Freedom is the Surest Path to Prosperity
The Global South has a choice between a freedom-based and an authoritarian development model. External powers led by China and Russia promote the latter in, for example, Sub-Saharan Africa, by far the least developed region of the world. Russian disinformation campaigns have occurred in at least 15 Sub-Saharan African countries, according to the Africa Center […]
Ghosts at the Banquet: The Washington NATO Summit
The Vilnius NATO summit of 2023 was stalked by a spectre. How would the allies deal with Ukraine’s NATO aspirations while its vaunted counter-offensive had gotten off to a sputtering start, amidst nuclear saber rattling by Vladimir Putin and his henchmen, eliciting in turn a focus on “escalation management” by Joe Biden’s national security team. […]
Russia’s Targeting of Civilians in Ukraine: A Ukrainian Response
On July 8, Russia launched a barrage of missiles that hit the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, killing at least 38 persons. One missile demolished the ward which cared for child patients on dialysis. The explosion was so powerful that the top floor of the building collapsed; the shockwave and secondary shrapnel destroyed two other […]
Helping Paraguay Become a Stronger US Ally
Paraguay is at a hinge moment in its history, with the election last year of a new president. With small steps, the United States could make a significant difference. This collaboration would both enhance Paraguay’s development and its status as a US ally. The country’s biggest constraint, however, is corruption. and more engagement from the […]
The Anti-Establishment Rises in Europe and America
Across Europe, anti-establishment parties are winning stunning upsets, leaving center and center-left parties scrambling to forge alliances to avoid total political irrelevance. In most of the 27 member countries of the EU, the early June elections for the European Parliament resulted in a large and historic victory for parties hostile to the status quo. In France, the National Rally, led by […]
An ‘America First’ Democracy Support Agenda for the Next President
Freedom and democracy have declined globally over the last two decades. This is bad for US security and prosperity, because autocracies hostile to the United States find more willing supporters among other autocrats. Furthermore, American companies trying to access markets of less-democratic developing nations face opaque regulatory regimes subject to the whims of unaccountable predatory […]
The Biden-Trump Debate and Foreign Policy
Looking like a figure out of Madame Tussauds wax museum as he gazed vacantly into the distance, the 81-year-old Joe Biden delivered a widely panned performance in the debate on June 27. A confrontation that was supposed to quell doubts about his fitness for the presidency only succeeded in amplifying them. As Biden resists numerous calls […]
The Rise and Fall of America’s Diplomats <br><i> The Voice of the Foreign Service: A History of the American Foreign Service Association at 100</i> <br>by Harry W. Kopp
In his short story “Mosby’s Memoirs,” which was based on the life of the conservative scholar and former State Department official Willmoore Kendall, Saul Bellow expressed his disdain for foreign policy mandarins: “…the Foreign Service is staffed by rejects of the power structure. Young gentlemen from good Eastern colleges who couldn’t make it as Wall […]
A European Plea to Biden
I admire America and feel nothing but deep respect and gratitude for it. Yes, I’m familiar with the reservations among many in Europe, ranging from Vietnam to Guantanamo, from the death penalty to the right to bear arms, from Afghanistan to the second Iraq war. My feelings for America are stronger. That’s because they are […]
How to Defeat the New Axis of Evil
Two blocs emerged after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Iran-backed terror in the Middle East: The Free World and the New Axis of Evil. By supporting each other, the countries of the New Axis of Evil are more dangerous together than they are separately. The Free World countries must design new policies to […]
