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Opinion and commentary relating to foreign affairs, and international politics.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Re-Elected To Fourth Term

Published on September 24, 2017September 24, 2017 in News/World by Chris Dixon

It was a big day for Germany as election day rolled around. Many expected that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would secure a fourth election, but the bigger question was how the other results would come in. Would the populist uprising that is taking place throughout the world gain more momentum with the results? Chancellor Merkel ultimately secured her fourth term, but the damage was done to her coalition as the right wing had its biggest surge in decades. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) holds 13 percent of the seats in Parliament and has already promised to complicate life for the…

Chaos in Catalonia: Spanish Officials Scramble To Stop Secession Referendum

Published on September 24, 2017September 25, 2017 in News/World by Shane Trejo

Although American school books like to teach that secession is a racist notion exclusive to ignorant rednecks of the southern-most United States, nothing could be further from the truth. Secession is a legitimate concept with appeal to those on all sides of the political spectrum. This is evident in Catalonia, where leftists are working to secede from the Spanish government that has dogged them for so long. Spain’s central government and regional Catalan authorities are fighting over a referendum vote scheduled to take place on Sun, Oct. 1. The Spanish authorities claim that the vote is illegal while Catalans claim…

Stop Shopping Until You Drop. Or Until A Terrorist Drops You

Published on September 23, 2017September 23, 2017 in Politics/World by Ilana Mercer

“Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,” tweeted President Trump. “These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard.” Prime Minister Theresa May and the mad media fumed over the president’s insinuation that the Parsons Green “bucket bomber” was a “Known Wolf,” and not a lone wolf. But Donald Trump was entirely on the mark. May and her men knew Yahyah Farroukh (whose information the British press is protecting). The “Known Wolf,” left free to hunt for prey, is the rule more than the exception in a country, Britain, that will do nothing to…

Trump’s China-Sanctions Madness Imperils the Dollar

Published on September 20, 2017 in Politics/World by Ryan McMaken

China and USA relationship.

Last week US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin warned the US will impose new sanctions on China if it doesn’t conform to UN sanctions on North Korea: “If China doesn’t follow these sanctions, we will put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the U.S. and international dollar system, and that’s quite meaningful.” In other words, the administration wants to sanction one of the US’s biggest trading partners, and the world’s second-largest economy. China is the world’s third-largest recipient of Americans exports, behind only Canada and Mexico. China is the world’s largest source of imports for Americans, slightly ahead…

Britain’s Bizarre New Class War

Published on September 20, 2017November 4, 2017 in Culture/World by Ashley Sharp

Football Lads Alliance

Britain is my homeland. For all her flaws that I find in myself and all her greatness that so often I do not, there is a part of me that is forever England. Having lived overseas for some time now, I am in a peculiar position–every time I return home, the landscape is a little different. Is it England that is changing, or I, or both? What I have noticed, is that as ever, the United Kingdom absorbs cultural norms from America, across the gossamer fine Atlantic membrane that separates our civilizations like opiates crossing the blood/brain barrier. Scaremongering about…

President Trump Offers Nothing But Hot Air For His Disingenuous UN Speech

Published on September 19, 2017 in Politics/World by Shane Trejo

President Donald Trump gave an “America First” speech in front of the United Nations today, speaking out in favor of national sovereignty, deriding the evils of socialism and communism, and calling for other countries to contribute more for global security. However, examining Trump’s record against his rhetoric shows that his speech today consisted of mostly hot air. “As President of the United States, I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries will always, and should always, put your countries first,” Trump said toward the beginning of his speech. However, Trump’s foreign policy has…

The Neoconservatives Have Declared War on the Realists

Published on September 15, 2017 in Politics/World by Ryan McMaken

In recent years, I’ve increasingly suspected that when it comes to foreign policy, the realists offer some of the most sane observations. These suspicions were confirmed earlier this year when after the election of Donald Trump, John Mearsheimer, one of modern realism’s current standard bearers, wrote in The National Interest that Trump should “adopt a realist foreign policy” and outlines a far better foreign policy agenda that what we’ve seen coming from Washington.

With Afghanistan Troop Surge, President Trump Becomes Bush’s Fifth Term

Published on September 11, 2017September 10, 2017 in Politics/World by Chris Dixon

When George W. Bush first ran for President, he did so on a platform of non-interventionism. He spoke against the interventionist tendencies of Bill Clinton and the idea that we should go around the world telling people how to live their lives. Everything changed 16 years ago on this very date. The horrific terrorist attacks against our country led to military action in Afghanistan to avenge the victims. Avenging the fallen quickly turned into imperialism. What was said to be a targeted mission to strike back at terrorists soon became an endless occupation. America’s longest war has cost taxpayers billions…

Sen. Rand Paul Calls For An End To The Longest War In American History

Published on August 29, 2017August 29, 2017 in Politics/World by Chris Dixon

For well over a decade and a half, the United States military has occupied the Middle Eastern country of Afghanistan. It began in the aftermath of the unprecedented terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001. With terrorists bringing down the Twin Towers and striking the Pentagon, then-President George W. Bush sought to strike back. But what started as an invasion for the purpose of vengeance has evolved into an endless occupation without realistic goals. Our strike against terrorists to ensure these attacks would never happen again changed into a rebuilding effort, one dedicated to forcing democracy on an undemocratic region and…

Rand Paul Conducts Diplomacy In Malta

Published on August 21, 2017August 21, 2017 in News/World by Eduardo Rivero

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is currently in the Maltese capital of Valetta, and has met with the President of the country, according to a report by Lovin Malta. President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, of the center-left Labour Party, met with the Senator briefly earlier today. The President then shared some photos of her meeting with Sen. Paul on Twitter, including a photo of him signing the visitor’s book in the presidential residence.

Barcelona and Beyond: How Politicians & Policy Wonks Play God With Your Life

Published on August 20, 2017August 20, 2017 in Politics/World by Ilana Mercer

No sooner do terrorists attack, than those who monopolize the conversation revert to abstractions: “terrorism returned,” “terror struck,” when, of course, not terrorism, but terrorists struck Barcelona, Spain, on August 17. Terrorists did the same days later, in Newcastle, England and in Turku, Finland. The men who murdered 14 in Spain, maiming and injuring over 100, 15 of them critically, are flesh-and-blood. Young, Muslim, Moroccan men with murder on their minds. It is the duty of governments to bar such men from civilized society, or keep such barbarians at bay. So, drop the Orwellian bafflegab when describing what elites have…

Van Kills Pedestrians In Deadly Barcelona Terror Attack

Published on August 19, 2017August 19, 2017 in News/World by Aislinn Murphy

PHOTO: CNN

A white van plowed through a crowd of tourists and residents in the Las Ramblas district of Barcelona on Thursday afternoon, killing 13 people and injuring as many as 100 others in what Spanish officials confirmed as a terror attack, reports Fox News. Shortly after the van travelled 1,800 feet down the famous promenade, swerving back and forth to hit as many people as possible, Catalan police arrested two people in connection with the attack. A manhunt is underway to apprehend the driver of the van, who is still at large.

How To Handle North Korea

Published on August 14, 2017August 14, 2017 in World by Luis Lopez

After recently calling for “fire and fury” against North Korea, President Trump has been criticized for adopting such a harsh tone. Top cabinet members such as James Mattis and Rex Tillerson were quick to defend Trump by saying that he spoke “in a language that Kim Jong-un can understand.” Since that statement, President Trump has doubled down on his words, citing that maybe he “wasn’t tough enough.” What the American people can safely conclude from Trump’s tone is that the current administration will be taking a hard-line approach towards North Korea. Such a hard-line approach will certainly cause concerns on…

Christopher Hitchens: Premature Anti-Castroite

Published on August 7, 2017August 7, 2017 in Politics/World by Ron Capshaw

Nearing the end of his life, Christopher Hitchens no longer considered himself a Trotskyite, or even a socialist. But he never repudiated his Vietnam-era politics, and to his dying day praised the “heroic” Vietcong, despite Ho Chi Minh’s obvious Stalinist-style politics and how said politics were murderously applied after Saigon fell (Hitchens, like others in the New Left, blamed Minh and Pol Pot’s savagery on America’s relentless bombing campaign). But Hitchens departed from the New Left from the very beginning by criticizing one of their sacred cows: Fidel Castro. Like Lee Harvey Oswald (who, as a gun-brandishing Marxist-spouting deadbeat, would…

Patriotic Venezuelan Paramilitaries Fail In Attempt To Take Control

Published on August 6, 2017August 6, 2017 in News/World by Eduardo Rivero

A group of armed Venezuelan patriots, led by a former army officer, were unsuccessful in an attempted anti-government rebellion on Sunday, according to reports. In a video released to the public, the leader of the faction, Capt. Juan Caguaripano, declared, “We are united now, more than ever, with the brave people of Venezuela who do not recognize the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro’s murderous tyranny.”

Spain At The Brink

Published on August 6, 2017 in History/World by Ron Capshaw

Time has not been kind to the Spanish Civil War, which, among the Left at least, ranks up there with World War II as “the good war.” Russian declassified documents show that Stalin was trying to import his horrific Purge Trials into Loyalist Spain by attempting to execute en masse his Spanish opposition in the form of non-Stalinist but authentically anti-fascist frontline military units on trumped-up charges of being “fascist spies.” On his orders, his plaything, the Stalinist-dominated Loyalist government used their secret police to hunt down and execute these “fascists.” Unfortunately for those who defended the necessity of these…

Letter from England 2: Europe and the Culture War

Published on August 2, 2017August 2, 2017 in Culture/Economics/Politics/World by Sean Gabb

Antonio Gramsci

If I were to draw up a list of the problems facing my country, and then to discuss their nature and possible solutions, I might be starting work on a rather long book. Instead, I will confine myself to what I think are the two most immediately pressing, and that are within the direct control of the British Government. These are our withdrawal from the European Union and the state of our so far uncontested culture war. I begin with Europe. When we voted, in June 2016, to leave the European Union, we were plainly willing an end without willing…

Like Trump, Nixon Also Wanted Allies To Supply Their Own Protection

Published on July 28, 2017July 28, 2017 in Politics/World by Ron Capshaw

Once upon a time, a Republican president formulated a doctrine that had little to do with regime change, and demanded that countries previously protected by the US military look to their own defense. Quickly into his first term, then-President Richard Nixon in 1969 announced “the Nixon Doctrine” which asserted that the nation’s Cold War allies in Asia would have to provide for their own protection. This policy, which reversed the thrust of US foreign policy for the last 20 years, was linked to the president’s campaign promise for “peace with honor” regarding US forces in Vietnam. By 1968, even some…

Netanyahu to Europe: “Secure Your Borders”

Published on July 22, 2017July 22, 2017 in News/World by Eduardo Rivero

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was caught on a hot mic earlier this week calling upon Eastern European leaders to adopt tougher immigration policies to keep their nations secure, according to a report by the Times of Israel. Netanyahu stated that he believes in the free movement of goods, “but not people”. “Secure your borders. Secure your borders,” he said, repeating for emphasis. The Israeli leader stressed the effectiveness of border walls, noting that his nation had “blocked the border not only in Egypt but in the Golan Heights.”

Letter from England 1: Setting the Scene

Published on July 16, 2017July 17, 2017 in History/Politics/World by Sean Gabb

MAIDENHEAD, ENGLAND - JUNE 09: British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre on June 9, 2017 in Maidenhead, England. After a snap election was called, the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday following a closely fought election. The results from across the country are being counted and an overall result is expected in the early hours. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

I have been asked to write a weekly column on British politics. Since I am writing for a largely American readership, and since Americans mostly know little of what happens outside their own country, I think it would be best if I were to begin with a brief overview not only of what is happening here, but also of what has been happening for quite some time. David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010 at the head of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. The Conservatives had won more seats than any other party in the House of Commons, but fallen short…

The Doomsday Clock Just Moved Closer

Published on July 8, 2017July 8, 2017 in World by Ron Capshaw

True to form, North Korea yet again used July 4 to fire a missile, but this time it was more alarming and effective than merely sputtering and dropping into the ocean. This week, the missile test showed that the communist regime can, as threatened, hit the US mainland with a nuclear bomb. David Wright, a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, calculated the launch and ascertained had the missile followed a “normal trajectory,” it could have hit Alaska. In response, the US and South fired missiles into the sea, demonstrating the capability of the missiles to strike deep within…

Vietnamese Repression Cannot Keep Pace With The Internet

Published on July 3, 2017July 6, 2017 in Politics/World by Ron Capshaw

In an example confirming why conservatives and libertarians fight back against Democratic attempts to control the Internet, the communist dictatorship of Vietnam is cracking down on and even jailing those who use social media. The reason is that dissidents in the Stalinist-style country are using the Internet as a meeting place of sorts to organize resistance to the regime’s policies. Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said the Internet is a considerable threat to the power of the Vietnamese government because it gives individuals a medium to expose its repressive behavior: “Facebook is being used as an organizing tool, as…

An Evening with Enoch Powell, 22nd November 1986

Published on June 28, 2017 in History/Politics/World by Sean Gabb

Note: This is an exact transcript from one of the handwritten volumes of my Diary. I have kept this, with occasional lapses, since I was fifteen. It currently runs to about five million words. Most entries are of no interest to anyone else. Many are a waste of paper and ink. Some are too shocking or embarrassing ever to be published. Here and there, nevertheless, are entries of actual value. This is one of them. SIG Saturday 22nd November 1986 No concert after all last night. Instead to Newham North East Conservative Club, to see Simon Pearce – and, much…

Trump Administration Threatens Second Major Strike Against Assad’s Military

Published on June 27, 2017June 27, 2017 in News/World by Eduardo Rivero

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer released a statement on Monday to media outlets which accused the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad of plotting a chemical weapons attack against civilians. The statement said the following: “The United States has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children. The activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4, 2017 chemical weapons attack. As we have previously stated, the United States is in Syria to eliminate the Islamic State of Iraq and…

The American Architects of The South-African Catastrophe

Published on June 25, 2017June 25, 2017 in World by Ilana Mercer

Yes, it has happened. A mere 23 years after the 1994 transition, in South Africa, to raw ripe democracy, six years following the publication of a wide-ranging analysis of that catastrophe, Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa, a Beltway libertarian think tank has convened to address the problem that is South Africa. The reference is to a CATO “Policy Forum,” euphemized as “South Africa at a Crossroad.” One of the individuals to headline the “Forum” is Princeton Lyman, described in a CATO email tease as having “served as the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa at…

U.S. Navy Fighter Jet Shoots Down Syrian Aircraft After Alleged Bombing Of Kurds

Published on June 19, 2017June 19, 2017 in News/World by Eduardo Rivero

In a statement given by the Department of Defense to various media outlets, the U.S. military confirmed that a US F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet had shot down a Syrian SU-22 aircraft, which had allegedly bombed the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. “The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat,” the Pentagon said. The Syrian Democratic Forces backed the U.S. claim, accusing the Syrian government of having “mounted large-scale attacks using planes, artillery, and tanks” against them.

Wei Qi in the Persian Gulf

Published on June 16, 2017June 16, 2017 in World by Fernando Reyes, Jr.

Amidst increasingly heinous accusations of Russian election interference, growing dissidence amongst the domestic United States, and the ever-enduring Rodman-Kim romance saga hailed as soft diplomacy, President Trump finds himself beset on all sides by both danger and opportunity. None are more apparent than the growing regional tensions in the Persian Gulf. To achieve an early-term masterstroke of foreign policy acumen, Trump will not find success in playing the conventional role, but in playing wei qi. Let’s rewind a bit: On June 5, 2017, a joint action was issued by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and the Maldives…

The European Migrant Crisis and Historical Amnesia: A Personal Testament from Austria

Published on June 16, 2017June 16, 2017 in World by Roy Warden

The migrant crisis has, like an uncontrolled blaze tumbling through a dense forest, left few parts of Europe untouched. Stories of refugees abounded even in the part of Austria known as Burgenland, where I resided for a week during my travels on the Continent back in January. I was staying with the great-granddaughter of my great-great-grandmother’s sister, who happened to live in the small town of Breitenbrunn. This was the same town from which my great-great-grandparents emigrated in the later half of the nineteenth century to the United States in search of a better life. Burgenland, as with much of…

Qatar’s Leader Suggests Coup Against Trump, Throws Arab NATO Proposal Into Doubt

Published on June 2, 2017June 6, 2017 in News/World by Eduardo Rivero

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Qatari Emir Hamad Al-Thani has thrown the Trump administration’s Arab NATO proposal into disarray by apparently suggesting a coup against President Trump and sparking up a feud with other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Al-Thani stated that while Qatar’s relationship with the United States remains fairly good, there are “tensions“, and he believes “the situation will change because of the judicial investigations into the President’s abuses.” The Emir’s surprising remarks strongly suggest that Qatar believes Trump’s grip on power is tenuous and that there is a strong possibility he may be impeached or forced to resign. His description of Trump’s…

Paris Climate Agreement and the ‘America First’ Energy Plan

Published on June 1, 2017June 2, 2017 in Politics/World by Fred Palmer

President Donald Trump delivered one of his most important campaign speeches at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota on May 26, 2016. During the headlines-making speech, Trump presented his “America First Energy Plan,” a fundamentally different path for the U.S. fossil-fuel industry. Trump’s plan called for a significant expansion of the oil, natural gas, and clean-coal industries. In the same speech, the future president pledged to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which had been signed by President Barack Obama in 2016. The Paris agreement calls for America to drastically reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions in the name…

Libertarian Maxime Bernier narrowly loses Canadian Conservative Party leadership election

Published on May 27, 2017May 27, 2017 in News/World by Eduardo Rivero

Maxime Bernier, Quebec MP and former Foreign Minister, narrowly lost his bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada on Saturday to Saskatchewan MP and former House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer by just 49% to Scheer’s 51%. Scheer is a close ally of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was criticized by libertarians during his tenure for his support for Keynesian-style stimulus spending. The relatively bland and generic Scheer is generally associated with the party establishment, while Bernier was seen as an outsider candidate. Bernier was believed to be the frontrunner in this race after the impromptu withdrawal of fellow outsider…

The hypocrisy of Hillary Clinton supporters against Marine Le Pen

Published on May 10, 2017May 9, 2017 in Politics/World by Chris Dixon

In 2016, politics was at a critical crossroads for the United States. After eight years of Barack Obama, both sides of the political spectrum viewed it as a major moment in history. Former President Obama had advanced the liberal agenda and electing a Democrat would help stabilize his progress. Conservatives viewed this election as a critical moment to reverse the perceived damage of the Obama legacy. In short, the hyperbole and rhetoric were running high. Clinton supporters took on the cause of electing the first female President. The case for American progress was clear. The American electorate could make history by…

Damned Lies And Statistics About Black-On-White Farm Murders In South Africa

Published on May 2, 2017May 2, 2017 in World by Ilana Mercer

Farming in South Africa is the most dangerous occupation in the world. Farmers there suffer more murders per-capita than any other community on earth outside a war zone. Since the dawn of democracy in the country, farming South Africa has been slaughtered by black South Africans in ways that would do Shaka Zulu proud. The Transvaal Agricultural Union’s numbers (purported to be the most reliable) are bolstered by Genocide Watch. By this assessment, South African farmers were being exterminated at the annual rate of 313 per 100,000 inhabitants, 3,000 since the election of the sainted Nelson Mandela (1994), two a…

If You Want to Make NATO Great Again, Kick Out Turkey

Published on April 21, 2017April 21, 2017 in Politics/World by Jerry Dunleavy

A Turkish flag (R) flies among others flags of NATO members during the North Atlantic Council (NAC) following Turkey's request for Article 4 consultations, at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, July 28, 2015. Turkey sought moral support for its campaign against militants in Syria and Iraq at an emergency meeting on Tuesday with its North Atlantic allies, with both NATO and Ankara playing down any idea of a call for military help from the alliance. Turkey requested urgent consultations with its 27 NATO partners in Brussels after stepping up its role in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State with air strikes, also hitting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in Iraq at the weekend. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

President Trump insisted throughout the presidential campaign (and even after being elected) that NATO was “obsolete”, mainly focusing on the fact that many of our European allies don’t put forward the appropriate proportion of their GDP toward their defense budgets and on the claim that the transatlantic organization doesn’t do enough to combat terrorism (the latter a far less fair criticism than the former, especially given the fact that the only time the group has invoked its Article 5 mutual defense provision was to assist the United States in the wake of the September 11th attacks). President Trump recently…

Trump, the MOAB, & a Red Line Against ISIS

Published on April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 in Politics/World by Jerry Dunleavy

In 2012, President Obama laid down his now-infamous “red line” speech against Bashar al-Assad, warning that the use of chemical weapons by Syria would result in “enormous consequences” from the United States – consequences that America proved both utterly unwilling and unable to follow through on when Assad inevitably used chemical weapons against rebel forces near Damascus in 2013, killing many hundreds of civilians, including over a hundred children. But when Assad decided to wantonly use chemical weapons again in 2017 there was a new President in the White House, and, 59 Tomahawk cruise missile strikes against Al Shayrat airbase…

The Enigma of North Korean Film

Published on April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 in Culture/World by Michael McGrady

If you have read in my past columns, I have a “love-affair” with North Korea. No, I don’t want to defect like James Joseph Dresnok did in the 1950s; but, more or less, I hold a deference for the people that comprise the true makeup of the oppressed population. To our avail, analysts of North Korea long question the grip that the country has on its people. Obviously, the one thing that prevents an uprising against a despotic government is an effective international and domestic propaganda machine that demonizes the United States as imperialists, etc.

Putin Shows Heroic Leadership as Trump is Cucked by Neocons in Syria

Published on April 10, 2017April 10, 2017 in Politics/World by Shane Trejo

Donald Trump faced the first true test of his Presidency this past week, and failed abysmally. After a chemical attack in Syria that was attributed without any real evidence to President Bashir al-Assad, Trump threw his relatively non-interventionist stance in the trash immediately to appease the neocons and other Washington D.C. swamp rats, launching airstrikes against the Syrian government. While Trump faltered, a truly masculine leader with big hands reacted like a professional. Vladimir Putin refused to budge to the neocon war machine and throw Assad under the bus at their behest. He refused to feed into the globalist propaganda…

Domino Theory Validated

Published on April 10, 2017April 10, 2017 in Politics/World by Ron Capshaw

Once during an interview, conservative actor Brian Dennehy was asked if he ever questioned the intellectual foundations of the Cold War; he answered in the affirmative, citing as an example his denouncement of the “Domino Theory” while in high school during the height of the Cold War, the early 1960s. Whether true or not, and one should bear in mind that on occasion, Dennehy has claimed to have fought in Vietnam when in actuality he was stationed in the Pacific, this is an example of how the Domino Theory has been mocked and blamed for leading the U.S. into the…

Senator Rand Paul denounces Syrian airstrikes

Published on April 7, 2017April 7, 2017 in Politics/World by Chris Dixon

FILE - This April 25, 2014 file photo shows Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaking at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass. Battling “the soft bigotry of low expectations” with national education goals was former Republican President George W. Bush’s campaign mantra. But many of his party’s would-be successors are calling for just the opposite of government-set rules, splitting the party over education policy as the GOP class of 2016 presidential hopefuls takes shape. Jeb Bush, who supports a national education policy, and Rand Paul, who abhors the idea, personify the divide. Forty-four states voluntarily participate in standards developed in part by GOP governors. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)

When news broke Thursday night that President Donald Trump had launched airstrikes in war torn Syria, the response from across America was swift. President Trump, a longtime critic of Syrian intervention, had gone against his own word after chemical attacks were allegedly carried out by the Syrian government under President Bashir al-Assad. Senator Rand Paul denounced the airstrikes in a series of tweets.

Senator Tom Cotton predictably calls for an invasion of Syria

Published on April 6, 2017April 5, 2017 in Politics/World by Chris Dixon

Senator Tom Cotton has become one of most ambitious warhawks in not only the United States Senate, but all of Congress. Perhaps only rivaled by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, he seldom misses an opportunity to push an aggressive tone and call for an escalation of action. Syria is no different.

Jihad’s Triumph On Westminster Bridge

Published on March 31, 2017March 31, 2017 in Culture/Politics/World by Ilana Mercer

The attacks keep coming. Murder or maiming by Muslims living among us is an almost daily occurrence in the West. The latest was knifeman Khalid Masood, who plowed a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, London, and then proceeded to slash at them with a 12-inch blade. Immoral media counted five dead, with the killer. In addition to the four murdered, 50 people were injured. Promptly did Prime Minister Theresa May get her Churchill on: “[W]e are not afraid and our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism.” How easy it is to wax fat from the safety…

North Korea, A Desperate Foe with the Courage of Despair

Published on March 27, 2017May 21, 2017 in History/Politics/World by Michael Rodgers

North Korea

One of the most insightful observations made by Sun Tzu in his seminal masterwork, The Art of War, is the following: “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.” Tu Mu was more specific in his elaboration on the point; the ancient Chinese poet said the enemy must be made to think “that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair.” The beauty of Sun Tzu’s tome is in its timelessness; the succinct profundity of his proverbs is as relevant today as it…

Weeping For the Dictator: Hollywood and Chavez

Published on March 21, 2017March 20, 2017 in Politics/World by Ron Capshaw

It was more than fitting that Hugo Chavez died in 2013 on the 60th anniversary of Josef Stalin’s death. Although Chavez, with his relatively meager police apparatus, could not match the 20th-century leading mass murderer in body counts, he nevertheless emulated the Soviet leader. Both made themselves leaders for life, outlawed opposition, created a state-run media, and transformed formerly independent government branches into their yes men. Both manufactured trumped up charges against opponents.

Elian Gonzales: The Left’s Dirty Little Secret

Published on March 11, 2017March 6, 2017 in Politics/World by Ron Capshaw

Today, as the Left decries the lawful deportation of illegal immigrants and a ban temporarily halting their entry into the US it is telling that less than twenty years ago they backed the use of federal troops to extract an illegal from a private home and send him back to a totalitarian country his mother tried to escape with him from. Historians argue that events should be studied only after fifty years has passed. Only from that vantage point can all the complexities of the event be taken in. Not so with the Elian Gonzales case; its features were evident…

Pat Buchanan and Putin: Finding Each Other

Published on March 6, 2017March 6, 2017 in Politics/World by Ron Capshaw

Whether Donald Trump is indeed a Putin sympathizer as charged by Democrats and even some Republicans, one of his speakers is definitely supportive of the former KGB spook. Pat Buchanan, who was decidedly anti-Soviet when serving in the Reagan administration, has expressed admiration for Putin and attacked Obama’s sanctions on Russia over Putin invading neighboring Ukraine. More than Buchanan’s infamous isolationism was at play here; the social conservative Buchanan has found commonality with the Stalin-praising Putin for cracking down on Russian homosexuals. Not only were Russian security interests at stake in the Ukraine, according to Buchanan, but also at stake was…

Disabled lawmaker speaks out against aborting babies because of disabilities

Published on February 6, 2017 in Philosophy/Politics/World by Chris Dixon

Abortion continues to be a controversial topic in society. For progressive extremists and liberal feminists, the practice is seen as a woman’s rights issue. But for many others, it is an issue about life and the right of an unborn child to live. The reasons why women get abortions vary. Some do it because of the child being doomed to death or because their own life is in danger. Others choose abortion because they simply do not want a child and, rather than at least give the child a chance at life through adoption, they opt for the inhumane medical…

Why Tulsi Gabbard’s visit to Syria was the right thing to do

Published on February 5, 2017February 5, 2017 in Politics/World by Chris Dixon

When news broke that Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard had personally and secretly visited Syria, outcry erupted in Washington D.C. almost immediately. The political establishment greeted the news with outrage, with many taking issue with her meeting with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. The main problem at hand was the claim that her meeting legitimized the embattled leader. But is this trip to Syria as bad as her critics make it sound?

Make Jerusalem Safe Again

Published on January 28, 2017January 28, 2017 in World by Ilana Mercer

Relocating the American Embassy to Jerusalem, as President Donald Trump has pledged to do, is more than symbolic. It’s what Christians should be praying for if they value celebrating future Easter Holy Weeks, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, located in Jerusalem’s Old City. With such a forceful gesture, the Trump Administration will be affirming, for once and for all, the undivided Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State. There’s a reason Muslims living in Israel proper—1.5 million of them—don’t migrate to the adjacent Palestinian Authority. They’re better off in Israel. Should Jerusalem, East and West, be recognized…

President Trump to sign executive order restricting refugees from seven countries

Published on January 24, 2017January 24, 2017 in News/Politics/World by Chris Dixon

Republican President Donald Trump has been active since he took office last Friday. Wasting no time on priorities and fulfilling campaign promises, he has followed through on slamming the brakes on Obamacare enforcement and stepping up against abortion. If there was any doubt as to what kind of President he would be, these doubts are quickly being erased. Another topic appears to be getting addressed now as well, which is immigration and terrorism. According to reports, President Trump is preparing to sign executive orders restricting immigration from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. This undoubtedly will cause shockwaves among the…

The selective outrage over foreign influence in American politics

Published on January 24, 2017January 23, 2017 in Politics/World by Chris Dixon

It almost feels as if the Red Scare is back from the distant pages of history. The dead and gone period has come back for the modern era, with fresh fear of the Russian menace. This time, the nation is gripped with the fear that our presidential election was tampered with. Is President Donald Trump a Russian plant? Was his rise to power aided by a foreign influence, such as the Russian government? The possibilities may very well be there and for many that is a cause for fear. Is this fear justified? Absolutely. American politics should be dictated by…

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