Ivan Eland

Ivan Eland is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and author of Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty.

America Is a Great Country, but Its Attitude Overseas Needs Work

Since World War II, America has conducted an interventionist foreign policy that is atypical historically. Most Americans are oblivious to data that clearly show that the United States has been the most aggressive nation in the world during the postwar period — in fact, it was the most aggressive even during the Cold War when … Continue reading “America Is a Great Country, but Its Attitude Overseas Needs Work”

Energy Protectionism Is Not Good Policy

U.S. policymakers and pundits continue to treat energy as a “strategic” commodity, which is just a way of justifying inefficient government meddling in the industry sector. Before the 1973 Middle East oil crisis, the federal government tried to keep oil prices high to subsidize the oil industry. Ever since the Arabs wrested control of their … Continue reading “Energy Protectionism Is Not Good Policy”

Provocations Against Iran Follow a Rich Tradition

The apparent Israeli-U.S. covert operations to inhibit Iran’s missile and alleged nuclear weapons programs — using assassinations, computer worms, faulty parts, exploding factories, etc. — very likely has a secondary objective as well. When Iran haplessly and publicly vows revenge and retaliates — as it seemingly has with ham-handed attempts to assassinate the Saudi Arabian … Continue reading “Provocations Against Iran Follow a Rich Tradition”

US Oblivious to Unintended Consequences of Foreign Policy

Since World War II, the impulse of the American foreign policy elite has been to intervene in trouble spots abroad and apparently let God sort out the consequences. The ill effects of such interventions are usually plain to see — if nothing else, after the episodes are over — but the arrogance of the elite … Continue reading “US Oblivious to Unintended Consequences of Foreign Policy”

Ronald Reagan Certainly Was
No Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich — campaigning with Ronald Reagan’s son Michael — has, as many recent Republican candidates have before him, tried to tie himself closely to the legacy of the “Gipper.” Yet if the mirage of Ronald Reagan as a fiscal conservative, manufactured in the late 1990s by Republican operatives to bludgeon then-President Bill Clinton, is … Continue reading “Ronald Reagan Certainly Was
No Newt Gingrich”

Democratization: Indigenous Beats Imported

Despite George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s efforts to topple foreign dictators and use military power to forcefully impose democracy from without, democracy usually works better if it bubbles up from below by popular desire. In Iraq, even before U.S. forces had withdrawn, Shi’ite President Nouri al-Maliki was taking the country back toward dictatorship. Now … Continue reading “Democratization: Indigenous Beats Imported”

Cut Carriers Now

During every American war, politics are involved. And I am not referring to relating with the client government, “winning the hearts and minds” of the indigenous population, or even maintaining popular support for the war at home. I am talking about the politics among the services at the Pentagon. Such politics often get buried in … Continue reading “Cut Carriers Now”

Don’t Count on Obama’s Defense Cuts

The “lamestream media,” which often parrots what government officials blather, has touted the approximately $480 billion in promised savings to the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) budget over 10 years as “defense cuts.” Instead, these should be termed “Washington cuts” or “imaginary cuts” or even “fraudulent cuts.” First, the national budget is usually legislated each year, … Continue reading “Don’t Count on Obama’s Defense Cuts”

How to Avoid a Return to Iraq

Although the increased sectarian violence in a post-U.S. Iraq has gotten most of the publicity from the international media, there are other telling signs that a bloody civil war there may be in the offing. Much sentiment exists in Sunni majority areas — distrustful of the increasingly autocratic and uncompromising Shi’ite-run regime of Prime Minister … Continue reading “How to Avoid a Return to Iraq”

Sometimes, Bad-Tasting Medicine Needs to Be Swallowed

Like a mother forcing her children to take bad-tasting medicine for their own good, disgruntled American “allies” have recently compelled the financially ailing U.S. superpower to scale back meddling abroad that it can no longer afford. The United States — always reluctant to remove troops from any overseas location, even if the situation on the … Continue reading “Sometimes, Bad-Tasting Medicine Needs to Be Swallowed”