Reliable reports continue to circulate that President Biden intends to call for a "summit of democracies" to convene this summer, although concerns that such a large gathering might become a super-spreader of the coronavirus may delay those plans. The...
Just Whose Coast Is the Coast Guard Guarding?
Most Americans likely assume that the mission of the U.S. Coast Guard is to protect the coasts of the United State from maritime threats. Increasingly, though, that is no longer true, as Coast Guard vessels and personnel now routinely operate thousands of miles from...
Vendetta: How the Obama Administration Harassed Sharyl Attkisson for Her Reporting on Operation Fast and Furious
U.S. presidents never have been fond of journalists who criticize their policies – especially if that negative coverage exposes blunders or criminal conduct. White House occupants devote considerable effort to uncovering the identity of sources leaking such...
Washington’s Lonely Crusade To Defend Taiwan
Some alarming trends are developing in East Asia that could lead to a military collision between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan is the principal flashpoint, and Washington may find itself virtually alone in waging a war to defend...
The US Lacks Options if Russia Calls Washington’s Ukraine Bluff
Growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine are producing an surge of bluster from the Biden administration, as well as from the hawkish denizens of Washington’s think tanks. The administration keeps assuring Ukraine’s government that the United States and NATO have...
Could the Philippines Drag the US Into War with China?
Tensions are rising again between the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over rival claims to small islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea. The latest incident began in late March when more than 200 Chinese "fishing...
Washington Has Backed Islamist War Criminals in Syria
When large-scale demonstrations broke out against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in early 2011, Barack Obama’s administration promptly exploited the situation and began to back anti-regime factions. As those demonstrations evolved into an armed insurgency later that...
The Continuing Disaster of the U.S. Drug War in Latin America
This originally appeared at the Future of Freedom Foundation. The following is a statement to the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission: Charting a New Path Forward, Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, December 3, 2020: I wish to express...
Unhappy 18th Anniversary: How an Unholy Pro-War Lobbying Alliance Pushed America Into the Iraq Quagmire in 2003
Eighteen years ago, George W. Bush’s administration took the fateful step of launching a war to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. That conflict set in motion developments that destabilized not only Iraq but other already fragile countries throughout the...
Capitulation Diplomacy: Washington Keeps Making Unrealistic Demands of Other Countries
The Biden administration seems intent on maintaining an especially counterproductive practice in U.S. foreign policy. For decades, US officials have insisted in making utterly unrealistic demands on other governments in its diplomatic interactions. In such cases,...