What's On Syllabi at Yale?

Re: Mearsheimer at Yale, Contentions, July 30, 2009. "My friend Adam Hirst takes Prof. Bruce Russett of Yale moderately to task for assigning readings from Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, including their 2006 magnum opus on 'The Israel Lobby,' in a course on 'Classics of World Politics' and a week on 'Contemporary Realism.' I won’t pretend to speak for Prof. Russett on this subject. But I will offer a personal perspective."

Hague on Britain's Strategic Options

Will Britain Chose 'Strategic Shrinkage?', Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 24, 2009. "As Britain embarks on its first defense review since 1998, both press and official comments continue to hint that spending cuts are in the offing. The argument, to the extent there is one, is that since the U.S. does it all, and can pay for it all, Britain does not need to over-insure in expensive capabilities, especially those relevant to land war. This is a curious argument to make at precisely the moment when the U.S., under President Obama, is embarking on a procurement holiday. Equally wrong-headed is the increasingly popular argument that Britain no longer needs its strategic deterrent: an alliance of tightwads, nuclear weapon haters, and advocates for defense spending realignment threatens to disarm Britain unilaterally."

Can Ministers Think?

A Painful Admission of Incapability, Contentions, July 23, 2009. "Jacqui Smith was Britain’s Home Secretary from late June 2007 through early June 2009. She was ultimately forced to resign when, as part of the ongoing scandal of parliamentary-expense claims, it was discovered that her husband had requested reimbursement for pornographic movies. Quite enough has been said about this episode, which reflected poorly not on Ms. Smith, but on her husband and the expense system. But yesterday, the BBC reported that she has given a thoroughly depressing interview to Total Politics magazine. She admits that she had 'never run a major organization' before taking over the Home Office, and that if she did a good job it was 'more by luck than by any kind of development of [my] skills.' "

The IMF and OECD on Britain's Finances

Britain's Financial Quagmire, Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 21, 2009. "The International Monetary Fund has just published its annual “Staff Report” on Britain’s economy. It makes for grim reading. The IMF projects that Britain’s national debt will grow from 43% of GDP in 2007/08 to 73% of GDP in 2009/10. Its budget deficit in 2007/08 was 2.4% of GDP. By 2009/10, it will be 12.8%. And even those projections, though more pessimistic than the government’s widely-panned forecasts, may be too optimistic: the most recent public borrowing figures show that the pace of borrowing is accelerating as revenues fall. All due to the recession, you say? Not so, say both the government and the IMF . . . ."

When Did Britain and the US Diverge?

Barone on the Anglo-American Divergence, Contentions, July 21, 2009. "Michael Barone has a column today at Real Clear Politics that’s summed up by its title: “Britain and United States Go In Different Directions.” His thesis is cogent, and to an extent correct: the Obama Administration is trying to drag the U.S. to the left (he might well have said that the Administration is trying to Europeanize it), whereas in Britain, the next government looks likely to be Conservative, and to be more interested in shrinking the state (or at least restraining its growth) than expanding it. This divergence is limited only by the fact that it’s not easy to change the direction of politics: whatever the situation, no matter what the crisis, the status quo has inertia on its side. Arguing with Michael Barone about U.S. politics is a losing proposition. But he does miss an important piece of the British context . . . ."

A Troubling Meme on the Special Relationship

Sir Michael Howard on the Special Relationship, Contentions, July 18, 2009. "In the latest Times Literary Supplement, Sir Michael Howard, in the course of a largely admiring review of two recent works on Winston Churchill, makes a claim that made me pause. According to Sir Michael, 'The myth of the “special relationship” that Churchill invented and that so many of his admirers on both sides of the Atlantic continue to propagate is briskly demolished. . . . Throughout the war the United States consulted her own interests, as any state is bound to do: and these did not extend to helping Britain either to remain solvent or to retain any part of her empire once the war was over.' I am, I suppose, one of those propagating admirers."

Two Things Britain and the US Need to Do on Defense

Recognizing, and Averting, A Threat to the Special Relationship, Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 17, 2009. "Yesterday, the UK National Defence Association released the latest in a series of reports on Britain’s armed forces. Titled 'A Compelling Necessity,' it makes the case for an increase in British defense spending, in spite of the economic downturn, in order to restore and preserve Britain’s defenses. Of particular importance is the statement by economist Irwin Stelzer, who correctly notes in report’s foreword that, while the U.S. and Britain face the same threats – international terrorism and a nuclear-armed North Korea and Iran, among others – Britain needs to shore up its forces if the Special Relationship is to endure."

Why Judge Sotomayor's Disclaimer Doesn't Mean What It Seems

Judge Sotomayor on Foreign and International Law, Contentions, July 16, 2009. "Yesterday, in response to a question from Sen. Coburn (R-OK) asking whether there is no authority for a Supreme Court justice to utilize foreign law in terms of making decisions based on the Constitution or statutes, Judge Sotomayor gave what appeared to be an unambiguous answer."

My Favorite Book

Booklist: David Potter’s Impending Crisis, New Ledger, July 16, 2009. "I keep, mentally, a short list of revelatory works. These are not simply great books. They are books that, because they contain or refute a world view, reveal (or, at least, revealed to me) a new way of thinking about large subjects. The list does not contain any of the obvious works: anyone who is not influenced by Thucydides, Gibbon, Burke, or Smith is simply not very smart, and classics like these are included on any list of worthwhile reads by right. My list fluctuates slightly towards its tail, depending on the times and my concerns. Lower down in the list are B.G. Burkett’s Stolen Valor, which will demolish everything you think you know about Vietnam; Correlli Barnett’s Collapse of British Power, a remarkably angry work of cultural history and imperial strategy; Christopher Andrew’s Sword and the Shield, the story of the KGB and of the greatest intelligence coup of the Cold War; and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a conservative epic of grand strategy. At the top of the list sits, securely, David M. Potter’s The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861."

Mexico, Guns, and the U.S.

Delegate Norton Calls on Mexico to Be “Very, Very Angry” With U.S., Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 16, 2009. "In a recent meeting of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) told Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division within the Justice Department, that it was 'extremely embarrassing that Mexico has been as kind to us.' According to Delegate Norton, the U.S. bears primary responsibility for the armed lawlessness of Mexico’s drug cartels. From the Mexican perspective, Delegate Norton argued the U.S. is 'essentially shipping down arms to kill my people'. If she were Mexican, she 'would have been very, very angry at the Big Kahuna in the north.' "

Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity

Happy Bastille Day!, Contentions, July 14, 2009. "There are two traditional ways to mark Bastille Day. First, parades. This year’s festivities were noteworthy for the inclusion of 400 Indian troops, to celebrate, as AFP put it, France’s “strategic relationship with the world’s biggest democracy.” Personally, I thought Clive of India pretty much put an end to Franco-Indian ties, but it turns out that AFP is referring to India’s appetite for France’s nuclear reactors and world-beating military technology (insert joke here). Why is it that European “strategic relationships” are mostly about money? The other way to celebrate is by burning cars and attacking the police."

What I'll Be Working On For The Next Year

Britain's Defense Review, Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 13, 2009. "On Tuesday, the British Government announced that it is beginning a process that will lead to a Defense Review in 2010. The review will take place in two parts. First, a Green Paper will assess the purposes and conduct of British defense policy. Then, after the general election, a broader defense review, with cost estimates, will be published. There is no question: Britain needs a defense review. It has not had one since 1998. And though that review has been supplemented several times post-9/11, it was never as coherent a statement of defense doctrine as legend has made it out to be. But there are many questions to be asked about this announcement, both on form and substance."

US-UK Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty

The U.S.-U.K. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty Merits Early Consideration, Heritage Foundation WebMemo #2542, July 13, 2009. "The U.S.-U.K. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty will permit the U.S. to trade most defense articles with Great Britain without an export license or other written authorization."

The UN Teaches A Lesson In Sudan

When Disarmament Equals Death, Contentions, July 11, 2009. "David B. Kopel, the Research Director of the Independence Institute, and two of his colleagues related a fascinating and depressing story about the disarmament process in Sudan. In 2005, the U.S. brokered the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which is supposed to devolve most power in southern Sudan to an autonomous government. Part of this process was the disarmament of civilians, and of militias that were not to be incorporated into the Sudan People’s Liberation Army."

Wow, She Really Said That

What Did Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg Mean?, Contentions, July 11, 2009. "From her upcoming Sunday interview with the New York Times: 'Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe [v. Wade] was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion.' "

On Academic Freedom

Freedom Without Responsibility, Contentions, July 11, 2009. "The facts of the case are not in dispute. On January 19, 2009, UCSB Sociology Professor William Robinson, then engaged in teaching a course on globalization, 'sent an email to students comparing the Israeli occupation of Gaza with the Nazi-controlled Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.' The email contained 42 photos, which Robinson, who specializes in Latin America, had pulled off of the internet, and, among other commentary, the following passage: 'Gaza is Israel’s Warsaw . . .' "

Why I'm Cynical About Big Government

G8: Summits, Cynicism, and the Activist State, New Ledger, July 10, 2009. "The Group of Eight summit that closes on Friday is being hosted by Italy in L’Aquila. The summit was to have been held in La Maddalena, on Sardinia, but the venue was shifted after an earthquake hit L’Aquila in April as a “show of solidarity” with the victims. The move sums up the politics of gesture that these all too frequent summits embody. This one comes only two months after the G-20 meeting in London, and two months before the next G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, which will be the third such assembly in a year. One summit is an adventure; two are routine. After that, it’s publicity by hyperactivity, and activity as a substitute for achievement."

No One Notices When Brown Comes To Town

Brown Presides Over A Diminished Britain, Yorkshire Post, July 9, 2009. "Gordon Brown joined other world leaders in Italy this week for the annual G8 summit. The problem, from his perspective, is that no-one notices when Gordon comes to town." This op-ed was written in my personal capacity.

Will Britain Shoot Down the F-35?

Is The British Purchase of the F-35 at Risk?, Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 8, 2009. "The British Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published a “Strategic Security Review.” The IPPR is not just any think tank: in the 1990s, its work formed the basis for many of the domestic programs that New Labour undertook when it came into power in 1997. It has since lost a little of its former eminence, and has never been a leading voice in defense and security affairs, but it is still one of the largest, best funded, and best connected think tanks in Britain. Among the conclusions of the “Review,” which was composed by a commission that included co-chairman Lord George Robertson, a former NATO Secretary General and British Secretary of State for Defense, is the finding that Britain should consider the “complete cancellation of some equipment programs.” Specifically at risk are the new Type 45 air defense destroyer, the Astute class of hunter-killer submarines, Britain’s two new aircraft carriers, and the F-35 fighter, commonly known as the Joint Strike Fighter."

First Venezuela, Then Honduras

The Honduran Re-Run, Contentions, July 7, 2009. "Jamie Kirchick, Rich Richman, and J.G. Thayer have offered persuasive comments on the Honduran crisis, which is rapidly turning into a kind of political Rorschach test. If you are the Christian Science Monitor, you sigh that “The fact a military coup occurred apparently against U.S. wishes suggests how American dominance in the region has waned,” a verdict that nicely condemns Zelaya’s ouster as a coup, insinuates that the U.S. may secretly have been involved in it, and uses the occasion to applaud the decline and fall of the American empire. If, like the Obama Administration, you want to ‘engage’ America’s enemies into placidity, Honduras offers an opportunity to stand alongside Hugo Chavez and the Castros in defense of what is implausibly called democracy."

Contradictory Aims at the G-8 Summit

Summit Meets, World Yawns, Contentions, July 6, 2009. "This week, on July 8-10, Italy will host the G8 Summit in L’Aquila. Italian planning for the Summit has emphasized what it asserts is the need to make the G8 “more representative and more efficient” by involving China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and Egypt, and to “to bring the institutions closer to people by focusing on their real problems, with the financial and economic crisis toping the list” by developing a “new global governance” structure. Italy has also stated that it plans to “[step] up the drive for consensus ahead of the UN conference on the climate in Copenhagen,” to promote “dialogues between producers and consumers [of energy] with the objective of reaching a stable prize [sic, for price] scheme,” and to oppose “food protectionism.” These goals are all delightfully contradictory."

Washington's First Farewell Address

Happy in the Confirmation of Our Independence and Sovereignty, Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 3, 2009. "On December 23, 1783, General George Washington resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress, which met then in the State House in Annapolis. . . . And his words were great ones, worthy of appreciation then, and of remembrance now."

The Five Myths of US Defense Spending

Demystifying Defense: Exposing Myths About US Military Expenditures, Harvard International Review, Spring 2009, Vol. 31, No. 1. "The most serious impediments to a serious discussion of defense spending are the myths that surround it. Until these myths are cleared away, no rational debate regarding what the US and its allies around the world should do to secure their interests is possible. The most urgent need, therefore, is for politicians and the public to know how much the US and other powers spend, to place these expenditures and their trends in historical context, to weigh the dangers of both excessive and insufficient defense spending, to understand why the US and the world's democracies maintain armed forces, and why the US spends so much relative to its potential adversaries. Absent this knowledge, the political process that shapes defense spending in democracies will not work effectively, and their defense will suffer. In short, for today's democracies, defense spending is not an economic problem. A people who lack the will to pay will eventually find they are a target for those who have the will to fight."

How About Just Getting Out Of The Way?

Transatlantic Travel Stupidities, Contentions, July 1, 2009. "There’s something about travel that seems to bring out the worst in both the American and British governments. Exhibit A is American: the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. Introduced by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and John Ensign (R-NV), the Act would impose a $10 fee on visitors coming from visa waiver countries."

Is the Left Serious About Science?

Faith-Based Science, Indeed, Contentions, July 1, 2009. "My colleague at Heritage, Mike Gonzalez, points out a fascinating report available through the Competitive Enterprise Institute. It consists of the leaked work of EPA veteran Dr. Alan Carlin, and makes a serious argument that 'We have become increasingly concerned that EPA and many other agencies and countries have paid too little attention to the science of global warming…. the EPA is largely relying on scientific findings that are, by early 2009, largely 3 years or more out of date.' Dr. Carlin’s paper is substantial and deserves to be read in its entirety. But his takeaway is clear: the best explanations for global temperature fluctuations are changes in the amount of energy emitted by the sun, and, especially, oscillations in the temperatures of the oceans. The explanatory power of CO2 levels is much weaker, and, over the past decade, almost non-existent. . . ."

In Britain, Guess Who's Guilty of Racism?

Jewish Schools in Britain at Risk, Contentions, July 1, 2009. Last week, three British judges ruled that JFS, formerly the Jews’ Free School, in north-west London, racially discriminated against an applicant. The school is state-funded. The school sought to discriminate in favor of Jewish applicants certified by the Chief Rabbi — a procedure formerly thought to be legal, as long as the school was oversubscribed and the discrimination was not based on ethnicity. The judges found that, contrary to a decision by a lower court, what had been “characterised as religious grounds were in fact racial grounds, despite their theological motivation.” In short, the judges held, Jews are an ethnicity, and therefore are not eligible to maintain state-supported schools discriminating in favor of Jewish students, no matter whether they are oversubscribed or not, because such discrimination would be inherently racist."