Since the Gulf War and until recently, I have agreed with and defended the decision made by George H. W. Bush not to pursue the end game with Saddam Hussein in 1991, for all the usual reasons (coalition support, the 52-47 vote in the Senate, the U. N. resolution, etc.). However, with the obvious benefit […]

Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty. —Samuel Adams Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any […]

The early June trip to Europe by President Bush was instructive to me on a couple of points. First, in his Warsaw speech on June 15, he very methodically outlined the principles that should undergird the post-Cold War order: “no more Munichs, no more Yaltas”, no more insecure states serving as a buffer zone between […]

In a recent appearance on Meet The Press, Sen. John Kerry outlined his opposition to plans for a missile defense system as follows: That they have not been discussed on a mutual basis among nations through the United Nations and related forums, but are being developed unilaterally; that the approach of the Bush administration is […]

In the May 2000 issue, I noted that the Clinton administration had mistakenly pursued permanent most favored nation treatment for China without due regard for human rights abuses or Taiwan security concerns, and I highlighted the blunder of an approach defined by “strategic partnership” in thrall to the allure of the potential of a billion […]

We should be greatly encouraged by the results of the election in Mexico in early July. If for no other reason, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had been in power for 71 years, longer than any one-party rule in the world other than the Soviet Communist Party (74 years). It represents another defeat for a […]

Various commentators have written about the growing influence that Corporate America has assumed over U. S. foreign policy, particularly trade policy, in the Clinton Administration. It has been noted that foreign policy formulation under Clinton has been as much dictated by the Commerce Department as by the State Department. A good question, recently posed by […]

In April, there was a flurry of media attention to the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of U. S. military involvement in Vietnam. What resonated most with me during the coverage was the degree to which the military experience and the commitment to military service have been diluted in America’s […]

According to Dan Rather, appearing on Larry King Live last month, the “biggest, most important story unfolding now is the transformation of China into a world power on two fronts—economic and military.” This may seem obvious, and it is also clear that, beneath the surface, there is a huge revolution brewing in that country over […]

This tragedy and all of its underlying conflicts of values has something to say to everyone, but I touch on it here only because of what it says to me about America at large. It is one of those cases that provides an opportunity to reflect on American priorities. For me (at this writing the […]