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...
Canary in the Coal Mine: Romania’s Dying Democracy
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...
US ‘Democratic’ Allies Are Becoming Increasingly Authoritarian
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...
Will There Be a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine?
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...
Will Trump End Washington’s Democratic Foreign Policy Façade?
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...
Washington’s Long Flirtation with Syria’s Extreme Islamists
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...
Warning Signs for Washington’s East Asia Policy
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...
Will Joe Biden’s Final Russia Legacy Be Armageddon?
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...
Will Trump End Washington’s Proxy War in Ukraine?
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...
Trump, Harris, and the ‘Lesser of Two Evils’
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...


