Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson, Ph.D., is President & CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, DC and scholar-at-large and past dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University. He is also a contributing editor for Providence. His expertise, informed by time at the US Department of State and in the military, is on just war thinking, the nexus of religion and national security, and Christian Realism. He is the author or editor of 22 books, including Just American Wars, Politics in a Religious World, and Ending Wars Well.

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AI Warnings, Communism, and Democracy

As in the early Cold War, America must draw on the ingenuity of its citizens, businesses, and national security institutions to direct the development of potentially dangerous technologies

Chinese Grand Strategy Cannot Be Understood Apart from Communism

While many in the U.S. would prefer to ignore the role of ideology in international relations, the truth is that the Chinese state cannot be understood apart from the precepts of Marx, Lenin, and Mao

Just War and Hybrid Conflict

The latest entry in the Gabriel Allon spy series by Daniel Silva takes on themes of gray zone conflict in modern warfare

Standing Against Vietnam’s Transnational Repression

Vietnam Human Rights Day reminds Americans that Vietnam’s communist government continues to deny its people the basic freedoms we too often take for granted

Gibbon’s “Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire” and Trump’s National Security Strategy

In order to understand Trump’s new National Security Strategy, look to Edward Gibbon’s “the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Claude Debussy’s Christmas Prayer for Children Ravaged by War

In 1915, Claude DeBussy wrote a carol for the children of France who, due to the German invasion, could not celebrate Christmas. Today, the children of Ukraine are suffering a similar fate from Russia’s aggression.

Rocky IV: The Quintessential Cold War Sports Movie at 40

This autumn marks the 40th anniversary of Rocky IV, a film that captured the spirit of America’s struggle against communist materialism like no other

For Whom was Harry Truman Responsible in August, 1945?

Though Truman had a responsibility to avoid harming Japanese civilians, he also had a responsibility for the lives of millions of Americans, Chinese, and others that would be lost if Japan had fought on

Our Cause is Just and Our Union is Perfect: Recognizing the 250th Anniversary of the Other Declaration

Before there was the Declaration of Independence in 1776, there was the “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms” in 1775, which set America on its eventual course for revolution

Americans Must Understand the CCP’s Ideologically Driven Mission 

American policymakers must understand that the CCP is truly, and not just superficially, committed to a communist ideology that necessitates overturning the US-led world order