Alan Dowd

Alan Dowd

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).

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Trump Show
The Trump Show

Can anyone imagine Truman or Eisenhower, Johnson or Reagan responding in a similar manner if Stalin, Khrushchev, or Brezhnev complimented them? Did they praise Moscow for blockading Berlin, for crushing Hungary, for snuffing out the Prague Spring, for smothering Poland, for being strong, for killing terrorists, for keeping restive peoples in line?

Domain
Old Doctrines for a New Domain

CSIS has developed a new online tool for tracking major cyberattacks around the world. The website is as helpful as it is sobering.

Never Again
From ‘Never Again’ to ‘Never Mind’

President Obama lectured, “‘Never again’ is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security.” Perhaps “never mind” is more apt.

Marrakesh Mosque
Erasing Christianity in the Middle East

The Marrakesh Declaration is a good—albeit late—start. Political and religious leaders in the Middle East’s Muslim-majority nations have much ground to cover to protect religious minorities. Shiites are targeted in Sunni-majority nations, Sunnis in Shiite-majority nations, and Christians virtually everywhere in the Middle East.

Guantanamo Bay Gitmo
Debating How to Defend Ourselves

If Gitmo is “contrary to who we are,” to borrow Obama’s language, if EITs “caused immeasurable damage to the United States’ public standing,” to quote the Senate report, then what exactly is a drone war that metes out punishment based on guilt by association and amounts to execution without trial?

Umbrella Revolution Sign for Defending Democracy
Wearied by Democracy

There are consequences to a foreign policy that is less committed to promoting democracy and less interested in buttressing an international system built on democratic ideals. It stands to reason that when the world’s strongest exponent of democracy and freedom pulls back, the democratic tide will lose momentum.

The Peace Negotiations Between Claudius Civilis and the Roman Captain Cerealis by Otto van Veen, 1600-1613
Shield & Sword: The Case for Military Deterrence

Some lament the fact that we live in such a violent world, but that’s precisely the point. Because we live in a violent world, governments must take steps to deter those who can be deterred—and neutralize those who cannot.

Christmastime in China
Weeping and Great Mourning: Christmastime in China

It’s Christmastime in the People’s Republic of China, and Beijing continues its crackdown on people of faith, especially Christians.

Obama Gives Speech
Obama vs. Obama

Commentators have devoted lots of print comparing President Barack Obama to other presidents. But on foreign policy, let’s judge the president by placing his record against his own measuring stick.

Seas
Policing the Seas

After months of warnings, the White House finally ordered the Navy to sail within 12 miles of an artificial island built by China. President Obama’s hesitant response to China’s aggressive behavior suggests he doesn’t grasp that there’s nothing new about the Navy challenging this sort of mischief. America has been keeping the open seas open for 215 years.