In January 1907, a German-born official in the British Foreign Office wrote a memorandum that since has been indelibly linked to his name for its incisive analysis and uncanny prescience. Eyre Crowe had good reason to scrutinize Germany’s foreign-policy initiatives. … Continue reading
It was 65 years ago, March 5, 1946, when Winston Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri. It was a speech that rocked the world and changed history.By then, Churchill was no longer British prime minister. He and … Continue reading
This February marks the birth centennial of Ronald Reagan. As a Reagan biographer, I’m often asked how Reagan was different from his predecessors, Republican and Democrat, and especially in the area of foreign policy. There were many ways, but here … Continue reading
North Korea is not an easy issue. I’ve dealt with it since the early 1990s, beginning at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. I had few answers then, and I still have few today. It also is not a … Continue reading
Guest Commentary Barack Obama’s supporters have been trying to create a narrative around his foreign-policy doctrine for several years now, even before he was president. The goal has been simple: to preempt efforts to portray Obama as a naïve idealist … Continue reading
Editor’s note: A lengthier version of this article first appeared in The American Spectator. It was 35 years ago that the conservative movement found itself in a defining moral struggle not with the liberal Left but with the establishment wing … Continue reading
Call it another Twilight Zone moment; another ignominious contribution to the “you-can’t-make-this-up” category. First, Mao Tse-tung was honored by oblivious New Yorkers, with their Empire State Building aglow in red and yellow last October to commemorate the birth of Red … Continue reading
Recently, Bill O’Reilly interviewed John Stossel about the dangerous situation along Arizona’s porous border with Mexico. Stossel is probably my favorite reporter. I admire the way he demolishes popular myths, particularly economic myths. However, on the topic of how to … Continue reading
I was in Washington last week, meaning I was able to observe, on-site and up close, the reaction to President Obama’s remarkable switch in leadership in Afghanistan from the bizarre General Stanley McChrystal to the excellent General David Petraeus. The … Continue reading
The just-completed Colombian presidential election took place in two stages. The first round took place on May 30. There were multiple candidates. Since nobody received an outright majority, the top two vote-getters (Juan Manuel Santos at 47 percent and Antanas … Continue reading
Editor’s Note: This article was first published by The Center for Vision & Values on November 6, 2009. Every Memorial Day presents an opportunity to commemorate those who served in some faraway place long ago, many of whom paid that ultimate … Continue reading
President Obama signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in Prague on April 8—and did so to global accolades. It was the culmination of years of negotiations and a major triumph to finally achieve agreement with Moscow. Unfortunately, President … Continue reading
History holds that during World War II the Army executed only one American soldier, Private Eddie Slovik. There was another, a footnote to history. In 1944, B-24 Liberators taking off from a base in Italy began exploding when they “rotated,” … Continue reading
During his recent Middle East and European tour, Senator Barack Obama stated his strategic positions on Iraq and Afghanistan, which involves a timetable for withdrawal of most, if not all, U.S. forces from Iraq, and redeploying some forces to Afghanistan, … Continue reading
The media jumps at anniversaries of historical figures and events. For those of us who write about history, we, too, seize these opportunities to teach history, especially history Americans should know. Here’s one such case: Can you believe it has … Continue reading
In the mid-1960s, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Notre Dame’s Rocky Bleier. Unfortunately, Steeler management failed to protect the prized rookie with the paperwork necessary to take advantage of a myriad of available conscription-law loopholes, and Bleier ended up in Vietnam … Continue reading
2009 ended with a flurry of important events on the climate-change front. In November, the Climategate scandal broke. An anonymous whistle-blower released over 1,000 e-mails from key scientists (both British and American) in the alarmist climate-change camp. The e-mails revealed … Continue reading
Earlier this week, President Obama announced his decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by mid-2010. The president chose to address the nation from the U.S. Military Academy in front of a large audience of West Point cadets. While … Continue reading
The price of gold has recently spurted to a new all-time high in terms of U.S. dollars. I’m neither an expert nor a market timer, but let me offer a few perspectives on this event. To most people, including gold … Continue reading
Guest Commentary Sixty-four years ago this month, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by the first and only wartime use of nuclear weapons. The death toll totaled approximately 200,000. The shock of the unprecedented destructiveness of the … Continue reading
