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 …
Continue reading “Freedom’s decline and U.S. silence move in tandem”
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 …
Continue reading “Unwavering democratic doctrines will let US shape events 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 …
Continue reading “Washington reclaimed its voice at Kiev. Here’s hoping it doesn’t lose it again.”
In the messy aftermaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, critics of U.S. interventionism abroad have exerted great influence over the direction of U.S. foreign policy, putting interventionists on the defensive. The anti-interventionist ascendancy has clearly influenced U.S. policymaking toward Iran (where President Obama seems determined, at all costs, to avoid military action in response to Tehran’s …
Continue reading “Non-intervention facilitated a victory for tyrants and terrorists in Syria”
The U.S.-led six-month agreement with Iran over its nuclear program reflects not just Washington’s limited aspirations for its relations with Tehran but also its affinity for the regional status quo over possible change. Throw in its policy toward Syria both before and after the start of its horrific civil war, and we see an administration …
Continue reading “Obama’s Narrow Focus On Iran’s Nukes Misses The Larger Point”