Search Results for: end of american independence

The ultimate peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia will depend heavily upon battlefield outcomes. No one knows how the war is going to turn out. Even most of Kyiv’s friends expected Moscow to quickly overwhelm its neighbor. Instead, Ukraine rebuffed Russia’s overconfident, mismanaged opening offensive. Soon Kyiv and its allies began imagining victory, even recovering … Continue reading “Ukraine Wants Security Guarantees To Stop Fighting: If Americans and Europeans Won’t Battle for Kyiv Today, Why Would They Do So Tomorrow?”

Given the devastating effects of this war, first in Ukraine but also, through sanctions, on the world economy and the risks of famine that they entail, it seems obvious that the first task of any diplomat and political leader should be to end this war. The problem is that there are at least two ways … Continue reading “How To End the War in Ukraine?”

The Russo-Ukraine war is destructive and dangerous. Much of Washington believes that a win by Kyiv would serve America’s interests. However, pursuit of victory would be far more costly than Ukraine’s advocates acknowledge. The US and leading European states should seek a modus vivendi with Russia that would secure Ukraine’s independence and yield a stable … Continue reading “The Ukrainian Endgame: An Imperfect Peace Is Better Than Endless War”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a terrible crime. Not that such behavior is unusual in a world riven by conflict. In a little-covered war a quarter century ago an estimated 5.4 million people died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The international community, such as it is, barely noticed. Nor can the plenitude of sanctimonious … Continue reading “How Does the Russo-Ukraine War End? Prudence, Not Passion, Should Guide Washington”

An unprovoked invasion by one of the world’s largest militaries, armed with a feared arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Quasi-universal condemnation of the offending state. The international community in disarray over how to respond. I’m not referring to Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, but Iraq’s of Kuwait in August 1990. Yet one … Continue reading “American Hypocrisy is Fueling Putin’s War”

The world is a dangerous place, but not particularly for America, which is allied with most of the known world. With large oceans east and west and pacific neighbors north and south the US is safe from invasion. Missiles may threaten but would trigger ruinous retaliation. Terrorism remains a worry but can do only limited … Continue reading “How Much Should America Spend To Fight China? And for What?”

Nuclear weapons are terrible, but that gives them greater deterrent power. However, few of America’s allies have them, so Washington has promised to fight potentially multiple nuclear wars on their behalf. It is a great deal for countries that have spent decades cheap riding on the US. With the Biden administration involved in a "nuclear … Continue reading “Europeans Refuse To Defend Selves, Demand US Go To Nuclear War for Them”

With reports of protests in the streets of Cuba, the friend of those people, the US, has made its support clear. The people of Cuba join the people of Haiti and Venezuela in being able to count on friendly support from the US. Except for three things. The US has caused the problems they are … Continue reading “US Supports the People of Latin America: With Friends Like This…”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. The single scariest night of my life may have been on October 22, 1962, when I thought that all the duck-and-cover moments of my childhood were coming home to roost. President John F. Kennedy appeared on national television (and radio) to warn us all to duck and cover. The Soviet Union, … Continue reading “An All-American Path to War?”

In the US July 4th is all about America’s independence. The creation of the new republic on the North American continent – and even more so its survival in an imperial world and transformation into the globe’s most powerful nation – is an extraordinary, and some would say miraculous, story. Looking back through the mists … Continue reading “Independence Day 2021: Needed, a Foreign Policy for a Republic”