Ted Galen Carpenter

Reports that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was constructing a base in Cuba devoted to spying on the United States immediately generated concern among members of America’s foreign policy establishment. Now that U.S. intelligence agencies contend that Beijing is expanding a small facility that has operated since 2019, concern has risen toward outright alarm. … Continue reading “US Hypocrisy About Chinese Spy Base in Cuba”

This originally appeared at the Future of Freedom Foundation. Recent news reports indicate that the Biden administration is orchestrating an agreement between two insurgent groups in northeastern Syria to continue preventing the national government of Bashar al-Assad from regaining control of that region. If true, Washington’s conduct in Syria has reached a new low in … Continue reading “Washington’s Continuing Shame in Syria”

Some foreign policy myths are so entrenched and tenacious that no amount of evidence seems able to dislodge them. An especially prominent one in recent years is that Donald Trump was Vladimir Putin’s puppet and adopted shameful policies that appeased Moscow. The latest example of that pervasive smear was an article by Peggy Noonan in … Continue reading “The Big Lie That Won’t Die: Trump as Putin’s Puppet”

U.S. leaders rarely have been noted for being able to gauge changing sentiment in the international arena and adjusting their foreign policy accordingly. The Biden administration, however, may be setting new records for the tone-deaf quality of its policies. Three incidents in the past few weeks illustrate the problem. There has been obvious movement in … Continue reading “The Biden Administration’s Latest Tone-Deaf Foreign Policy Positions”

This originally appeared at the Future of Freedom Foundation. There have been a distressing number of occasions in which someone has said to me that they embrace libertarian principles and positions—“except for foreign policy.”  That stance has usually translated into loyal support for the U.S. government’s militarized approach to world affairs during the Cold War … Continue reading “No, It Is Not Possible to be an Imperial Libertarian”

It should not come as a surprise that U.S. officials and members of the foreign policy establishment have falsely portrayed Ukraine as a noble democracy. Such deceptions in pursuit of assorted US foreign policy objectives around the globe are nothing new. Throughout the Cold War, Washington routinely contended that "friendly" dictatorships were members of the … Continue reading “Libertarian Apologists for Ukraine’s Authoritarianism”

Western officials who salivate over the prospect of inflicting a decisive, humiliating defeat on Russia in its war with Ukraine remain oblivious to the dangers entailed in that scenario. As I pointed out early in the conflict, Russian leaders consider Ukraine to be the most vital of vital national security interests and they are likely … Continue reading “Is NATO Crowding the Russian Bear Into a Nuclear Corner?”

One maddening feature of foreign policy debates in the United States is how frequently journalists and policy experts fail to challenge dominant narratives even when those narratives have glaring defects. Such malfeasance has facilitated a growing list of Washington’s policy blunders and outright debacles. Yet the tendency to accept the U.S. government’s version of the … Continue reading “Bogus Foreign Policy Narratives Go Unchallenged”

An especially damaging development in the history of U.S. foreign policy was President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s promulgation of the domino theory. Adoption of its assumptions led directly to America’s disastrous military intervention in Vietnam. Although the simplistic doctrine was widely ridiculed after the Vietnam debacle, it has continued to have its adherents. Worse, the domino … Continue reading “The Zombie Domino Theory Returns”

All governments produce deceptive propaganda about aspects of their foreign policy. However, Joe Biden’s administration seems intent on setting some kind of record for both the number of falsehoods and their brazenness. Three of them stand out with respect to the latter feature. Falsehood: The world is united in opposing Russia and supporting Ukraine. This … Continue reading “Washington’s Egregious Deceptions About the Russia-Ukraine War”