Alliances

Word Choice: “Freedom” Absent from First Presidential Debate, Part of Troubling Trend

Amidst the post-debate spinning, little has been discussed about what Trump and Clinton didn’t say. “Freedom” was nowhere to be found in the debate transcript.

Senator Ball
Wherefore Art Thou, Senator Ball?

Senator Joseph H. Ball, a Republican from Minnesota appointed unexpectedly to office in 1940, supported the Lend-Lease Act to aid Britain in its defense against Nazi Germany and debated against Charles Lindbergh and his America First populism.

Baneful Foe Foreign Influence White House Trump Clinton
A Baneful Foe: Foreign Influence in the White House

Alexander Hamilton argued in Federalist #68 that given “the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils,” the Constitution should erect “every practicable obstacle” to prevent such “intrigue and corruption.”

Geo-Gamechanger Derek Chollet Book Review Long Game
The Geo-Gamechanger?

Derek Chollet’s The Long Game defends Obama’s foreign policy and the president’s attempts to project global leadership in an era of infinite demands and finite resources.

Churchill FDR Atlantic Charter
Churchill, FDR, and the Atlantic Charter

Nearly two years after the start of the Second World War—with most of continental Europe under German occupation—Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill held their first wartime meeting, where they drafted the Atlantic Charter.

Central Eastern Europe Needs Engaged United States
Central and Eastern Europe Needs an Engaged United States

Many American officials have concluded that issues in Central and Eastern Europe have been fixed once and for all and that they can “check the box” and move on to other more pressing strategic issues. Relations have been so close that many on both sides assume that the region’s transatlantic orientation, as well as its stability and prosperity, would last forever. That view is premature.

Turkey Democratic Debt NATO
Turkey’s Democratic Debt to NATO

Turkey’s relationship to NATO is edging toward the brink of collapse: caught in a miasma of Islamic radicalism, power-grabbing, and naïve foreign policy.

UNCREDIBLE: OBAMA & THE END OF AMERICAN POWER

Wanted: A Foreign Policy of Responsibility & Limits

Electoral Win for Japanese Prime Minister Draws International Concern
Electoral Win for Japanese Prime Minister Draws International Concern

Japan’s general election gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), along with its coalition partner Komeito, a majority in both Houses of the Diet. The international community now wonders if the electoral success may embolden the Prime Minister to pursue his agenda more aggressively.