On June 17, Russian naval vessels left Cuba without incident, concluding a five-day visit. The visit may have been without incident, but it wasn’t without meaning. Frustrated that their diplomatic messages were not being heard, Russia sent a louder message. But that...
Joe Biden’s Time Interview Should Set Off Alarms
On May 28, U.S. President Joe Biden gave an interview to Time. His delivery and content were concerning for a number of reasons. Biden, at times, seemed misinformed and detached from reality. Sometimes, he seemed off message; other times, he seemed convinced by his...
Encouraging War in Ukraine, New York Times Misses the Point
On the eve of a Ukraine Peace Summit in Geneva that did not talk about peace and did not include Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin set out Russia’s peace proposal to end the war. Putin’s peace proposal contains little that is new and is largely consistent with...
Gaza Ceasefire Proposal: Diplomacy or Magic Trick?
On June 10, the Security Council adopted a U.S. resolution for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. The vote was 14-0 with Russia abstaining. There are many odd features of the resolution: especially who proposed it and who has accepted it. At stage left and stage right...
NATO When You Don’t Want It; No NATO When You Do
After being promised a future in NATO in 2008, Ukraine is still waiting for membership. At last year’s NATO summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's pleas for membership, or at least a timeline to membership, was unceremoniously rebuffed by the alliance....
Is Biden Leading From Behind on Ukraine?
In 2011, a White House official described President Obama’s foreign policy approach to Libya as “leading from behind.” It was an approach that did not go well, and soon the U.S. was acting as the rebel’s air force over the skies of Libya in a war that ended in...
America’s Ugly History with the International Criminal Court
On May 20, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as well as for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed...
It’s Time for Diplomacy, Not Threats
Recently, there have been a number of indicators of the waning impact of threats by the U.S. government. Attempts to advance the U.S. government’s foreign policy interests by making threats in Niger, at the International Criminal Court, and in China have recently all...
Did the U.S. Give the Go-Ahead to Strike Russia with Long Range Missiles?
There are a number of questions that could be asked about U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken singing “Rockin’ in the Free World” in a bar in Kiev. The first is regarding the appropriateness of singing a song while hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are being wounded...
When Did America Stop Listening to Itself?
Long ago, the U.S. government stopped listening to other countries’ governments, as reflected in its recent series of vetoes in the Security Council and in its unprecedented isolation in the world. But recently, and more dangerously, the U.S. government officials have...