Ivan Eland

Ted Cruz has a real chance to become the Republican nominee. How is he on foreign policy? Although Ted Cruz came into the U.S. Senate in 2013 as a libertarianesque Tea Party acolyte who used the term "neo-cons" as derogatory label, he has since moved in their direction in a chameleon-like attempt to win the … Continue reading “Ted Cruz Is Shaky on Foreign Policy”

At a recent news conference, President Obama called into question Donald Trump’s fitness for office by criticizing his policy stances on ceding living space to Russia as another great power and pushing wealthy U.S. allies to do more to defend themselves, so the United States wouldn’t need to continue to bear most of that burden. … Continue reading “US Alliances: Trump Is Not So Stupid After All”

Unbelievably, after causing the chaos in Libya by overthrowing Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the United States is about to lead another Western military intervention designed to unify the country to fight ISIS’s strongest cell outside Iraq and Syria, which has arisen from the post-Gaddafi anarchy. Repeating the same mistake will only make a … Continue reading “More Western Military Meddling in Libya Is a Bad Idea”

The latest Western "victories" over the Islamic State – the U.S. killing of the number two man in the heinous group and the Russian supported retaking of the ancient town of Palmyra, Syria by the Syrian government – should not mask the long-term difficulties of eradicating the Islamist insurgency. Examining these two "achievements" may, however, … Continue reading “Are the Latest Western Gains Against the Islamic State Really That Significant?”

President Obama’s historic opening to Cuba has come under fire from Republican and even some Democratic hawks because Cuban President Raul Castro did not greet him at the airport and because the Cuban government arrested members of a dissident group while Obama’s plane was en route to the island.  Those Cuban actions are a reflexive … Continue reading “Obama’s Historic Visit to Cuba Is the Right Policy”

The 2016 presidential campaign so far has given us a Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State, who takes no responsibility for Islamic State’s rapid gains in Libya in the wake of the American-led "coup-by-air" to remove Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and a Republican Party who wants to blame President Obama for the … Continue reading “Back to the Future: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Now Libya”

President Obama’s hosting of the leaders of the 10 members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) shows that Obama regards that region as the hinge of what has turned out to be a sluggish "pivot to Asia" in American strategy. This pivot from the U.S. emphasis on Europe and the Middle East … Continue reading “The United States Should Peacefully Let China Rise”

The recent Democratic and Republican presidential debates have proven that anti-establishment candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, both of whom have little foreign policy experience, have better judgment on such issues than the supposed expert – former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The problem is that her views and her experience are infused with the … Continue reading “Candidates for President: No Prior Foreign Policy Experience Preferred”

After months of reality-show media coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign, the voting process is thankfully starting. As the voters begin to speak, perhaps the coverage will have more actual reality in it. In recent years, it is no secret that media coverage of elections virtually ignores where the candidates stand on major issues, in … Continue reading “In the 2016 Campaign, US Foreign Policy Establishment Not Faring Well Either”

One day recently, the New York Times, following Donald Trump’s lead, ran two articles that demonized China-although the elite newspaper did so much more subtly than the crudities of "the Donald." One article talked about how China, through its trade with and investment in Iran, had allowed Iran to survive Western economic sanctions and now … Continue reading “Donald Trump Is Not the Only One Demonizing China”