Irrelevancy Commands No Respect

Obama Is Irrelevant Abroad and Now Disliked at Home, Yorkshire Post, April 29, 2014. "A year ago, Obama’s highest Gallup rankings were on foreign affairs. But by February, a majority of Americans believed the world’s leaders had little respect for the U.S. president. In late March, CBS found that only 36 percent of Americans approved of his foreign policy. Even Obamacare is more popular."

Grand Strategy, Political Economy, and Free Trade

The Limits of Free Trade, Newsday, April 18, 2014. "Since the Second World War, the United States has carried the banner of free trade. It’s not just a slogan: advancing economic freedom has been a central pillar of American grand strategy. But recently, the limits of that strategy have become clear."

The Brexit Prize and the IEA

And the Prize for Britain’s Exit to the EU Goes To . . ., Heritage Foundation Foundry, April 11, 2014. "The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in London awarded its prestigious “Brexit Prize,” a 100,000 euro award for the best plan for a British exit from the European Union (EU), earlier this week. The winner, Iain Mansfield, is the director of trade and investment at the British embassy in the Philippines. Thankfully, there are evidently still a few civil servants who have not succumbed to the British establishment’s decades-long bias in favor of the EU."

Favors Don't Work in International Affairs

The Genesis of Really Bad Ideas, Newsday, April 4, 2014. "Most bad ideas in the world grow from a few seeds. And there is no seed more dangerous than the belief that we can make other places see things our way by tossing out favors like candy at Halloween."

Against the ATT, Again

Arms Trade Treaty: Congress Warns White House on Backdoor Implementation, Heritage Foundation Foundry, April 3, 3014. "On the first anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), Senator Jerry Moran (R–KS) and Representative Mike Kelly (R–PA) sent powerful messages rejecting the White House’s efforts to implement the treaty outside the ratification process."

Develop First, Cancel Second

Tomahawk Cancellation an Error of Defense Strategy and Alliance Policy, with Steve Bucci, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4190, April 2, 2014. "Earlier this month, the U.S. Navy announced that it will stop buying Tomahawk cruise missiles in fiscal year (FY) 2016 and will seek to field a replacement within a decade. This decision is an error of both defense strategy and alliance policy. Congress should reject the Navy’s plans and require it to continue buying a sufficient number of Tomahawks annually to keep production lines open and unit costs affordable until a replacement can be effectively deployed into service, and until Britain and Australia (which use or plan to use the Tomahawk), after close consultation with the U.S., are satisfied that this replacement will affordably offer them equivalent or superior capabilities to the Tomahawk."