egypt is the peaceful and growing boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement in the West and in Palestine against Israeli companies and institutions, especially those that have … Continue reading “Israeli Leaders Smear Even Peaceful Palestinian Efforts for a State”

Western hysteria surrounding Russia’s seizing of Crimea is rooted in a larger problem with U.S. foreign policy – "the Munich 1938 syndrome." Ever since British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain allowed Adolf Hitler to take over German-speaking portions of Czechoslovakia at a Munich meeting in 1938, appeasement has gone out of favor as a traditional, respectable … Continue reading “Russia in Crimea: Not ‘Munich 1938’ Yet Again”

More than twenty-five years ago, Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, was convicted of spying for Israel. Ever since, Israel has been trying to free him. Some in the United States also have doubted whether Pollard should remain in jail, because, after all, he had "only" been spying for a cherished US ally. However, … Continue reading “Don’t Free Spy Jonathan Pollard”

During the Cold War, US strategy was to contain Soviet expansion until the Soviets’ inefficient communist economic system collapsed from within. Despite the perversion of George Kennan’s original political, economic, and military containment strategy into one that emphasized primarily military intervention and CIA covert action, the strategy largely worked. However, if the United States had … Continue reading “Russia Has a National Strategy – Why Doesn’t the U.S.?”

Many recent indicators point to a U.S. national security bureaucracy running roughshod over the sad remnants of the founder’s republican vision. As in the Roman world, empire is gradually snuffing out the republic. The US government’s more than $1 trillion dollar annual spending on security – for a country that may very well be the … Continue reading “US Security Agencies Are Out of Control”

In the current crisis over the Russian "invasion" of Crimea (is it an invasion when the population seems to want to be invaded and no violence occurs?), US protests seem rather hypocritical to the world. After all, recently, the United States has attacked or invaded six countries – Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya using ground troops … Continue reading “Why Is the U.S. So Hypocritical in Foreign Policy?”

Vladimir Putin and Russia – almost never on the receiving end of good publicity in the United States – do deserve criticism for the quiet invasion of Crimea, a Russian-speaking region of Ukraine. Invading other countries for any reason, except to pre-empt an attack, should be out-of-bounds in today’s world. Unfortunately, this panacea has not … Continue reading “Putin’s Ultimate Solution for Ukraine May Be the Best”

President Obama’s defense plan has positive aspects but is not part of a coherent strategic vision for the nation. With this failing, Obama, as commander-in-chief, is not unique. Ever since the end of the Cold War in 1991, the United States has lacked a vision of what it wanted to do in the world and … Continue reading “U.S. Defense Policy: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”