Slobo’s Last Stand

It was hardly a heroic last stand. Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian strongman who presided over the destruction of Yugoslavia, had vowed never to be taken alive. Unfortunately, he failed to deliver on his promise. After a 26-hour stand-off, in which Yugoslav police twice stormed the villa in which he was holed up, Milosevic finally … Continue reading “Slobo’s Last Stand”

America Come Home (Part II)

In my last column, I presented the first part of a proposed “Platform” for noninterventionist conservatives, a statement of principle and policy broken down along geographical lines. Part I dealt with Europe and Eastasia; what follows are sections covering the Middle East, the Americas, and the status of America’s colonial possessions. A Time for Truth … Continue reading “America Come Home (Part II)”

America, Come Home

This morning’s [March 27] New York Times has yet another story about the developing split within the Bush administration over foreign policy, with the partisans of Donald Rumsfeld, unreconstructed cold warrior, versus Colin Powell’s (relatively) noninterventionist State Department. As is usual with the arbiter of the conventional wisdom, the Times defined the two camps in … Continue reading “America, Come Home”

America’s War Against Christianity

THE MYSTERY OF SELF-CRUCIFIXION What I don’t get is this: how come American born-again Christians slavishly rationalize the casual brutalities of Israel’s every twist and turn, close their eyes to the killing of Palestinian children, and hail the butcher Ariel Sharon as some kind of modern-day Moses – but, when it comes to defending a … Continue reading “America’s War Against Christianity”

Toward a Less Intrusive Foreign Policy?

It is possible to view events this week as evidence that an administration that has evinced little passionate interest in foreign policy, assuming office after a campaign in which foreign policy played almost no role in the debates or the outcome, could be drawn inexorably into deeper involvement in some of the many crises around … Continue reading “Toward a Less Intrusive Foreign Policy?”

Unhappy Anniversary

On March 24, 1999, at 1858 GMT, NATO warplanes attacked Yugoslav positions outside Pristina and Belgrade – and the Albanian juggernaut was launched. By March 24, 2001, that juggernaut will have rolled deep into Macedonia, while the suddenly “non-interventionist” Americans and Brits stand aside and let their KLA pit bulls tear Macedonia asunder. The once … Continue reading “Unhappy Anniversary”