Alan Dowd is a contributing editor with Providence and a senior fellow with the Sagamore Institute, where he leads the Center for America’s Purpose (www.sagamoreinstitute.org/cap).
China plans to introduce rewards for parents to have a second child, after ending the one-child policy in 2015. Someone in Beijing must have realized industrial-scale social engineering has enormous unintended consequences.
Alan DowdMarch 20, 2017
Trump’s decision to turn to, and lean on, generals is nothing new. Americans have been doing that since the founding of the country.
Alan DowdMarch 3, 2017
Trump appeared to revel in chaos on the campaign trail, but chaos theory does not hold when it comes to foreign policy. Consider some of the consequences—and these are the shortest of short-term consequences—of Trump’s early foreign policy decisions and pronouncements.
Alan DowdFebruary 10, 2017
I believe Obama’s motives in trying to close Gitmo were to improve America’s image abroad. It’s sad that, even after eight years in office, he never gave those who opposed the closure of Gitmo the same benefit of the doubt.
Alan DowdFebruary 3, 2017
Some things need to be classified. And it’s not Bradley Manning’s or Julian Assange’s or Edward Snowden’s responsibility or right to determine what to declassify. That’s a job for Congress.
Alan DowdJanuary 24, 2017
Foreign policy is not off-limits to Christians, and our faith should inform our views on foreign policy.
Alan DowdJanuary 12, 2017
President Obama’s foreign policy would have been more understandable if he had never pretended to care, if he hadn’t talked like Vaclav Havel and then acted like Henry Kissinger.
Alan DowdDecember 30, 2016
As history reminds us, the security payoffs of a “Fortress America” approach are ephemeral and fleeting. Both the national interest and international security suffer when America turns inward.
Alan DowdDecember 21, 2016
The promise of risk-free war offered by unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) obscures the dangers of waging war by remote control. The challenge for the American people is to make sure Washington employs this new technology in a way that conforms to America’s values.
Alan DowdDecember 15, 2016
Hampshire College’s Board of Trustees ordered the U.S. flag on campus lowered to half-staff in the wake of the presidential election. But the peaceful transfer of power from one president to another is something to celebrate.
Alan DowdDecember 1, 2016