The fact that we have lived with nuclear weapons for seventy-five years has lulled us into a false complacency.
Jan Oberg: The 2 per cent goal as defence illiteracy
NATO’s London Summit on December 3 and 4, 2019 displays the deep political crisis of the 70-year-old alliance.
Tom Switzer: A Tribute to Owen Harries
Founding National Interest editor Owen Harries has died but his legacy will not fade. He left a vital imprint on political and intellectual debates about the direction of American foreign policy.
Benjamin Bidder: The Case of Sergei Magnitsky
The story of Sergei Magnitsky has come to symbolize the brutal persecution of whistleblowers in Russia. Ten years after his death, inconsistencies in Magnitsky’s story suggest he may not have been the hero many people — and Western governments — believed him to be.
Barbara Slavin: Bolton’s Book Is An Instruction Manual For How Not To Do Foreign Policy
Anyone who has followed the long career of Donald Trump’s ex-national security advisor John Bolton knows of his hostility toward multinational agreements and hard line toward so-called rogue states. His solution to difficult countries like Iran and North Korea is always regime change: through sanctions if possible and military action if necessary.
Ted Galen Carpenter: When The Deep State Bullied Reagan’s Foreign Policy Chief
It is extraordinarily naïve to assert that powerful bureaucracies and their key personnel do not protect their institutional interests, push policies in directions they prefer, and attempt to dilute, delay, or defeat initiatives they oppose.
James Carden: A Terrorist in Pinstripes
Americans might look at Bolton and see a bland mustachioed bureaucrat; the rest of the world likely sees a terrorist in pinstripes. And in this book, Bolton only lends credence to that perception.
Ed Lozansky: Is Ukraine vital to U.S. security?
The ongoing impeachment inquiry of President Trump can certainly compete with Hollywood’s most successful drama or comedy shows.
Alex Ward: The real villain of John Bolton’s Trump book is John Bolton
Bolton makes clear President Trump’s foreign policy is absolutely terrible – but Bolton’s is much, much worse.
Peter Hitchens: In defense of journalism
Bellingcat’s ‘Citizen journalists’ are no such thing…
Daniel Larison: Jamaal Bowman Ousts Inveterate Hawk Eliot Engel
Engel’s leadership position on the Foreign Affairs Committee will most likely go to another similarly hawkish Democrat next year, but Engel’s defeat is a message to Democratic leadership that they cannot continue with business as usual.
Jeremy Kuzmarov: Remember the Oath of the Elbe
On April 25, 1945, American and Russian soldiers linked up at the Elbe River and made a pledge for peace that we should heed today.
Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Weighs Extending New START Treaty
President’s decision about pact with Russia will be influenced by whether China joins arms-control negotiations and progress toward tougher agreement
Happy Thanksgiving from ACEWA
We will resume posting on Monday – ed.
BBC: Russia holds World War Two victory parade in coronavirus shadow
Russia is celebrating its biggest public holiday, Victory Day, with a military parade in Moscow that was meant to be held on 9 May.
Tom Z. Collina and Akshai Vikram: Why Are We Rebuilding the ‘Nuclear Sponge’?
Welcome to the “nuclear sponge.” A bizarre idea that has outlived its questionable Cold War-era usefulness, the nuclear sponge is the United States’ collection of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles intended to “soak up” a nuclear attack.
Al Jazeera: Russia’s Putin hails Soviet role in WWII at military parade
The world owes the Soviet Union a debt of gratitude for its contribution to Nazi Germany’s defeat, Russian leader says.
Patrick Buchanan: Is Macron Right? Is NATO Brain Dead?
A week from now, the 29 member states of “the most successful alliance in history” will meet to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Yet all is not well within NATO.
Fred Weir: As Russia reopens, Putin takes a back seat to local leaders
Russia and the United States have followed similar arcs in their coronavirus lockdowns. More surprisingly, their governments have also been delegating authority for reopening in similar ways: by deferring to local leaders.
Riva Enteen: McCarthyism Redux
The National Lawyers Guild, born in resistance to political witch-hunts, seems to have neutered itself in the face of the new wave of manufactured hysteria.