Ivan Eland

Ivan Eland is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and author of Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty.

Israeli Attack May Have a Silver Lining

Details of Israel’s attack on the flotilla to Gaza containing humanitarian aid are still leaking out from the Israeli attempt to stifle them. But even if Israel’s spin about its attack on the flotilla is accepted, the situation is still fairly damning for Israel. Israel maintains that it ordered the flotilla to divert to the … Continue reading “Israeli Attack May Have a Silver Lining”

Intelligence Reform Is a Failure

The sacking of Dennis Blair, the third director of national intelligence in the position’s short five-year history, is one important indicator that the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004 has failed. That act was effective neither in achieving real reform of the sprawling intelligence bureaucracies nor in preventing terrorist attacks. In fact, Blair’s … Continue reading “Intelligence Reform Is a Failure”

Defending Everything Is Defending Nothing

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recently led a panel of experts in coming up with a report, “NATO 2020,” which will be used to draft a replacement for NATO’s current strategic concept, adopted in 1999. The report [.pdf] essentially advocates a continuation and expansion of NATO’s quest to be all things to all people. … Continue reading “Defending Everything Is Defending Nothing”

Feting a Fetid War

To smooth over the stormy relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, President Barack Obama is throwing out the red carpet in Washington, D.C., for Karzai and his entourage. Vice President Joe Biden, who in the past has erupted in open hostility toward Karzai, is holding a “kiss-and-make-up” dinner for the Afghan leader. All of this … Continue reading “Feting a Fetid War”

Iraq: Controlled Devolution or Uncontrolled Disintegration

Recently, Massoud Barzani, president of the northern Kurdish region in Iraq, bluntly declared that the American visions of a strongly unified Iraq were “bird dreams and wishes.” Barzani then proceeded to heighten pressure for greater decentralization of the country and expanded Kurdish control over oil. At the same time, Arab Sunnis, previously more inclined to … Continue reading “Iraq: Controlled Devolution or Uncontrolled Disintegration”

To the Tea Party: War and Liberty Aren’t Fellow Travelers

In an astute op-ed piece in the Christian Science Monitor, James Bovard points out that the love of liberty by the Tea Party crowd usually takes a backseat to a hatred of President Obama and the Left. After attending a tax day Tea Party event in Rockville, Md., a suburb of the nation’s capital, Bovard … Continue reading “To the Tea Party: War and Liberty Aren’t Fellow Travelers”

Should US Be More Involved in Israeli-Palestinian ‘Peace Process’?

The Obama administration is eager to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem – both to make the president seem less naïve for having believed he could broker the chronic dispute quickly and to lessen the motivation for radical Islamists that attack the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. The administration is even debating internally whether to … Continue reading “Should US Be More Involved in Israeli-Palestinian ‘Peace Process’?”

Obama’s Nuclear Achievements: Less Than Meets the Eye

Despite all the hoopla about President Barack Obama’s summit on nuclear security and a new arms control deal, the eventual results of his laudable efforts will probably be modest and will likely be dwarfed by the damage to nuclear security done by George W. Bush’s prior administration. Although the possibility of nuclear terrorism probably has … Continue reading “Obama’s Nuclear Achievements: Less Than Meets the Eye”

Let’s Get Our Own Foreign Policy House in Order Before Criticizing Others

On March 31, 2010, the New York Times wrote an editorial that briefly expressed horror in response to the Moscow subway terror bombings, then warned that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin might yet again use terrorist attacks to further consolidate his power, and finally lectured Russia that the only way to defeat such extremism was to … Continue reading “Let’s Get Our Own Foreign Policy House in Order Before Criticizing Others”

Does the US Government Understand the Terrorist Threat?

Most Americans just assume that the U.S. government’s actions to protect them from terrorism, if not perfect, are rational, based on sound information and analysis, and undertaken with the intention to protect the most people possible. But the government’s response here to the tragic bombings on the Russian subway should raise questions about such assumptions. … Continue reading “Does the US Government Understand the Terrorist Threat?”