Ted Snider

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 failed to bring about their desired outcome. On March 16, 2024, the … Continue reading “It’s Time for Diplomacy, Not Threats”

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 or killed every day in a new Russian push. … Continue reading “Did the U.S. Give the Go-Ahead to Strike Russia with Long Range Missiles?”

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 stopped listening to themselves. This is not an entirely new phenomenon for key people … Continue reading “When Did America Stop Listening to Itself?”

When a solution to a problem has not worked, throwing more of the same solution at the problem is folly. That’s what the U.S. seems to have done with the recent signing into law of another $61 billion in aid for Ukraine. Sometimes that folly is inflated. A series of recent hints and revelations suggests … Continue reading “The Recent Risk of Escalation in Ukraine”

There are plenty of very real things to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin for, not least of which is invading Ukraine. But lying (in this instance) may not be one of them. Putin lied when he said Russia was not going to invade Ukraine. But, wrong though the invasion may have been, it is not … Continue reading “Biden Said Putin Killed Navalny; He Didn’t”

American foreign policy seems only to have two gears: ensuring everything pours in through military aid or ensuring nothing gets in through sanctions. Neither works, and sanctions have no more weakened Russia than military aid has helped Ukraine. On April 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the long-delayed $61 billion aid package for Ukraine. … Continue reading “The US Cannot Help Ukraine Win the War”

Despite billions of dollars of military aid, equipment maintenance, training, intelligence, and planning from the United States and its partners in the political West, the war in Ukraine is going very badly. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, says “the situation at the front has escalated.” He says that Russia has … Continue reading “Troops on the Ground: Biden’s Plan for Ukraine”

The United States continues to be the world’s banker for war. Last week, the U.S. invested $95 billion more in war. $61 billion of that is headed to Ukraine. While Congress waved Ukrainian flags, the American mainstream media abandoned its responsibility as investigative journalists and dutifully and enthusiastically acted as cheerleaders, celebrated the continuation of … Continue reading “Despite Media Cheerleading, $61 Billion Won’t Beat Russia”

The accepted Western narrative is that, in February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with the intent of conquering the entire country. But there is a competing narrative that is compelling enough to be worthy of consideration. Following the United States’ rebuff of their December 2021 proposal on mutual security guarantees, which included a … Continue reading “What Killed the Peace Talks in Ukraine?”

In the early hours of April 19, Israel carried out its anticipated response to Iran’s April 13 aerial attack on Israel. Though the details are not known at the time of this writing, Israel appears, like Iran, to have done what it felt it needed to do to send the message it needed to send … Continue reading “Palestine and Iran: American Hegemony as Self-Interest”