Ted Galen Carpenter

Ted Galen Carpenter, Senior Fellow at the Randolph Bourne Institute, is the author of 13 books and more than 1,100 articles on international affairs. Dr. Carpenter held various senior policy positions during a 37-year career at the Cato institute. His latest book is Unreliable Watchdog: The News Media and U.S. Foreign Policy (2022).

The Global South’s Revolt against Biden’s Russia Policy

President Biden’s boast shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that the world stood united against Moscow’s aggression is increasingly detached from reality. Indeed, it has reached the point of deserving mockery. Walter Russell Mead, a scholar at the Hudson Institute, provided a devastating, early assessment of how Washington’s effort to isolate Russia was failing. "The … Continue reading “The Global South’s Revolt against Biden’s Russia Policy”

Sweden and Finland May Be Making a Fatal Blunder

US and other Western leaders are beaming at the impending addition of Sweden and Finland to NATO, although there still is an outside chance that Turkey might block their admission to the Alliance. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hinted darkly that he may do so, unless the two candidate countries make certain concessions. He … Continue reading “Sweden and Finland May Be Making a Fatal Blunder”

Washington Is Making the Same Blunder Regarding Taiwan That It Did in Ukraine

Tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are rising sharply over the Taiwan issue. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stated intention to include a stop in Taipei to meet with Taiwanese officials during her forthcoming trip to East Asia is the latest source of trouble. Pelosi apparently escalated that provocation further … Continue reading “Washington Is Making the Same Blunder Regarding Taiwan That It Did in Ukraine”

Congress Is Willingly Abdicating Its War Powers Again

The U.S. Constitution explicitly gives Congress, not the president, the authority to determine if the republic should go to war. Unfortunately, that fundamental point is now little more than a quaint historical footnote. Congress has issued no declarations of war since the early 1940s, when it did so against Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and other … Continue reading “Congress Is Willingly Abdicating Its War Powers Again”

The Closer Ukraine Gets to Victory, the Closer the World Comes to Nuclear War

The United States and its NATO allies now seem fully committed to a strategy of helping Ukraine to win its war against Russia. President Biden’s May 31, 2022, announcement that Washington intends to give Ukrainian forces advanced rocket systems capable of striking targets at long range is the latest evidence of that determination. Kyiv supposedly … Continue reading “The Closer Ukraine Gets to Victory, the Closer the World Comes to Nuclear War”

Does Russia’s Ukraine Experience Increase or Reduce the Likelihood That China Will Invade Taiwan?

There continue to be sharply competing narratives about what relevance Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might have for the Taiwan issue. One school of thought contends that Moscow’s flagrant violation of international norms against using force to deal with a territorial dispute might encourage the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to do the same to resolve … Continue reading “Does Russia’s Ukraine Experience Increase or Reduce the Likelihood That China Will Invade Taiwan?”

Washington’s Tolerance of Death Squad ‘Democracies’

The U.S. government has had a long, dishonorable history of forging and sustaining close relations with murderous dictatorships – as long as they supported Washington’s foreign policy. Such authoritarian US allies as the Shah of Iran, Nicaragua’s Anastasio Somoza, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, the Saudi royal family, and a succession of South Korean and Guatemalan military … Continue reading “Washington’s Tolerance of Death Squad ‘Democracies’”

The News Media’s Ukraine Whitewash Grows Worse

The U.S. news media’s treatment of the Ukraine issue has long been characterized by flagrant favoritism. Reports from organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Transparency International, and Freedom House showing that Ukraine’s actual conduct differed markedly from its carefully crafted image as a dedicated young democracy received little coverage in the mainstream press. That willingness … Continue reading “The News Media’s Ukraine Whitewash Grows Worse”

Does Nonmember Ukraine Have a De Facto Article 5 Commitment From NATO?

One supposedly crucial and unfortunate feature separating Ukraine from formal members of NATO is that Kyiv does not have a security guarantee under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. That provision proclaims that an attack on any NATO member will be considered an attack on all. Some critics of NATO’s unwillingness to respond favorably … Continue reading “Does Nonmember Ukraine Have a De Facto Article 5 Commitment From NATO?”

This Time, NATO Better Take Putin’s Ukraine Warnings Seriously

In one of the great foreign policy blunders of modern times, U.S. and European leaders repeatedly disregarded Vladimir Putin’s warnings that Russia would never tolerate Ukraine becoming a NATO military asset. Because of resistance from the French and German governments (which had as much to do with Ukraine’s chronic corruption as with concerns about Russia’s … Continue reading “This Time, NATO Better Take Putin’s Ukraine Warnings Seriously”