The following first appeared in the June Liberty Forum at Law and Liberty. Professor David Tucker argues in his Liberty Forum essay that a grand strategy, at least one that is dreamed of by experts, “is not a possibility for the United States,” and that if it were, we...
Rex Tillerson at Hoover
On Wednesday morning last week, I, as a research fellow with the Hoover Institution, got to attend a speech by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. It was followed by a Q&A session with former Secretary of State and my Hoover colleague Condoleezza Rice....
Robert Gates, Pro and Con
"I worry that there’s a temptation to overstate the terrorist threat. It is not an existential threat." "Demonizing Islam and demonizing Muslims is self-defeating. It will make the problem worse." These are two of the statements made by former...
Questioning the Powerful
"I thought that when we showed up for class, someone else would be teaching it," said one of my students at the start of my class on Monday, April 7, 2014. "Really?" I asked. "Why?" "Because of that question you asked the Admiral on...
Richard Epstein’s Faulty Case for Intervention
My Hoover Institution colleague Richard Epstein recently argued ("Rand Paul’s Fatal Pacifism," Defining Ideas, September 2) for an interventionist foreign policy. Although his attack is on Senator Rand Paul, it is much broader than that. He claims that...
An Economist’s Case for a Non-Interventionist Foreign Policy
The Naval War College, based in Newport, Rhode Island, runs a special 11-month course for foreign Navy officers. On February 3, the Naval War College held a special morning session at the Hoover Institution, where I am a research fellow. I was invited to speak. The...
Rand’s Stand
Last week, something exciting happened in U.S. politics. It was exciting in itself, and even if nothing else had come of it, it still would have been exciting. But what made it even more exciting is what followed – the reaction to this event that various people at...
Is Iran a Threat?
On Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, I gave a talk at the Rotary Club of Monterey. I’ve spoken there two or three times in the past, always with a good response, but always on economic issues. This time I decided to push the envelope by making my case that the Iranian...
What Is War Good For?
David Henderson appeared on John Stossel's show on the Fox Business channel January 19, 2012. He debated regular Fox contributor Colonel David Hunt on “war, Ron Paul’s foreign policy views, Israel, 9/11, and Iran.” Watch the clip: Watch the latest video at...
The Left’s Antiwar Movement in Monterey: Down but Not Out
There’s no doubt that antiwar activism among the left has declined substantially since Barack Obama became president. That has led many people to claim that the apparent antiwar views of many on the left were not so much antiwar as anti-Bush. I’m sure that there’s...