Ted Galen Carpenter

Supporters of the U.S.-NATO proxy war in Ukraine employ a range of dubious justifications.  One is a refurbished version of the old domino theory used during the Cold War – if the United States and its allies don’t help Ukraine expel Russian occupation forces, the victorious Kremlin will then launch offensives against other European countries … Continue reading “Moral Bankruptcy: Justifying the Ukraine War as Good for the US Economy”

The commitment of Washington’s European allies to democracy is increasingly fragile, if not hypocritical, as Vice President J D Vance highlighted in his speech to the Munich Security Conference last month. That problem is most acute in Romania. In the first round of the country’s presidential election on November 24, 2024, Calin Georgescu, the candidate … Continue reading “Canary in the Coal Mine: Romania’s Dying Democracy”

U.S. officials have a long history of portraying Washington’s allies and clients as democratic, even when their behavior is blatantly authoritarian.  Such cynical hypocrisy was at its zenith during the Cold War, but it is surging again.  A similar trend is evident with respect to U.S. interference in the internal political affairs of other countries … Continue reading “US ‘Democratic’ Allies Are Becoming Increasingly Authoritarian”

One of the earliest points to become apparent about Donald Trump’s second term as president is that there is a significant difference in foreign policy priorities and a vast change in style from his predecessors over the past 8 or 9 decades.  Blather about the United States promoting or defending democracy around the world has … Continue reading “Will There Be a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine?”

Donald Trump’s political adversaries have long contended that he is a danger to democracy both at home and abroad. The alleged threat that he poses domestically is symbolized by the riot his supporters waged at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Opponents denounce Trump’s foreign policy views both for being “isolationist” and overly sympathetic to … Continue reading “Will Trump End Washington’s Democratic Foreign Policy Façade?”

The collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s Syrian government in late November and early December 2024 occurred with stunning speed. There was little question that Joe Biden’s administration and several U.S. allies, especially Turkey, were pleased with the outcome. Washington had worked diligently to force Assad from power since 2011, even though the effort triggered a civil … Continue reading “Washington’s Long Flirtation with Syria’s Extreme Islamists”

The final weeks of the Biden administration have been filled with turbulence in foreign policy.  Some of the most serious wounds have been self-inflicted.  For example, no one forced America’s lame-duck president to capitulate to Ukraine’s longstanding lobbying effort to obtain U.S. ATACM missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Russia.  Biden and his foreign … Continue reading “Warning Signs for Washington’s East Asia Policy”

When the Soviet Union dissolved in late 1991, the world seemed poised for a new, more peaceful era no longer haunted by the fear of a nuclear Armageddon. The principal successor state from the wreckage of the USSR was a noncommunist Russia that was intent on becoming part of the democratic, capitalist West. President George … Continue reading “Will Joe Biden’s Final Russia Legacy Be Armageddon?”

Donald Trump’s election as president is fueling speculation that he will terminate U.S. financial and logistical support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.  Trump himself has contributed to that speculation during his June 28, 2024 debate with President Biden when he said, “If we had a real president, a president that was respected by [Russian … Continue reading “Will Trump End Washington’s Proxy War in Ukraine?”

A distressing number of my relatives, friends, and acquaintances have found themselves reduced to making a “choice” between the “lesser of two evils” in most elections. That ugly situation seems to be especially true regarding U.S. presidential elections, and the current contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris continues the distressing pattern. I have long … Continue reading “Trump, Harris, and the ‘Lesser of Two Evils’”