We’re probably as close to a major armed conflict somewhere in the world at any time since the end of the Cold War.  And it comes during an election that will determine who takes the call at a time when U. S. foreign policy priorities are a mixed bag at best, not to mention the […]

Congress has once again managed to avoid a shutdown, with leadership from Speaker Mike Johnson and no help from the Marjorie Taylor Greene caucus of performance artists.  Now it’s on to deciding whether or not we will provide the necessary support for Ukraine to survive and Israel to complete its victory over Hamas, both of […]

It’s still a long way from passage, but this week the U. S. Senate voted 67-32 to begin debate on the $95 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, and there were 17 Republicans who provided the difference to get over the necessary 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster.  This was a courageous […]

As I write, the humanitarian “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war is in its sixth day and voices from all sides are in intense debate about extension of the cease-fire.  Immediately upon the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th we have known that civilian casualties would be a Hamas strategy, and I must say that […]

Everyone except Joe Biden seems to know that.  Certainly, Iran does.  And we are there because of three major failures–in intelligence, appeasement, and deterrence, mostly on the part of the failed U. S. policies in the Middle East since the “apology tour” there conducted by Barack Obama and reawakened under Joe Biden.  And the enemy […]

If you have access to The Wall Street Journal be sure to read Kate Bachelder O’Dell’s op/ed in the October 6 issue, “What Time Is It at the Heritage Foundation?”.  It’s one of the best I have read on how far this country has come since the Ronald Reagan foreign policy leadership of the 1980s […]

Does anyone think there is any chance that the plane crash that killed Putin’s most dangerous rival is anything but an assassination orchestrated by him?  The targeted leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, Vevgeny Prigozhin, and his loyal following was the only leader capable of leading any meaningful coup in Russia.  This is a no-brainer.  […]

Bret Stephens of the New York Times has written an interesting analysis of the conservative response to and positioning on U. S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. I won’t go into all the shades of conservatism and how he sees them aligned, except to note that this issue for me brought out […]

On the first anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, it’s timely to reflect on exactly where we are in this war and what are our strategic choices.  And many commentators more qualified that I have been doing that, some more realistically than others, but here are my thoughts for whatever they are worth: The […]