Freedom’s decline and U.S. silence move in tandem

Let’s be clear: the United States cannot single-handedly ensure the advance of freedom and democracy around the world. But, notwithstanding all too much conventional wisdom of late, America retains enormous diplomatic, economic, and other capacities to influence the course of events. So, it’s no coincidence that, as Freedom House reported late last week, freedom declined …

UNESCO Falls Further Into Swamp Of Moral Bankruptcy

UNESCO’s decision to cancel this week’s Paris exhibition about Jewish ties to Israel highlights – in case anyone needed a reminder – the moral bankruptcy that pervades all too much of the United Nations and its affiliate organizations. UNESCO (officially the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) was created out of a United Nations …

Critics justifiably fear latest Western deal-making with Iran

The secret text of recent days that reportedly describes how Iran will implement its six-month nuclear deal raises justifiable fears that, in fleshing out the details, Washington opened the door to more Iranian progress. That neither the United States nor the European Union will release the paper seems ominous, for they’d do so if they …

All Hail Dennis Rodman, Our Latest “Useful Idiot”

We might be tempted to dismiss the latest antics of Dennis Rodman, the freak show of a former NBA great who’s now cozying up to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as the desperate bleats of an attention-starved celebrity. But, let’s give the flamboyant Rodman his due. He now follows proudly in a long line of …

Unwavering democratic doctrines will let US shape events again

WASHINGTON — America’s top foreign policy to-do’s in 2014 include preventing Iran from reaching the nuclear threshold, addressing the humanitarian disaster in Syria, containing an expansionist Russia, managing a rising China and reclaiming its own voice on human rights. Let’s take these one at a time. Preventing a nuclear Iran: The global agreement over Iran’s …

Washington reclaimed its voice at Kiev. Here’s hoping it doesn’t lose it again.

Nearly a decade ago, President Bush provided important moral support to Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution,” criticizing the government after a fraudulent presidential election and pressuring officials to replace it with a fair one. President Obama, the quintessential anti-Bush, has generally eschewed the public promotion of human rights at moments of social ferment, believing the United States …

President-Congress Clash Over Iran Sanctions Won’t Serve U.S. Interests

A congressional push for more sanctions against Iran raises a difficult question related to the six-month global deal over Tehran’s nuclear program and to President Barack Obama’s stature as America’s commander-in-chief and top diplomat. The question: Should Congress, at moments when it disagrees with a President’s foreign policy, try to re-write that policy even if, …