Contra Contra Land Mines

Why Liberals Are Wrong About Land Mines, Daily Signal, December 23, 2015. "One of the progressive left’s favorite causes is campaigning against land mines. The Obama administration naturally has promised to stop producing or buying anti-personnel land mines (APL). In addition, the administration has said it will to stop using mines outside the Korean Peninsula, and – eventually – accede to the Ottawa Convention, which bans anti-personnel mines entirely. Although this might sound great to some, land mines actually cause few civilian casualties, and are an important weapon for the U.S. military."

The Best Kind of Charity

Lessons in Charity for Mark Zuckerberg, Newsday, December 14, 2015. "The best kind of charity doesn’t promise expensive solutions. It provides opportunities that allow us to learn for ourselves — guided by parents who set standards, and in a nation that respects business and charity alike."

Russia and U.S. Grand Strategy

U.S. Comprehensive Strategy Toward Russia, with James Jay Carafano and others, Heritage Foundation Special Report #173, December 9, 2015. "Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has not had a coherent, comprehensive strategy toward Russia. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrates, the U.S. has paid a price for this failure and, of course, many of Russia’s neighbors have paid far higher prices. At the core of the U.S. failure has been an unwillingness to assess the nature of the Russian regime realistically and to base its policy on that assessment. Too often, the U.S. has relied on wishful thinking."

The Myths of U.S. Strategy in Europe

Available in PDF only. U.S. Strategy in Europe: Advice to Policymakers, American Foreign Policy Council Defense Dossier, November 15, 2015."The fundamental problem confronting American strategy in Europe is that the United States has forgotten that it needs to have its own strategy in Europe. Since the end of the Cold War, and with the important exception of the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, the U.S. has regarded Europe as an area where power politics no longer operate, and thus as an area that is reliably stable, peaceful, and prosperous. As a result, it has ignored the broader implications of Europe’s worsening security environment, and outsourced the effort to care for the future of the European continent to the European Union. Both of these approaches are wrong."

The Do-Nothing President

Whose Values Is Barack Obama Promoting in Syria?, Newsday, November 27, 2015. "The most serious problem with the Syrian refugees isn't that they'll bring terrorists with them. It's the war in Syria that made them refugees in the first place. President Barack Obama claims we have to admit refugees if we are to live up to our values. But he's the one who's sat on his hands as Syria burned."

Against the "Revolutionary" Climate Deal

Climate Pact a Bad Deal for the U.S., Newsday, November 22, 2015. "The nations of the world will gather in Paris later this month to negotiate a major climate change agreement. Most of the world's leaders will arrive in carbon-spewing private jets. It would be even more appropriate if they drove Volkswagens."

Against An International Investment Court

The U.S. Should Reject the European Commission’s Proposed Investment Court, with James Roberts and Riddhi Dasgupta, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4485, November 13, 2015. "The proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union, if negotiated successfully, will certainly contain a mechanism for resolving disputes related to the treaty. The current model for Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) panels is widely used, but also wrongly controversial, particularly in Europe. The European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU), has proposed that the TTIP create a new Investment Court System (ICS) to resolve such disputes.[1] The U.S. should firmly resist this proposal, which departs radically from the well-functioning ISDS system."

On Flying In A B-17

The Lady Wants to Fly, Weekly Standard, November 9, 2015. "In the Second World War, flying in a Boeing B-17—the iconic Flying Fortress—was dangerous beyond belief. Of the 12,731 bombers produced between 1937 and 1945, 4,754 were lost or written off in the course of operations, a loss rate of 37 percent. Ten Americans, the B-17’s standard crew, risked death on every mission. To fly in the plane is to remember that, and them. But what was a horror in 1943 is an honor today, for only 10 flying B-17s remain—1 in Britain, the other 9 in the United States. Of these, the finest, the most nearly fully original, is Yankee Lady, restored and owned by the Yankee Air Museum in Willow Run, Michigan, 35 miles west of Detroit. In late September, I joined a crew of seven museum volunteers for a roundtrip flight to London, Ontario."

Problems Brewing for the BRICS

This Country Club Has Problem Members, Newsday, October 31, 2015. "For the past 15 years, if you wanted to sound smart about the world, you talked about the rising power of the BRICs. Today, it's the struggles of the BRICs that are making news. But those weaknesses were there all along. The rise of the BRICs, as a term, was a triumph of slick marketing."

Freedom, Not Goals, Brings Development

The UN Has Yet to Learn Its Lesson, Newsday, October 18, 2015. "The announcement last week that Angus Deaton of Princeton University won the 2015 Nobel Prize in economics offers an opportunity to celebrate the gains the world has made, and to reflect on how we can do better. Unfortunately, the United Nations has not taken that opportunity."

Meet the Ohio Light Opera Company

Awake and Sing, Weekly Standard, October 12, 2015. "No works of the late Victorian age are remembered with more affection than those of Gilbert and Sullivan. Yet it’s not been easy to keep those masters of light opera on the professional stage. Since it closed in 1982, the D’Oyly Carte Company, the legendary troupe that staged Gilbert and Sullivan’s Savoy operas, was revived in 1988, and again in 2013​—​each time to limited success. Today, there is no Mikado, and certainly no Ruddigore, on or off Broadway, or playing in London’s West End. In addition to other challenges, the Victorian bards now face the perils of political correctness: Just a few weeks ago, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players canceled their planned production of The Mikado after accusations of racism."

When the Tory Music Stops

Tories Count on Labour’s Looniness – For Now, National Review Online, October 9, 2015. "The annual conference of Britain’s Conservative party, which commands a slender but welcome parliamentary majority after the May elections, wrapped up on Wednesday in Manchester. If last year’s conference was an exercise in nerves and jitters, this year’s was a display of confidence — coupled with quiet grumbles from within the party, and shouts of rage from outside of it."

Treating Energy As A Trade Commodity

The Economic and Geopolitical Benefits of Free Trade in Energy Resources, with Nicholas Loris, Luke Coffey, James Phillips, Dean Cheng, Ana Quintana, Lisa Curtis, and William Wilson, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #3072, October 9, 2015. "America has an abundance of natural resources, including sufficient energy reserves to provide Americans with affordable and reliable energy well into the future. With its plentiful reserves of coal, natural gas, and oil, the United States is already a global leader in energy production and has the potential to be a major supplier to the rest of the world. As is the case for many other countries around the world, the United States benefits from free trade because of private property rights. Individuals, in large part, have owned and had the ability to produce America’s natural resources—which is a primary reason why the U.S. is a global energy leader. Individuals extract and sell the energy sources, and the market—not Washington, D.C.—should determine where it goes. Allowing U.S. energy exports would provide a huge boon to the American economy, creating jobs, expanding the economy, and strengthening relationships with global trading partners and important allies."

Insiders and Outsiders, Risks and Safety

Tory Safety First Strategy Is Not Without Its Risks, Yorkshire Post, October 7, 2015. "One striking fact is that Conservative voters in Britain appear to be the only ones in both nations who aren’t hungering for an outsider. A new poll from ConservativeHome finds that safe George Osborne is now the Tory favourite to follow safe David Cameron as Prime Minister."

Contra the EU

Time for the U.S. to Rethink Its Support for the European Union, Daily Signal, October 4, 2015. "It is time for the U.S. to recognize that the policy of supporting the EU is now longer in the interests of the United States, or of Europe itself. The time when that policy was wise has now passed."

The Bear in the Desert

For Every Russian Tank Sent to Syria . . ., Newsday, October 2, 2015. "The Russian airstrikes in Syria make it clear that Vladimir Putin has joined yet another war. The bear's entry into the desert offers opportunities for the United States. Unfortunately, the Obama administration shows no interest in seizing them."

Why Brexit Is In America's Interests

Ten Reasons to Rethink U.S. Support for British Membership of the European Union, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4463, September 29, 2015. "The referendum and the terms of Britain’s relations with the EU are ultimately and always matters for the British people to decide. However, in advance of the referendum, the U.S. would be well advised to consider its own interests carefully and not to continue its unthinking support for the EU, which has marked the Obama Administration and too much of U.S. policy since the end of the Cold War."

The EU, A Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone

Refugee Crisis Exposes the EU’s Many Fatal Flaws, Yorkshire Post, September 25, 2015. "THE many thousands of refugees now reaching Europe have done more than anything, except the euro, to expose the myths behind the European Union. The tragedy is that it is those myths that will prevent an effective European response."

Like It Or Not, We're Involved

The Refugees, the Europeans, and Us, Newsday, September 19, 2015. "The Obama administration never wanted to take the lead on the war in Syria. It hoped that, if we stayed out of the war, it wouldn't come to us. The wave of refugees now moving into Europe, and lapping at the shores of the United States, shows that assumption was wrong."

The Administrative State and Foreign Policy

Three Lessons from the Iran Deal, Newsday, September 5, 2015. "One legacy of the Iran deal will be a richer Iran playing a bigger role in an even less peaceful Middle East. But there should be another legacy -- a thorough congressional scrutiny of the way the legislative body's grants of power to the executive have diminished its ability to play a serious role in shaping our foreign policy."

Europe Pulls the Football Away

Europe Gives Trinidad the Charlie Brown Treatment, Daily Signal, September 3, 2015. "What I heard, again and again, was that, if the Arms Trade Treaty went to Trinidad, it would become a regional organization. And why was that? Because no Europeans wanted to work there. Europe needed the support of nations like Trinidad to make the treaty a reality. But in the end, they didn’t want to take the treaty outside Europe by forcing Europeans to actually live in Trinidad. Dedication to stopping the illicit arms trade only goes so far, apparently."

The Sting In The Tail of Cancun

In Cancun, the U.S. Gets Played, Weekly Standard, August 31, 2015. "The Conference of States Parties—the first meeting of nations that have ratified the controversial Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)—wrapped up in Cancun on Thursday. Because it’s wisely not ratified the ATT, the U.S. was there as an observer. So was I. And on Thursday, I got to observe as the U.S. got played."

Unhappy Families and Bad Agreements

Obama Deals are Heavy on Hopes, Light on Enforcement, Yorkshire Post, August 31, 2015. "Like unhappy families, bad agreements are each bad in their own way. And of course there are degrees of badness: no trade deal, no matter how implausibly dreadful, could be worse than a nuclear deal gone wrong. But bad agreements do have a few features in common."

An Absence of Standards Is A Standard Absence

How Do You Know This Treaty’s Working?,, Weekly Standard, August 28, 2015. "Supporters of human rights treaties tend to pour a remarkable amount of energy into promoting treaty ratification, while spending remarkably little time thinking about the problems of assessing compliance and, ultimately, whether the treaty is actually working. That’s certainly been the case with advocates of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The consequences of this modus operandi are evident here in Cancun, where the states signed onto the pact are holding their first meeting."

Another Broken Red Line

In Treaty Negotiations, Obama Administration Broke Own Red Line and Alienated China, Daily Signal, August 27, 2015. "When the negotiations for the Arms Trade Treaty began, the Obama administration promised that they’d be conducted by consensus. In the U.N., that means that no one objects. But when the negotiations couldn’t reach a consensus agreement, the U.S. supported jumping to the U.N. General Assembly, which adopted the treaty by majority rule. The issue isn’t so much that China’s worried about the Arms Trade Treaty, or, indeed, that this treaty would actually change China’s behavior. But as the Chinese delegate said, the move to the General Assembly 'sets a bad precedent.'"

The Failures of Cancun

In Cancun, the Air Leaks Out of the ATT’s Balloon, Weekly Standard, August 26, 2015. "But in spite of the sandcastle tank and similar inspired silliness, there’s a distinct sense that the air is coming out of the ATT’s balloon. The U.S., China, and India are here only as observers, and Russia didn’t show up at all. With only 121 attendees, there are 72 U.N. member states missing. True, a few delegations were apparently held up by visa problems (it’s rumored that some of the African delegations that Control Arms funded to attend were denied transit rights by the U.S., on the grounds that they’d committed human rights violations). But the blunt fact is that this room is filled mostly with nations that play, and can play,virtually no role in controlling or participating in the international arms trade."

Global Economic Freedom Agenda

2015 Global Agenda for Economic Freedom, section on "Europe," with other Heritage authors, Heritage Foundation Special Report #160, August 26, 2015. "The promotion of economic freedom at home and abroad is essential not only for a genuine and sustained revitalization of the U.S. economy, but also to strengthen U.S. national security. In 2010, the United States fell from the highest category of economically free countries in the Index of Economic Freedom and has been stuck in the ranks of the “mostly free,” second-tier economic freedom category ever since. The message for the U.S. in the 2015 edition of the Index is simple: to avoid further decline Americans must press for more economic freedom at home and abroad. This Heritage Foundation Special Report describes in detail concrete plans to promote global economic freedom. It describes many actions that nations around the world need to take, and offers Washington a blueprint for a practical and effective global strategy. American leadership can be decisive in promoting property rights and anti-corruption measures in other countries. In addition, the report urges the U.S. government to pursue more vigorously agreements with partner countries around the world that reduce barriers to trade and investment, as opposed to any that might only create additional regulatory hurdles to doing business. It also stresses the importance for all governments (including in the U.S.) to promote opportunity for all and to identify and reduce support for state-owned enterprises that are breeding grounds for cronyism and favoritism. This global agenda can and should be implemented—starting today."

In Cancun, Blame America First

Arms Trade Treaty: The Blame America First Crowd Goes to Cancun, FoxNews.com, August 25, 2015. "The first annual meeting of the nations that have ratified the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) opened on Monday, August 24 at a spa in Cancun, Mexico. The treaty’s been controversial in the U.S. from the moment negotiations on it began, and this meeting will surely stoke the suspicions of those who think the treaty’s real aim is to crimp America’s sovereignty and constitutional liberties."

The Down Sides of Transparency

The Arms Trade Treaty and the Paradoxes of Transparency, Weekly Standard, August 24, 2015. "The first Conference of States Parties (CSP) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) opens today in Cancun. Evidently, treaty signatories believe a seaside resort is a suitable location to discuss the international arms trade. Perhaps they’re right. This treaty is so ridiculous, so silly—in a word, so unserious—that it’s fit for beach reading."

Sport Shooting's Not the Problem, It's an Answer

Walter Palmer Isn’t Africa’s Biggest Problem, Newsday, August 23, 2015. "Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who shot Cecil the lion, has emerged from hiding. He should never have had to go into it. Hunters like Palmer aren't the problem: they're part of the solution."

The ATT Limits the US Must Uphold

The U.S. Must Uphold the Arms Trade Treaty’s Limits at the First Conference of States Parties, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4456, August 21, 2015. "The first Conference of States Parties (CSP) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be held in Cancun, Mexico, on August 24–27, 2015. This CSP will establish the rules of procedure for this and all future CSPs, decide how to organize and fund the treaty secretariat, adopt procedures for the reporting mandated by the treaty, and perhaps begin the campaign to amend the treaty. At the CSP, the U.S. needs to resist efforts to set precedents and create institutions that could be used to expand or reinterpret the treaty. The U.S. delegation should respect Congress’s opposition to funding the secretariat and, above all, emphasize that the treaty is the creation of U.N. member states and is to be implemented by only those states, not by the treaty secretariat or by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)."

Poorly Made in China

Stock Prices Aren’t All That’s Poorly Made in China, Newsday, August 9, 2015. "The well-reported gyrations in China's stock market have many Americans wondering whether China itself is heading for a fall. In his newly updated and exceptionally readable "Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game," Paul Midler says it's not just China's stock prices that were too good to be true."

Riding It All The Way Down

All the Way with LJB and Obama, Newsday, July 25, 2015. "Count on it: When it comes to foreign policy, two-term presidents -- and even most one-term presidents -- will change course along the way. Since 1933, only two have not: Lyndon Johnson, who rode the Vietnam War all the way down, and Barack Obama. That's not a good sign."

The Other Cost of Shredding Sanctions

The Iran Deal Will Have Disastrous Non-Nuclear Consequences, Too, National Review Online, July 23, 2015. "So far, the most intense criticism of the Obama administration’s deal with Iran has focused on its wildly imbalanced nuclear provisions, under which, in exchange for limited inspections, Iran gets to keep many of its centrifuges, its entire nuclear infrastructure, its research and development programs, and its ballistic-missile program, among many other things. This criticism is certainly warranted, but the deal will have consequences beyond the realm of nuclear weapons: The fate of the regime of Western sanctions on Iran matters just as much, because those sanctions have wide-ranging global implications."

Another UN PoA Failure

The Failings and Structural Irrelevance of the U.N.’s Small-Arms Process, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4435, July 20, 2015. "On June 1–5, 2015, the Second Meeting of Governmental Experts (MGE2) under the PoA was held in New York City. The purpose of MGE2 was to allow nationally nominated experts to address technical issues raised at the Fifth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS5), which was held June 16–20, 2014, and to prepare for the Sixth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS6), to be held in 2016. The “Chair’s Summary” of MGE2, released on June 17, 2015, demonstrates again that the PoA is accomplishing nothing and that it continues to be a forum for demands for increased U.S. aid and the promotion of government controls on private individuals. Moreover, as a U.N. mechanism, the PoA makes it harder to address the genuine challenges stemming from the illicit arms trade."

The Need for a British World Role

Without a Sense of Purpose, What is Britain Defending?, Yorkshire Post, July 17, 2015. "Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s pledge to meet Nato’s spending target of two per cent of national income on defence through 2020-21 is welcome, but it’s not enough. This isn’t, simply, a problem of money. It’s a problem of Britain’s belief in its world role."

Against an International Investment Court

The Proposed Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanism: U.S. Should Oppose EU Demand to Abandon It, with James Roberts and Riddhi Dasgupta, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4432, July 14, 2015. "One of the most important components of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union is the establishment of a mechanism for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). An appropriately structured ISDS is an essential part of trade agreement enforcement and should be included in any comprehensive U.S. trade agreement with the EU. The EU’s proposal, backed by a vote of the European Parliament on July 8—that the TTIP should establish a permanent investment court, not an ISDS mechanism—is a bad solution in search of a non-existent problem. ISDS mechanisms work well to secure basic legal protections for a signatory state’s nationals abroad. The U.S. should firmly reject the EU’s proposal and insist that TTIP establish an ISDS."

Depression's Not the Cure for Greece

European Union Not the Answer to Greek Extremism, Newsday, July 11, 2015. "After 1945, the U.S. promoted economic freedom and growth in Europe to keep Communism at bay. Today, by backing the European Union in Greece, the Obama administration is driving Greece deeper into a depression that already has brought the far left to power."

The Ponderous PoA

The U.N. Confuses Gun Ownership with Arms Trafficking, National Review Online, June 9, 2015. "I spent last week at the U.N., watching so-called national experts talk about guns. Turns out most of them weren’t experts. Then again, the ponderousness of the meeting’s title — the Second Meeting of Governmental Experts for the U.N.’s Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects — gave fair warning that the gathering was unlikely to achieve anything of use."

Liberalism's AWOL Leaders

Where Are the New Leaders For Unpopular Left?, Yorkshire Post, July 6, 2015. "It's difficult to look around America, or Britain, and see the next generation of liberal leaders. Undoubtedly, this is partly cyclical: in the mid-1990s, the Tories were short on talent, yet a decade later, it was Labour that was exhausted. Liberalism is not down forever."

Corporatism's Not Free Trade

Barack Obama is Right to Want Free Trade, But He Has the Wrong Reasons, Newsday, June 26, 2015. "No thanks to his fellow Democrats, President Barack Obama won a victory in Congress last week when Republicans voted to give him the authority to negotiate trade agreements in Asia and Europe. Too bad so much of the president's case for the agreements is based on his belief that the United States is in decline."

The Social Vision of the Magna Carta

Magna Carta: It’s Not Just About Rights, National Review Online, June 15, 2015. "The characteristic argument of liberalism today is, first, that every institution — family, church, business, art, education, travel, leisure, entertainment — is fundamentally political, and so not really separate from the political realm at all. It’s all politics all the way down, a claim that would (and did) horrify British conservative philosopher Michael Oakeshott. And that claim opens the door to a second one, which is that, as everything is political, all the peaks need to do the same job as the government — and if they do not, they will be forced to do so."

Inaction This Day

Should Obama Pester, Nag, and Bite? Yes, Newsday, June 14, 2015. "During a news conference Monday at the G-7 meeting in Germany, President Barack Obama acknowledged that his administration does not have a "complete strategy" to defeat the Islamic State group. That much is obvious. What's as troubling as his strategic failure is the president's explanation of why he has failed."

At the UN, the US Fires Back

At a U.N. Meeting on Guns, the U.S. Stands Up Under Fire, National Review, June 5, 2015. "This week, Turtle Bay is hosting the second Meeting of Governmental Experts for the U.N.’s Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects – mercifully abbreviated to MGE2 and PoA, respectively. The PoA is a strange entity. It’s a political agreement, not a treaty, so it’s never come before the Senate and it has no binding legal force. But that doesn’t make it harmless. It’s one of the many international institutions engaged in creating so-called “norms” that will constrain the U.S., though not the U.N.’s many dictatorships. But despite its painful name and dubious intentions, it’s more amusing than most such institutions."

What's Good, and Bad, in the Draft PoA Chairman's Summary

Challenges, and Successes, for United States at UN Small Arms Meeting, Daily Signal, June 5, 2015. "Today, the second meeting of government experts for the U.N. “Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons” wraps up in New York. In theory, the PoA, as it is known, is about controlling international arms smuggling. In practice, a lot of nations want to make it about gun control. So far, the U.S. has fought a good fight. But the rough draft of the chairman’s report, which I’ve just seen, makes it clear there’s more to do."

Liberalism and the Fate of the Special Relationship

The US-UK-EU Triangle, The American Interest, June 2, 2015. "The Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom is a political creation that reflects underlying realities. To assess the future of that relationship, and how the EU will affect it, we need to know how it began. For the relationship to come into being, the UK and the U.S. had to meet two necessary but not sufficient conditions. The fate of the relationship rests on whether or not those two underlying conditions endure."

Dogs and Cats, Living Together!

Climate Change Is Not A National Security Threat, Newsday, May 31, 2015. "Earlier this month, the Obama administration released its latest blast on climate change: a cut-and-paste job from its own reports proclaiming that climate change has serious national security implications. This is embarrassingly shoddy stuff. But it's shoddy for a reason."

More Evidence of PoA Failure

Declines in National Reporting Reveal Failure of U.N.’s Programme of Action on Small Arms, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4412, May 28, 2015. "The decline of PoA reporting implies that while many U.N. nations were eager to win political kudos by participating initially in the PoA or by signing the ATT, they are unwilling, or unable, to live up to their commitments under it. This points to a fundamental problem with institutions like the ATT: What is lacking in this world is not commitments and rules, but nations with competent and honest governments. If nations cannot do the simple job of making even an inaccurate or dishonest PoA report, there is no reason to believe they can or will do the much harder jobs mandated by the ATT."

Against TTIP, Contra Mundum, Part II

TTIP: Small Upside, Big Downside, CapX, May 17, 2015. "One of the best things about the debate between believers in the free market over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the so-called US-EU free trade area, is that it cuts to the heart of a larger question: how do we advance freedom in practice? A lot of opponents of TTIP on the left (and some on the right) reject it either because they hate free trade and the free market, or because they are old-fashioned protectionists. That’s not true of any of the participants in this debate. We’re all free marketeers: we just disagree on how to get there."

In Praise of Colin Dueck

, Newsday, May 16, 2015. "On Tuesday, President Barack Obama lost a vote on trade policy in the Senate. The strange thing is why he lost. For years, conservatives have voiced impatience with Obama's foreign policy. But this time, all but one Republican voted for him, and all but one Democrat voted against him."

I Guess I'm the Smart Money

They Said It Couldn’t Be Done, Weekly Standard, May 15, 2015. "The smart money said there was no way the Conservatives could win a majority in last Thursday’s general election in Britain. On the left, the New Statesman’s widely followed May2015 blog offered a cogent argument that there would be a blocking majority even against any repeat of the Conservative-led coalition government. On the right, columnist Matthew Parris echoed many Tories in fearing that the British people were about to make a terrible mistake. But it turns out that you hold elections because you don’t know the result in advance. On May 7, the British people returned a majority Conservative government. The smart money was wrong."

The Possible Populist Future in British Politics

A Very British Shock Result and What It May Mean, Yorkshire Post, May 12, 2015. "I’VE studied Britain for 20 years, but this last week gave me an appreciation for its politics I’ve never had before. Over the last seven days, I followed Conservative candidates in Darlington, Bradford West and Brent Central as they canvassed and addressed the public. All worked hard; all were worthy, and all were in tough constituencies. In the end, none won. Like every other commentator, I failed to predict accurately the outcome of the election. I thought the Tories would win 280 seats. But fortunately, learning isn’t all about making bad predictions."

Why Galloway Went Down

Bradford West, Tower Hamlets, and George Galloway, Weekly Standard, May 7, 2015. "It’s possible that George Galloway, the Member of Parliament for Bradford West in the United Kingdom, will lose his seat in the general election today. It would be nice if this reflected a revolt by his constituents against his habit of blaming “Zionists,” the U.S., and Britain for all the world’s ills. In practice, it’ll be because he’s done nothing of substance for his constituents since he was elected in a notorious 2012 by-election. But you take your wins where you can get them."

The UK Election, Featuring An Entirely Wrong Prediction

The UK’s General Election Will Be Either a Mess or a Disaster, National Review, May 7, 2015. "The recurring theme of election coverage in Britain this year has been that no one cares about the campaign. The satirical magazine Private Eye’s cover this week shows a sleeping David Cameron, with the caption “Passionate Cameron catches national mood.” Funny stuff, but wrong: The campaign has failed to move voters not because it’s been dull, but because Britain is balanced on an ideological knife edge, caught between a fading belief in a limited state and a pudgy love affair with banning, restricting, taxing, and spending. That knife-edge balance will find its reflection in today’s results."

The Election, Viewed from Brent Central

Why Britain’s Conservatives are Facing Defeat: They’re Short-Sighted, National Review, May 6, 2015. "The constituency of Brent Central, in northwest London, is a strange place. It’s new, for one thing: It was created by amalgamating and splitting several other constituencies in 2010. If the incumbent member of Parliament, Sarah Teather, had not decided to stand down, it might have stayed Liberal Democrat, which — in this election, when the Liberal Democrats are forecast to lose about half their seats — would have been an achievement for that party."

The Election, Viewed from West Bradford

A Conservative Takes on Britain’s Israel-Hating Windbag Par Excellence, National Review, May 6, 2015. "Bradford in Yorkshire doesn’t look like you’d expect it to. It’s notorious as the home of several of Britain’s worst race riots, and, since 2012, as the parliamentary constituency of George Galloway, the Soviet apologist and anti-Israel demagogue whose 1994 salute to Saddam Hussein’s “courage” marked the start of a new and more vicious phase of his career as a hater of the West. So you’d expect Bradford to be a post-industrial wasteland. Instead, it’s a city with a heart of broad, strong, Yorkshire stone and beautiful vistas over the dales. Rarely does a place look so much better than its reputation. But you know what they say about appearances."

The Election, Viewed from Darlington

In Northern England, the Tories Look to Regain a Little Lost Ground, National Review, May 5, 2015. "Darlington, a market town in County Durham in England’s northeast, is the kind of constituency that the Conservative party needs to win if it wants to form a government after the British general election this Thursday, May 7."

Strategy Without Prediction

U.S. Ignores Lesson Of NFL Draft at Its Own Peril, Newsday, May 3, 2015. "The NFL draft offers a few college football players the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. It offers us fans the opportunity to speculate, to cheer and to condemn. But it offers everyone something more: a lesson in American grand strategy."

Who Do We Want to Win?

Which Side is Obama on in Mideast?, Newsday, April 18, 2015. "Every war poses a basic question: Whom do you want to win? After six years, the Obama administration's answer to that question in the Middle East is hopelessly confused."

The Decline and Fall of British Liberalism

Election Reveals Battle for Britain’s True Liberal Soul, Yorkshire Post, April 17, 2015. "THE debates between the party leaders have made one thing clear. The election isn’t just a struggle between the Tories, Labour, and the rest. It’s a moment that reveals the state of British liberalism. By liberalism, I don’t mean the nanny-statism that today passes for liberalism, with its identity group politics, its ravenous appetite for state spending in the name of appearing to care and its 
love of top-down control."

Against TTIP, Contra Mundum

TTIP Benefits Crony Capitalists, Not Free Enterprise, CapX, April 9, 2015. "The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is often described as a free trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union. If that were true, it would deserve the support of everyone who believes that economic freedom is vital for growth, and offers our best defense against the power of vested interests. But TTIP is both far more and far less than a free trade agreement. Indeed, it’s testimony to the fact that, between the U.S. and the EU, the free trade agenda, as we have conceived of it since 1945, is dead."

Congressional Leadership on ATT

GOP, Democrats Unite in Opposing UN Arms Trade Treaty, Daily Signal, April 6, 2015. "The fruit of the Arms Trade Treaty is criticism of the democracies. That is no surprise: Its supporters explicitly declare this was the creation of a “progressive” coalition, and the guiding star of progressivism in foreign policy is the belief that the U.S. is wrong. That’s a fundamental reason why the treaty is a bad idea, and it’s why the continued leadership of Congress in opposing the agreement is welcome and valuable."

The Mirage of Engagement

‘Tent’ Membership Has Its Problems, Newsday, April 5, 2015. "The nuclear deal with Iran announced by President Barack Obama on Thursday is a mirage -- an agreement now to agree later. But it stands for something bigger: the belief that it's better to have the bad guys inside the tent than out of it."

On Recognizing Friends and Enemies

Conservatives and Liberals Need to Rethink Their Mideast Priorities, Newsday, March 22, 2015. "In the wake of Benjamin Netanyahu's victory in Israel, American leaders -- both conservatives and liberals -- should rethink their approach to the Middle East. Conservatives need to recognize more clearly who our enemies are; liberals need to learn to recognize our friends."

Meet Mr. Camerband

From Butskell to Camerband, Weekly Standard, March 20, 2015. "Today, the strenuous partisan warfare between Cameron and Miliband belies the emergence of a comparable composite, Mr. Camerband, who embodies a near-convergence that goes well beyond finance. The only exceptions in the current Tory-led coalition are Michael Gove’s reforms in education, which got him demoted, and Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare revolution, which has survived largely thanks to Smith’s passionate commitment and seniority within the party."

ATT and Land Mine Recommendations for NDAA FY 2016

10 Objectives for the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, with Steven P. Bucci, Dean Cheng, Brian Slattery, Michaela Dodge, Luke Coffey, David Inserra, and Charles Stimson, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #3002, March 16, 2015. "The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a central piece of legislation for Congress each year. The NDAA is one of the last remaining bills that enjoys true bipartisan consensus, in part because Congress understands the critical need to set defense policies and guidelines for national security. The FY 2016 NDAA will continue in this tradition. The NDAA does, however, face a range of problems. A team of Heritage Foundation national security experts have compiled a set of 10 objectives—addressing issues from military morale to missile defense to Taiwan and China—that Congress should support."

Getting Iran Wrong

A Slap Fight With a Purpose, Newsday, March 7, 2015. "The political slap fight over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent address to Congress was an embarrassment. But it was far from pointless. It reflected the fundamental divide between liberals and conservatives on Middle East policy."

The Hour of Europe (Again)

Germany Falters in Ukraine and Greece, Newsday, February 22, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently negotiated a cease-fire in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Within days, Ukrainian troops lost the city of Debaltseve to a new Russian-backed rebel offensive. At the same time, European negotiations on the Greek financial crisis broke down in acrimony. This is the hour of Europe, and it's a disaster."

Russian Harrassment Through Interpol

Putin’s Long Arm, Weekly Standard, February 20, 2015, "In Chechnya, Georgia, and Ukraine, Russia works through bribery, fear, and force to destroy its opponents. In the West, it works through Interpol and the U.S. Treasury. If Moscow decides to target you, being in the United States won’t protect you from Russian harassment. In fact, it makes you a better victim."

Senator Warren Is Wrong (Again) About Trade

Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanisms: An Important Feature of High-Quality Trade Agreements, with James Roberts and Riddhi Dasgupta, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4351, February 20, "There are many reasons to doubt that a trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU will deliver the economic gains or advance the broader geopolitical objectives claimed for it. Like any treaty, a trade agreement can be fairly assessed only when a full and final text has been negotiated and presented to the public. Yet the concerns raised in principle about creation of an ISDS mechanism are unfounded. Far from being dangerous or undesirable, an appropriately structured ISDS is an essential part of trade-agreement enforcement and should be included in any U.S. trade agreement with the EU."

The Cardinal Rule of Foreign Policy

In the Middle East, Let’s Support Our Friends, Newsday, February 8, 2015, "King Abdullah II of Jordan is angry. In a meeting with members of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, he quoted Clint Eastwood in promising retribution against the Islamist radicals who burned a Jordanian pilot to death. He wants our support. He should get it."

Obama's Paradoxical Role at the SHOT Show

Why Firearms Makers Are So Worried Even as the Second Amendment Is Stronger Than Ever, National Review Online, January 27, 2015. "In one sense, Obama has been very, very good for the U.S. firearms industry. Far from controlling guns, his outspoken anti-firearms advocacy has made him the industry’s top salesman."

They're Not Fans

What the Firearms Industry Thinks About the UN Arms Trade Treaty Signed by Obama Administration, Daily Signal, January 27, 2015. "Supposedly, the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, which took effect Christmas Eve, is no big deal. But people who work in the business of manufacturing, importing and exporting firearms are concerned about the treaty and what it means for them and their industry."

In Praise of Partisanship

Barack Obama Finally Offers a Clear Choice, Newsday, January 23, 2015. "Let's be grateful to President Barack Obama. In his State of the Union address, he dropped the pretense of bipartisanship and, by siding with the progressives, gave the nation what it needs: a clear choice. That's the true American way."

A Big, Bad Idea

Closing Chapter of a Not So Special Relationship?, Yorkshire Post, January 16, 2015. "The White House announced Prime Minister David Cameron’s two-day visit to Washington in a statement issued last Saturday. It was a tellingly low-key announcement for an Anglo-American relationship that has mostly drifted in the past five years. The alliance, though, does have one big idea up its sleeve. Unfortunately, it’s a bad one."

Replying to Foolish Claims on Treaties

, National Review Online, January 14, 2015. "The U.S. has been, and continues to be, a prolific negotiator, signer, and ratifier of treaties. The fact that 36 of them are pending in the Senate leads Jett to conclude that something is dangerously amiss. It leads me to an entirely different conclusion: There are a few treaties that are genuinely controversial, and many hundreds that are not. Most of these controversial treaties date from the 1990s, when it became fashionable to spin them from fairy dust."

Recommendations for US Policy Towards Europe

Top Five Policy Priorities for Europe in 2015, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4331, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, January 14, 2015. "It is time for the U.S. to renew its commitment to European security, to make NATO relevant again, and to promote economic freedom across the continent. Here are the top five foreign policy priorities in the European region for the Administration and Congress in 2015."

Renewing the US Commitment to the Anglo-American Relationship

David Cameron’s Visit to Washington: An Important Opportunity to Renew Anglo-American Leadership, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4330, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, January 13, 2015. "President Barack Obama will host British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on January 15–16. This will be Cameron’s last visit to the United States before the U.K.’s general election on May 7, 2015. Five issues should dominate the visit: (1) Russia’s aggression in Eastern Europe; (2) the crisis in Iran and the Levant; (3) the future of the U.K. inside the European Union (EU); (4) the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP); and (5) defending the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands at the upcoming Organization of American States (OAS) Summit."

Against Giving Up Strategic Advantages for Tactical Responses

On North Korea, a One-Shot’s Not Enough, Newsday, January 9, 2015. "The media is under assault in the United States and abroad. The terrorist attacks in France are more shocking, but the cyberwar on Sony is more dangerous: none of us are isolated from the Internet. The Obama administration's response to the Sony hack pointed in the right direction, but it wasn't enough."

On Obama and Blair

Quest for Legacy Leads Obama to Castro’s Door, Yorkshire Post, January 6, 2015. "In time, Obama will get the ridiculous mausoleum of a presidential library. But that’s not enough. He’s in trouble now, and by using the power of the Oval Office to extend the hand of friendship to yet another tyranny – this time in Cuba – he’s just doing what got him elected: blaming his predecessors and believing his own magic will make things right."

Review of Addison on Post-War Britain

Review of No Turning Back: The Peacetime Revolutions of Post-War Britain, by Paul Addison (Oxford University Press, 2010), in Labour History, vol. 53, no. 4 (2012). Not available online.

My Book Recommendation for New Year's Day

34 Books You’ll Want to Read in 2015, Daily Signal, including contribution by Bromund, January 1, 2015. "A blockbuster history of the war from the other side, as vast as it is readable. Without minimizing the atrocities committed by the Central Powers, it emphasizes that there is no easy connection between those crimes and Hitler’s far more vast crimes before and during the Second World War. It does not sympathize with the sufferings of the German and Austro-Hungarian peoples, but it does, by making them clear, empathize with them. And by relating the vast mobilization efforts of Germany, in particular, it reveals just how much was at stake in the war. And in spite of the many errors of the Allies and the frequent tactical brilliance of the Germans, it shows just how badly led the autocratic Central Powers ultimately were and so offers a lesson in the comparative, competitive advantage of democracy in war."