Books to Read in 2017

Here Are 21 Books You Should Read in 2017, edited by Daniel Davis, Daily Signal, December 29, 2017. "“Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children From Failed Educational Theories” by E.D. Hirsch Jr."

The Obama Administration's Curious Record on Firearms

What’s The Obama Administration Up To On Firearms?, Forbes, December 28, 2016, "The Obama Administration’s record on firearms is curiously mixed. On the one hand, the President deserves an award – which he is unlikely to receive or want – as America’s greatest gun salesman. All of his musings about gun control have gone hand in hand with boom times for the firearms industry."

A Very Charitable Post About President Obama

President Obama’s Many Missed Opportunities, Newsday, December 27, 2016, "Everyone makes mistakes, and the Obama administration has made its fair share. But harping on mistakes is easy. The tragedy of most presidential administrations rests not in the errors they make, but in the opportunities they miss — and in the belief that no one else can seize them."

My Annual Land Mines Rebuttal

No, Land Mine Casualties Aren’t Increasing. Wars Are, Forbes, December 13, 2016, "Every year, the International Coalition to Ban Landmines (ICBL) publishes its Landmine Monitor. And every year, journalists run their press release as a story without, apparently, bothering to read the report. This year, no surprises, it’s the turn of The New York Times, which in late November reported that “Land Mine Casualties Jump 75% as Funding for Their Removal Declines.”"

Return the ATT to Sender

The Obama Administration Just Sent the Arms Trade Treaty to the Senate. Here’s Why It Doesn’t Matter, Daily Signal, December 12, 2016, "Last week, the Obama administration took a step that conservatives have been anticipating for three years: it transmitted the Arms Trade Treaty to the Senate for ratification. This move doesn’t matter."

Interpol and the Authoritarians

Way To Go, Interpol, Newsday, December 4, 2106, "At its latest meeting, the General Assembly voted four new members to the executive committee. That’s where the trouble starts. The new president of the committee is Meng Hongwei, the vice minister of public security in China. In other words, he’s in charge of enforcing the world’s biggest police state, a police state with a history of abusing Interpol for its own purposes."

Interpol, the Palestinians, and Standards for Membership

Will Interpol Be Able to Create Fair Standards for Membership?, Forbes, November 30, 2016, "Contrary to media reports, a Palestinian effort to win admission to Interpol has not been rejected. As I noted in my previous post, it has been postponed, pending a report on membership criteria to be conducted by Hans Corell, former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations."

Interpol, the Palestinians, and the Chinese

Interpol Did Not Reject the Palestinian Authority’s Bid for Membership, Forbes, November 30, 2016, "It’s been widely reported that Interpol rejected a Palestinian bid for membership at the latest meeting of its General Assembly, which concluded in Bali on November 10. This is, at best, only a half truth."

Free Trade in People

, Newsday, November 19, 2016, "Around the world, globalization is supposedly under attack. From Brexit in Britain, to Donald Trump in the United States, we’re told we’re facing a rebellion against it. Yes, it’s a rebellion. But what’s driving it isn’t free trade in goods. It’s free trade in people."

Oops, They Did It Again

This Would Be A Serious Mistake for Interpol, Newsday. November 6, 2016, "Just because the United States is in the final days of its election campaign doesn’t mean nothing important is happening anywhere else. Next week, the General Assembly of Interpol, the worldwide federation of law enforcement agencies, will meet in Bali, Indonesia. The General Assembly is Interpol’s governing authority, and it decides who joins Interpol. Both Taiwan and the Palestinian Authority are seeking admission. It’s time Interpol welcomes Taiwan — but letting the Palestinians in would be a serious mistake."

Remember Winston Churchill

Churchill Comes to Washington, Weekly Standard, November 6, 2016, "Monuments to Winston Churchill abound in the United Kingdom. You can remember the greatest man of the 20th century at his birthplace, Blenheim Palace, or by his grave nearby at Bladon. Then there are the Cabinet War Rooms in London, his country house, Chartwell, and, of course, the magnificent Churchill Archives Centre in Churchill College at Cambridge University. As the simple memorial in Westminster Abbey—next to the statue of Churchill in Parliament Square—puts it, there is no shortage of occasions to "remember Winston Churchill" in Britain."

Why Remain Has Learned Nothing

Assessing Why Remain Lost The Brexit Vote, Forbes, October 30, 2016, "Daniel Korski, deputy director of former British Minister David Cameron’s policy unit, has published a fascinating and intelligent, if inevitably partial and partisan, assessment of why Remain lost the Brexit referendum last June. Journalism of this quality is the first draft of history. It shouldn’t be the last."

The NHS: Not Great for Health

Britain’s National Health Service Isn’t A World Beater, Forbes, October 30, 2016, "Last week, UK2020, a think tank founded by Conservative MP Owen Paterson, published a major study of “The UK Health System – An International Comparison of Health Outcomes,” by Dr. Kristian Niemietz of the Institute of Economic Affairs. It provides extensive and sober evidence for the contention that, regardless of what Britons (and others) think of it, the National Health Service (NHS) is not particularly good at reducing preventable deaths . Dr. Niemietz finds that over 46,000 people die annually in Britain who would have been kept alive if they had been treated by the best health system in the world. Even if they had been treated by the 12th best system in the world, 17,000 more people a year would live. The study quotes the Guardian’s assessment that “the only serious black mark against the NHS was its poor record on keeping people alive.” Quite."

On The Need To Control Territory

"ISIS' True Weakness," Newsday, October 21, 2016, "The start of an Iraqi and Kurdish offensive to liberate Mosul is a milestone in the defeat the so-called Islamic State. But winning the fight will be hard, and winning the peace far harder. Brutal though ISIS undoubtedly is, Mosul’s residents understandably don’t trust their would-be liberators."

Foreign Policy In The Age of Multiculturalism

"This Is No Way to Run Foreign Policy," Newsday, October 11, 2016, "Last week, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released its annual survey of American public opinion and foreign policy, titled “America in the Age of Uncertainty.” Predictably, the council focused its polling on the issues that appear to be shaping the 2016 presidential campaign. But its most revealing findings run deeper."

Cheerful Conservatives in Birmingham

"The Conservatives Are Actually Happy in the United Kingdom," Weekly Standard, October 6, 2016, " in London by train from Gatwick Airport, you pass Battersea Power Station on your right. Derelict for more than 30 years, it is an iconic, vast, roofless, brick structure, with tall white smokestack towers. In the years since it last produced a watt of power, it has hosted raves, Dr. Who episodes, and James Bond movies. What it has not done is anything of enduring use. But this time, as I trundled past, there were modular apartments going up around the power station, and cranes working on the inside. The next day, the reason for the activity was announced: The power station, renovated and reconstructed at no small expense, is to be Apple's new U.K. headquarters, and a new center of retail and life besides. We were told that, after Brexit, no one would want to invest in Britain. Evidently someone forgot to tell Apple."

Tilting At Windmills

"Brexit Was A Reality Check Which Tories Must Now Implement," Yorkshire Post, October 1, 2016, "Three of Britain’s political parties have more or less given up on politics as we understand the term. They are crusaders who would rather tilt at windmills than enter the field of combat. They prefer to lose in purity than to compromise and win."

Proof of Churchill's Contention That No One Learns From History

"Britain’s Report on the Libya Fiasco," Forbes, October 1, 2016, "Almost unnoticed in the United States – and neglected even in Britain – the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has produced a superb report on Britain’s role in the disastrous NATO intervention in Libya in 2011. It makes for depressing, if valuable, reading."

On UK Defenses, Go See My 2008 Paper

"Are Britain’s Defenses As Weak As They Say?,” Forbes, September 30, 2016, "Last week, the Financial Times published a stinging summary of the state of Britain’s defenses, based on a 10-page memo written last spring by General Sir Richard Barrons. Formerly the head of the UK’s Joint Forces Command, Sir Richard reported that the “[c]apability that is foundational to all major armed forces has been withered by design.”"

A Doozy of a Whopper

"Brexit Is A Backlash About Democracy," Yorkshire Post, September 27, 2016, "IF there’s one thing people like to do, it’s tell stories. We all need to make sense of this busy world, and we do that by making events fit into a neat narrative. But the story Americans are hearing about Brexit is, as we’d say, a doozy."

What Do We Want? Brexit. When Do We Want It? Now.

"The U.S. Would Like to See A Rapid and Clean Brexit, But the U.K. Shouldn’t Be Rushed Into Hasty Negotiations," BrexitCentral, September 26, 2016, "On process, and indeed overall, the central US interest is that Brexit should be completed as rapidly and cleanly as is reasonably possible."

All We Have to Fear

"Fear Isn’t All We Have to Fear," Newsday, September 24, 2016, "After last weekend’s Islamist-inspired terror attacks in New York City, New Jersey, and Minnesota, President Barack Obama declared: “As Americans, we will not give into fear." That statement places him in one wing of the liberal tradition. Unfortunately, he doesn’t share all of the tradition."

The Drifting U.S. Policy Toward Europe

"America’s Outdated Europe Policy: In 2017, the Next President Must Adapt to New Reality," The Conservative, a publication of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe, volume 1, issue 1, September 16, 2016, "Since the end of World War II, U.S. policy toward Europe has drifted, without deliberate thought, far from its initial premises—while Europe itself has changed beyond recognition. It is time that the U.S. recognized this fact. The incoming President should direct the National Security Council (NSC) to oversee a comprehensive study of U.S. policy toward Europe, a study to be based on the enduring American interests in Europe, the lessons of the post-1945 era, and on the new facts of Europe that have emerged since 1989."

The U.S. Interest in Brexit is For It to Happen Quickly

"U.S. Interests in the United Kingdom and Europe After Brexit," Heritage Foundation Commentary, September 14, 2016, "The Committee should emphasize that the fundamental interest of the U.S. is for the U.K.’s departure to happen as quickly and cleanly as possible. After the U.K. exits, it will regain the freedom to negotiate its own trade agreements, and the U.S. should then move rapidly to formally conclude a free trade agreement with it."

A Tax on Teaching

"When Joining A Union Is Not The Answer," Newsday, September 10, 2016, "Late last month, the National Labor Relations Board voted to allow graduate students with teaching or research jobs to unionize. If you believe that professors today focus too much on research and not enough on teaching, this decision was another step in the wrong direction."

Right Goal, Wrong Way

"Is TTIP Dead? If It Is, Does It Matter?," Forbes, August 30, 2016, "Since 2013, the U.S. and the EU have been negotiating a trade deal, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. Over the weekend, Sigmar Gabriel, the leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, which is part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition, made waves by stating, during a question and answer session with citizens, that “In my opinion, the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it.”"

Who Pays for Haiti's Cholera Epidemic?

"When the UN Has to Pay, You Pay," Newsday, August 28, 2016, "When an international organization screws up, who’s responsible? The answer, too often, is no one. And if it’s the United Nations that’s at fault, and it does pay up, guess what? It’s your money they fork over."

How to Make Brexit A Reality

"The Next Steps on the Road to Brexit," Daily Signal, August 23, 2016, "Britain’s vote to leave the European Union on June 23 was a milestone in the history of the United Kingdom, and of the defense of British freedom and sovereignty. But it was also just the start of securing Britain’s independence. It is one thing to vote to stand on your own two feet, it is another thing to do it."

US Goals at 2016 ATT CSP

"The Goals the U.S. Should Pursue at the 2016 Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty," Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4603, August 19, 2016, "From August 22 to 26, the second Conference of States Parties (CSP2) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be held in Geneva. The United States is a signatory of the ATT, in force since December 2014—but as the Obama Administration has not transmitted this treaty to the Senate for its advice and consent, the U.S. is not party to the ATT, which purportedly seeks to regulate the international trade in many conventional weapons. As an observer nation, the U.S. will have an important voice, though no vote, in Geneva."

Debunking the ‘Facts’ About Baseball’s Ty Cobb

Debunking the ‘Facts’ About Baseball’s Ty Cobb, Newsday, August 14, 2016, "When you hear the name of Ty Cobb, what comes to your mind? Perhaps it’s his .366 career batting average, the highest in the history of baseball. More likely, if you know his name, it’s as a vicious racist, a bigot who sharpened his spikes."

The Olympics And International Order, Part 3

The Olympics And International Order, Part 3, Forbes, August 2, 2016, "For the past two days, I’ve been commenting on the relationship between the Olympic Games and international order. On Sunday, I summarized the founding ideology of the modern Games, which were, in a word, supposed to promote a particular conception of civilization. On Monday, I explored how the idea of the civilized nation fit into this framework. But of course, the idea of the nation-state implies the concept of patriotism — or nationalism. The Olympics have never quite known what to do with nationalism. On the one hand, the modern Games were supposed to reinforce national loyalties in an era when they seemed threatened by mass movements such as socialism. On the other hand, nationalism was supposed to be a tolerant force, and to be embodied in a civilized nation that accepted and embodied Western institutions and ideas about world order."

The Olympics And International Order, Part 2

The Olympics And International Order, Part 2, Forbes, August 1, 2016, "The modern Olympics, those that began in 1896, were founded, as I discussed yesterday, on four pillars: they were for men only, they were for amateurs only, they were for civilized nations only, and they were democratic, in the sense that they were equally open to all classes. The pillar of democratic sport survives; the pillars of female exclusion and amateurism, obviously, have not. Today. I’ll turn to the final pillar: nationalism, and the idea of the civilized nations."

The Olympics And International Order, Part 1

The Olympics And International Order, Part 1, Forbes, July 31, 2016, "Friday’s opening of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, will mark a highlight in the sporting calendar. But the Olympics – or, more properly, the International Olympic Committee that controls them – are also just another international organization. The Olympics tell us a lot about how society and the international system have changed, for good and ill, since the modern Games began in 1896 in Athens, Greece."

IOC Should Have Kicked Russian Athletes Out of the Olympic Games in Rio

IOC Should Have Kicked Russian Athletes Out of the Olympic Games in Rio, Newsday, July 31, 2016, "When the Olympic Games open in Brazil on Friday, Russian athletes will be there. Not all of them, but many. It would be better for the games, and the other athletes, if the International Olympic Committee had banned Russia."

A Year Later: Why the Iran Nuclear Deal Has Failed

A Year Later: Why the Iran Nuclear Deal Has Failed, Newsday, July 18, 2016, "This week marks the anniversary of President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. That deal was never about stopping Iran’s nuclear program. It was about resetting the United States’ relations with Iran and the wider Middle East. By that standard, the deal has been a failure."

Why Did Britain Exit? Because It Finally Got the Chance To

Why Did Britain Exit? Because It Finally Got the Chance To, Weekly Standard Online, July 12, 2016, "The reason immigration mattered in 2016 wasn't that Britain was in the midst of a sudden panic. It was that immigration had been a front-burner issue for 15 years. Immigration, in short, was a background condition. And it was a background condition not because of vague theories about globalization, or vaporous claims about the failure of Britons to "imagine themselves part of a cosmopolitan, thriving democratic polity," but because of specific actions taken by the New Labour government, and broader EU policies, that were very unpopular."

What Mad Cow Disease Tells Us About Brexit

What Mad Cow Disease Tells Us About Brexit, Weekly Standard Online, July 11, 2016, "If we want to understand why the EU was not very popular in Britain in 2016, the answer is simple: After 1995, the EU was never very popular in Britain. If we want, in turn, to understand the EU's long-run unpopularity in the U.K., we need to look at that longue durée, because the U.K. is reliably one of Europe's most Euroskeptic nations. But the fact is that, as far as British opinion since 1995 goes, there was nothing unusual about the conditions under which the 2016 referendum took place."

Losers, Winners, Free Trade, And America

Losers, Winners, Free Trade, And America, Forbes, July 1, 2016, "The 2016 campaign has forced me to face up to an uncomfortable truth–the United States isn’t nearly as friendly to free trade as I’d believed. The remaining candidates either waffle on it or condemn it. I don’t know who will win in 2016, but I do know who looks like losing: all of us."

Britain Is Back – An American Perspective on Brexit

Britain Is Back – An American Perspective on Brexit, Yorkshire Post, June 30, 2016, "Being in Britain for the referendum was a joy. It was also a lesson. I watched the last week of the referendum campaign from London. That may have been a mistake – not the watching, but London. I would have learned more in Yorkshire. As it turned out, the referendum was, among other things, a vote against London’s view of the European Union. By staying in London, I missed a chance to meet the people who won the vote for Brexit, the people of northern England."

Obama Administration’s Goal Is to Undermine Brexit Vote

Obama Administration’s Goal Is to Undermine Brexit Vote, Daily Signal, June 30, 2016. "Before Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union last Thursday, the Obama administration was eager to pressure the British people to stay in. They lost, but they can’t stop playing their games."

Why Britain Voted for Brexit

Why Britain Voted for Brexit, Newsday, June 27, 2016, "Basically, the reason the EU was unpopular on Thursday was that it was unpopular last year, and the year before that, and a decade ago, and even two decades ago. The EU’s unpopularity has certainly waxed and waned, but, by and large, it’s waxed."

Why You Should Be Glad Britain Voted for Brexit

Why You Should Be Glad Britain Voted for Brexit, US News and World Report, June 25, 2016, "Britain's historic referendum on its membership in the European Union ended early on Friday morning with a clear result: 52 percent of the British people, a margin of more than 1.2 million voters, wanted to exit the E.U. Brexit is a reality, and, as a result, Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the campaign to keep Britain in, has resigned. To listen to the intelligentsia scream about this, you would think that Britain has done something dangerous. But Britain's going to stay in NATO. It's not going isolationist. It's not going to stop buying, selling and investing around the world. What it is going to start doing is controlling its own borders, making its own trade agreements and writing its own rules. Inside the E.U., it couldn't do any of those things. After it completes its departure from the E.U., it can."

Brexit Opponents Need to Look in the Mirror

Brexit Opponents Need to Look in the Mirror, Weekly Standard Blog, June 24, 2016, "As I pointed out, the Remain campaign had the advantage of being able to raise fears about an unknown future, and the advantage of being able to campaign on the status quo. It also had the advantage of being able to call on an unlimited supply of famous people to oppose Brexit. And yet it lost. You have to conclude that a lot of people didn't regard the status quo as all that great. But I fear that quite a few EU backers are likely to blame the following things for their loss: a) Fascists; b) Racists; c) Liars; d) The man at the pub. Well, if they really want to argue that over half the British public are that terrible, that's their right."

Britain Backs Brexit – Against All Expectations

Britain Backs Brexit – Against All Expectations, Forbes, June 23, 2016, "The remarkable has happened. Against all the polls, against all the expectations, against all the pressure, the British people have voted to leave the European Union. Brexit has won. In the end, the vote was massive – 72.2% turnout – and decisive: 51.9% for Brexit, a margin of approximately 1.3 million votes. Regionally, the breakdown was equally clear: London and a few other major cities, mostly in the south, voted to remain, as did Scotland and (narrowly) Northern Ireland, while England as a whole, and especially the north, voted to leave. It was really the north that won it for Brexit. There, Brexit piled up big majorities which more than offset losses in London and Scotland. In some ways, this was as much a vote against the dominance of London as it was against the EU."

For Britain, June 23 Is Independence Day

For Britain, June 23 Is Independence Day, Daily Signal, June 24, 2016, "In a historic referendum, by a margin of a million votes, the British people have decided to leave the European Union. Brexit is no longer a dream. It is a fact."

Fear and Loathing in the Brexit Debate

Fear and Loathing in the Brexit Debate, Weekly Standard Online, June 23, 2016, "From the start of the current battle over Britain's EU membership—which culminates Thursday in the vote on the Brexit referendum—advocates of a British exit have half-joked and half-worried that the Remain campaign would get its gas from what they called Project Fear, a relentless barrage of fear, uncertainty, and doubt aimed at wavering voters. How right they were."

British Decline, American Decline – And Brexit

British Decline, American Decline – And Brexit, Forbes, June 22, 2016, "James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute is – at least to this historian of Britain – one of the most readable and stimulating commentators on economic affairs out there today. His recent column on “Is America Really in Decline? What We Can Learn from Britain” raises a few points which shed some light on the declinist argument and on the case for Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit. As Pethokoukis puts it, drawing on historian Robert Tombs, the so-called decline panic that Britain experienced in the post-1945 decades “rests on two assumptions: First, Britain experienced a collapse in global influence and economic dynamism. Second, those results stemmed from ‘long-standing failures’ of the nation’s core institutions.”"

Why Brexit Will Promote European, British, and American Security

Why Brexit Will Promote European, British, and American Security, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4584, June 22, 2016. "On June 23, Britain will hold a referendum on its membership in the European Union. Opponents of a British exit from the EU assert that a “Brexit” would be bad for both British security and the peace of Europe. Indeed, on May 9, British Prime Minister David Cameron, a supporter of Britain’s EU membership, implied that Brexit risks causing a European war. This argument rests on bad history and a worse understanding of the risks to peace in Europe today. If Britain exits the EU, it will ensure that it retains control of its foreign, security, and alliance policies. This will allow it to continue to play a leading role in the NATO alliance, and ensure that it remains a vital security and intelligence ally of the United States. It is the United States and NATO—not the EU—that have brought peace to Europe."

The Great Brexit Stitch-Up

The Great Brexit Stitch-Up, Weekly Standard Online, June 21, 2016, "At times—blessedly—politics barely intrude on normal life. Last year, for example, Britain held an election that bored virtually everyone who wasn't directly involved in it. It was no more consequential than most elections (in other words, it mattered, but not as much as everyone believed), but it had the merit of producing an entirely reasonable outcome that almost no one (myself included) expected: A bored nation voted narrowly for a boring party, the Conservatives, and was placidly surprised by the outcome."

Brexit: Should They Stay Or Should They Go?

Brexit: Should They Stay Or Should They Go?, CNN, June 21, 2016, "The vital issue at the heart of Brexit -- whether Britain should exit the European Union -- is simple. It's not about money, trade, war, or immigration. It's about democracy."

Brexit Would Strike A Blow For The Staying Power Of The West

Brexit Would Strike A Blow For The Staying Power Of The West, Forbes, June 20, 2016. "On Thursday, Britain will vote in a referendum on whether or not it should exit – thus, Brexit — the EU. I have no idea how the vote will go. The polls have favored the Remain campaign, but more recently Leave has leapt into the lead. But the tragic murder of Labour MP Jo Cox has paused the campaign on both sides, and in any case I doubt the value of the polls. They were wrong before the last British general election in May, and I see no reason to believe them now. But there is no doubt how most famous people want the vote to go."

Congressional Letter Urges Obama to Rethink Brexit

Congressional Letter Urges Obama to Rethink Brexit, Daily Signal, June 20, 2016. "Britain’s referendum on its membership of the European Union—which might lead to its exit (known as Brexit)—will take place on June 23. After a pause following the tragic murder of Jo Cox, a Labour Party member of the British Parliament, the campaign resumed on Sunday, with the polls still too close to call. But a number of members of the House of Representatives aren’t happy with the approach the Obama administration has taken toward Brexit. When he visited Britain in April, President Barack Obama made it clear that he wanted Britain to stay in the EU, and that, if it left, Britain would be at the “back of queue” for a trade deal with the United States."

Brexit, Britain’s Immigration Fight

Brexit, Britain’s Immigration Fight, Newsday, June 19, 2016, "On Thursday, Britain will vote in a referendum on whether it should exit — hence, Brexit — the European Union. If it does leave, one reason will be because the British people are fed up with uncontrolled immigration. This is a story about the arrogance of Britain’s elite, with a lesson for politicians in all countries."

The Other Half Smuggled the Gun

At the U.N., Lather, Rinse, and Repeat for Gun Control, National Review Online, June 14, 2016, "The more time you spend at the U.N., the more its activities fall into a pattern. There are big promises, followed by failure and complete unwillingness to look that failure in the face. The affair invariably concludes with the piling up of yet more promises. Like a naughty child, the U.N. responds to evidence of past underperformance with pledges of future overachievement."

On the Special Relationship

The Special Relationship: Anglo-American Relations Since 1776, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, June 8, 2016, "The Special Relationship is a term used to describe the close relations between the United States and the United Kingdom. It applies particularly to the governmental realms of foreign, defense, security, and intelligence policy, but it also captures a broader sense that both public and private relations between the United States and Britain are particularly deep and close. The Special Relationship is thus a term for a reality that came into being over time as the result of political leadership as well as ideas and events outside the formal arena of politics."

The Right Trade-Off for the Migrant Crisis

No Easy Answers to European Migrant Crisis, Newsday, June 5, 2016, "In 2015, more than 3,700 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean, and more than a million arrived in Europe. So far this year, at least 2,500 have died, and another 200,000 have arrived — and if 2015 is any precedent, migration will spike in the summer and fall. Europe seems helpless to stem the tide."

Five Facts About Brexit, the U.S., and Britain

Brexit and the Future of the Special Relationship, Heritage Foundation Factsheet #165, June 2, 2016, "Many Americans believe the EU is a bit like NAFTA—a free trade area. That is untrue. The EU is not even a free trade area: it is a customs union. More important, the EU is a political project and always has been. Imagine if the U.S. was part of a federal union with every other nation in the Western Hemisphere, with a supranational bureaucracy in Costa Rica that had the power to make rules for us, and a court in Mexico City that could overrule our Supreme Court. That is the EU. If you believe in democratic national sovereignty, the EU isn’t for you."

What the U.S. Should Do At the Useless PoA

U.S. Goals at the 2016 Meeting of the U.N.’s Small-Arms Process, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4571, June 1, 2016, "In 2001, the United Nations created the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). The PoA is not a treaty; rather, it is a political mechanism for encouraging voluntary cooperation. On June 6–10, the Sixth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS6) under the PoA will be held in New York City. BMS6 purportedly will focus on issues raised at the Second Meeting of Governmental Experts (MGE2) under the PoA, which was held on June 1–5, 2015, and summarized in the “Chair’s Summary” released on June 17, 2015. The PoA is a useless process that has achieved nothing of value and appears unlikely ever to do so. The only reason for the U.S. to participate in it is to prevent bad outcomes. If BMS6 does indeed focus on the issues raised at MGE2, the U.S. will have to work hard to keep the bad ideas raised in 2015 from becoming part of the U.N.’s PoA agenda in 2016."

Yet Another Brilliant Idea from the Bureaucrats

Let’s Send Your Tax Forms To China!, Forbes, May 26, 2016, "There are bad ideas – such as making our tax code so complicated and intrusive that compliance costs billions, yet we can’t be sure what we owe, or that we’re not paying too much. Then there are really bad ideas – such as taking the tax forms of any American who does any international business and sending them to the People’s Republic of China or Russia."

Unmoored from Reality

Obama’s Hiroshima Trip Just More of the Same, Newsday, May 22, 2016, "On Friday, President Barack Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. His spokesmen have promised that he won’t apologize for the U.S. use of atomic bombs to end the Second World War. But Hiroshima’s meaning is more powerful than any words he may utter."

Brexit, Britain, and the US

What is “Brexit” and Why Does it Matter?, Heritage Foundation News Release, May 20, 2016. "On June 23, Great Britain will vote in a nationwide referendum to decide if it wants to remain part of the European Union. If Britain exits – Brexit – it will remain a member of NATO, but it will recover the freedom to make its own trade agreements and write its own laws. President Obama believes that it’s in the interests of the U.S. that Britain stay in the European Union. But many British politicians disagree, including Chris Grayling MP, the Leader of the House of Commons, who will be visiting the U.S. this coming week."

Back to the Future in Europe

America’s Outdated Europe Policy: In 2017, the Next President Must Adapt to New Reality, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4559, May 18, 2016, "Since the end of World War II, U.S. policy toward Europe has drifted, without deliberate thought, far from its initial premises—while Europe itself has changed beyond recognition. It is time that the U.S. recognized this fact. The incoming President should direct the National Security Council (NSC) to oversee a comprehensive study of U.S. policy toward Europe, a study to be based on the enduring American interests in Europe, the lessons of the post-1945 era, and on the new facts of Europe that have emerged since 1989."

On Churchill and Brexit

Would Churchill Have Backed Brexit?, Forbes, May 17, 2016, "London’s now-former mayor, Boris Johnson, a best-selling biographer of Winston Churchill, has claimed the Great Man for the side of Brexit, Britain’s exit from the EU. Writing in the Guardian, journalist Martin Kettle offers the contrary argument that “everything we know” about Churchill suggests that would “be a committed voter to remain” inside the European Union."

The Strengths and Weaknesses of TPP's ISDS

Straight Talk on the ISDS Provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, with James M. Roberts and Riddhi Dasgupta, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4564, May 17, 2016. "The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an investment and trade agreement signed last February between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, contains enforcement provisions, including an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, for resolving potential investment disputes related to the agreement. Today, the ISDS system is used widely around the globe to help protect the investor and to secure for the signatory nation the foreign investment it seeks. But ISDS has become controversial, both as part of the TPP and because it may be included in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) presently being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union. The ISDS provisions are only one component of the TPP. The agreement must be assessed as a whole. The purpose of this Issue Brief is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the ISDS provisions of the TPP, both as part of the agreement and as part of the broad agenda of American investment and trade diplomacy."

Better Out Than In

Why the U.S. Fails to Grasp British Disquiet Over EU, Yorkshire Post, May 16, 2016, "If it made any difference to the debate, President Obama’s recent press conference with the Prime Minister appears to have boosted the Brexit cause. Obama’s intervention is just the latest incident in the history of American failures to realise why Britain is better off out than in."

Neither Binges Nor Purges

U.S. Does It Again On Military Spending, Newsday, May 8, 2016. "The United States needs to spend more on defense. Not a lot more, but more. And it needs to spend more in a predictable way. Today, as in the past, we’re swinging up and down. That’s wasteful, and it’s dangerous."

By Remembering the Lessons of Adam Smith

How Should Europe Respond to Islamism?, Hoover Institution Caravan, May 4, 2016, "In this era of mass and uncontrolled migrant flows, Adam Smith’s 1776 classic on The Wealth of Nations offers insight into the nature of the challenge posed by Islamism. Far from being a mere manual of economics, Smith’s work reveals how competition promotes progress across society and government, and how it created the modern state and the modern international state system."

Good News from Interpol

An American Businessman Escapes the Clutches of Interpol – and Russia, Forbes, April 30, 2016. "Earlier this month, Ilya Katsnelson, an American businessman living in Denmark, received welcome news from Interpol: it had concluded that Russia’s request for his arrest and extradition was predominantly political, and so Interpol was barred by its own constitution from assisting Putin’s regime in any way. I hope that brings the Katsnelson case to an end. But if you do business internationally, it’s a case you should know about."

I Am Utterly Shocked By These Events

Who Could Possibly Have Expected This Anti-Semitism in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party?, Weekly Standard Online, with Robin Simcox, April 29, 2016. "Utterly, totally unexpected developments are occurring in Britain's Labour Party, which is led by Jeremy Corbyn, a man who once described Osama bin Laden's death as "an assassination attempt, and . . . yet another tragedy, upon a tragedy, upon a tragedy." It turns out—and certainly, no one could possibly have seen this coming—that some of Corbyn's supporters don't like Jews very much."

And There Are A Lot More Than Three

3 Ways Paris Climate Agreement Just Won’t Work, Newsday, April 29, 2016. "The Paris agreement on climate change that Secretary of State John Kerry signed in Paris on Friday may be the worst accord the United States has ever entered into as a nation."

Guess Who This Post Is About?

Our Next President Must Stand Up to Putin, Daily Signal, with Daniel Kochis, April 29, 2016. "Whoever takes over the White House in 2017 will face an aggressive, revanchist Russia that is a threat to the United States and our allies. No amount of wishful thinking can obscure this fact. Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas region of Ukraine is just one example in a long list of recent aggressions and abuses that should dissuade any new administration from viewing Russia through rose colored glasses."

Front of the Line

Britain at the “Back of the Queue?” Why Obama Is Wrong About Trade and Brexit, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4552, "During an April 22 press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, President Barack Obama stated that, were Britain to leave the European Union, Britain would end up at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal with the United States. Observers wrongly understood this to mean that the U.S. would not negotiate with Britain until it had completed negotiations with all other trading partners. In fact, the President meant that negotiations with Britain could not, as a practical matter, be concluded for a number of years. The President is incorrect: Negotiations with Britain could be completed faster than other pending U.S. negotiations, because the kind of trade treaty the U.S. should seek to negotiate with Britain is different from the controversial, all-encompassing, large-bloc agreements the Administration has pursued in the Pacific and the Atlantic."

Finally, My Dissertation Is Relevant

For Earth Day, Barack and David Recycle Some Cliches, Weekly Standard Online, April 25, 2016. "In the quarter-center I’ve spent studying British relations with Europe, I have never seen, or read, a performance that recapitulated as many cliches as President Obama's press conference with Prime Minister Cameron on Friday. I suppose I should be grateful: in future, I won't have to spend months scrounging around British archives for materials to illustrate how poorly American politicians understand the European issue in Britain: Obama's given me all the sources I need."

Who Else Calls The Allies Free-Loaders?

Are America’s Allies A Bunch Of Free-Riders?, Forbes, April 21, 2016. "Is the United States being cheated by its allies around the world? Are the European members of NATO free-riders on the United States? That’s what President Obama says. And he’s been saying it for years. But it’s not true."

It's Called Sovereignty

The Virtues of Brexit, Washington Times, April 14, 2016. "On June 23, the people of Britain will vote in a referendum to decide if they will stay in the European Union or step out on their own in a Brexit. For their sake and ours, I hope they choose to exit."

A Wistful View from the White House

President Obama’s Bad Bromances, Breakups, Newsday, April 10, 2016. "The president gazed out an Oval Office window and sighed. This was a hard job. It was even harder because everyone kept letting him down. He used to have so many buddies. What had happened to them?"

On Running Scared, to a One-Party System

Where’s the Leadership in American Election?, Yorkshire Post, March 28, 2016. "Since the Second World War, power in the US has oscillated regularly between the major parties, with neither able to win an enduring advantage. But that oscillation disguises a pattern that foretells a Democratic edge this fall. If the pattern survives in this uncertain world, that is."

Recommendations on ATT and Land Mines for FY 2017 NDAA

The 2017 NDAA Should Begin Rebuilding America’s Military, with lead co-author Justin Johnson and others, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #3105, March 28, 2016. "It is the responsibility of Congress to ensure that the armed forces have the capacity and capability to protect the nation’s vital interests. Congress should specifically preserve military capacity and maintain options so that the next President can grow the military and improve American security. The fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) should focus on building a stronger military that can better protect America while bolstering partnerships with friends and allies around the world."

Following in Tonga's Noble Lead . . .

Freedom Is In Retreat Under Obama Presidency, Newsday, March 27, 2016. "President Barack Obama’s speech in Cuba last week is one of the best he’s made in his seven years in office. Unfortunately, he’s got a terrible record of following through on his words."

The Battles Inside Brexit

The Calm Before the Brexit Storm, Weekly Standard Online, March 23, 2016. "In just under 100 days, on June 23, Britain will decide whether it will leave the European Union. A British exit – Brexit – will restore the sovereignty of the House of Commons, encourage other EU member nations to look for the door, and shake the leadership of the governing Conservative party. But while the starting gun in the race has been fired, one of the runners has not yet officially stepped on to the track."

The Next Steps in Syria

War in Syria Is Lost . . . Now Let’s Look to Future, Yorkshire Post, March 14, 2016. "I am all in favour of valiant resistance. And if your national survival is at stake, you don’t quit. But most wars aren’t like that. When you’re beaten, you need to recognise it, and start thinking about how to redeem your loss. We’ve lost the war in Syria. The question now is what we do next."

Brexit Now, Brexit Forever

Obama’s Campaign Against EU Independence Unlikely to Sway Brits, Daily Signal, March 14, 2016. "The cause of the year—in fact, the cause of this generation—is the upcoming referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU). Brexit, as it’s known, is the fondest hope of every activist in Bournemouth, for the simple but obvious reason that as long as the EU is in charge, Britain doesn’t govern itself. Leaving the EU would also allow Britain to negotiate its own trade treaties and preserve NATO as the security link with the U.S., but it’s the cause of self-government that warms the heart of the Freedom Association’s friends."

No, It Certainly Isn't

Britain’s Move to Perhaps Leave the EU is Not Radical, Newsday, March 13, 2016. "How would you like it if the United States got together with Canada, Mexico, and every other nation in the New World and set up a new government, headquartered in Guatemala?"

Let Us Now Praise Useless Icons

Symbols Without Substance, CapX, March 3, 2016. "A few weeks ago, I met a group of Europeans who were touring the US on the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. When the conversation turned to the proposed US-EU trade deal, most of the European delegation seemed to agree (sensibly) that its economic impact would be minor. But they supported it none the less, on the argument that it would be a valuable symbol. That meeting came back to me when I read Rob Halfon MP’s explanation of why he will be voting for Britain to remain in the EU. As he put it, repeatedly, “I am frightened”. For Halfon, the value of the EU is symbolic: it’s supposedly an “alliance of democracies.” The EU’s not doing anything to improve the West’s position. It’s not the kind of alliance that actually fights. It’s just a symbol."

The Board Is Set, and the Pieces Are Moving

For Putin, All Pieces Are in Place, Newsday, February 26, 2016. "The last few months of 2008 were among the most important in recent history. They saw the tail end of a tired presidency, the Russians on the warpath in Georgia, and a long-approaching economic crisis about to reach its climax. The last few months of 2016 may repeat the pattern."

The Problem Isn't Us, It's Them

Review of Phil Haun, Coercion, Survival, and War: Why Weak States Resist the United States (Stanford University Press, 2015), Cercles, February 25, 2016. "The United States is the greatest power in the world. Why, therefore, doesn’t it simply threaten its enemies until they give it what it wants? After all, provided that what the U.S. demands is less costly for its adversary than fighting, and likely losing, a war, the U.S.’s adversaries should always, if they are rational, submit rather than fight. But yet, on occasion, U.S. demands are indeed resisted, sometimes successfully. That failure of coercion is the paradox that Phil Haun, adjunct Professor of Aerospace Studies at Yale University, and a former A-10 pilot for the U.S. Air Force, sets out to explain."

The Better Strategy We Didn't Follow

On U.S. Energy Policy, Obama Should Trust the Market, Newsday, February 13, 2016. "On Wednesday, according to AAA, the average price for a gallon of gas in the United States was just under $1.72. Low energy prices are good for American consumers, for the U.S. economy, and for the United States in the world. Too bad President Barack Obama wants to raise them."

ITAR Reform on Firearms, part 2

Obama Administration Commits to Initial Reform of Rules on Gun Exports in 2016, Daily Signal, February 11, 2016. "Last month, I reported that the Obama administration was resisting a bipartisan push to make it easier for U.S. firearms manufacturers to export. But now, that pressure has produced results. First, a bit of background. The administration is reforming the U.S. Munitions List (USML), which sets out what defense items are subject to the stringent export control rules of the Arms Export Control Act. The principle behind the reform is sensible: Build higher walls around fewer items, and stop burdening American business if American security isn’t at risk. So far, the administration has fully revised 15 of the 21 U.S. Munitions List categories. But it’s made no public progress on categories one through three, which cover firearms, artillery, and ammunition."

A Fair and Balanced Consideration of Barack Obama's Innumberable Miserable Failures

One Area Barack Obama Hasn’t Screwed Up, Newsday, January 31, 2016. "Conventional wisdom says that if you want to be an influential president, you should be a success. But in some ways, the influence of failures is greater. Because of that, one of the areas ripe for debate in the 2016 presidential race is trade. And for that, we have President Barack Obama to thank."

On the Difference Between Donald Trump and a Communist

The Very Unlikely Political Parallels Between Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn, Yorkshire Post, January 29, 2016. "Donald Trump’s surprising buoyancy in the Republican primary contest strikes many Britons as inexplicable. But then I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around Jeremy Corbyn. Yet, as political phenomena, the two actually aren’t so far apart." (Published under my own name.)

Apparently, Nuclear War Is Better Than Land Mines

Daily Signal, January 29, 2016. "Whenever I write on any of the treaties beloved of the left—whether it’s the treaty on land mines, on cluster munitions, or on conventional arms—I’m sure that, somewhere, I’m outraging a progressive. This time, Michael Moore, a campaigner at Landmines in Africa—and presumably no more than an ideological relative of the film propagandist of that name—takes exception to a piece on land mines I wrote before Christmas."

More Gun Control, More Guns

At the SHOT Show, Business Booms, National Review Online, January 26, 2016. "The annual SHOT Show — Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade, i.e., the world’s largest gun show — wrapped up on Friday in Las Vegas. You might think that, with the White House talking gun control again, the mood in the industry aisles would be dour. If so, you’d be wrong. No one in any industry likes being abused by the president. But in the short run, Obama’s latest announcements will have little to no practical effect. And since everything this administration does now is short-run, the industry has less reason than ever to be concerned about the long haul."

For Corbyn, Like Curly, Something's Turned Up

Do the Corbyn Shuffle, Weekly Standard, January 21, 2016. "The only thing less impressive than the backing for Jeremy Corbyn inside Britain's Labour Party is its opposition to him. When Corbyn won his shock bid for the leadership of the party in September, it seemed unlikely that a man who started with the support of fewer than 20 Labour MPs would hold the job for long. But now, the chances he'll be ousted soon are dropping. Meeting with Corbyn's opponents inside the party is a dispiriting experience. Blairites all, they give the impression of being short on policy ideas as well as constructive plans for opposition, and of being on a slow journey past anger and denial toward something that looks uncomfortably like acquiescence, though certainly not acceptance. So much has changed that it's hard to believe that Blair was Prime Minister less than a decade ago."

They're Not Our Friends

The Top Ten U.S. Myths About the European Union, CapX, January 21, 2016. "If the US is to be an effective ally of the democratic nations of Europe, it must see the European Union (EU) as it really is. In the years after the Second World War, the US was right to encourage Western Europe to trade more freely and to cooperate for their own security, both to defend against the Soviet threat and to stabilize the region’s fragile post-war democracies. This policy lost its relevance after the end of the Cold War and the rapid democratization of much of Eastern Europe. At that point, the US had achieved what it wanted to achieve with its support for a united and free Europe."

Shockingly, ATT Activists Blame the Democracies (Again)

Why Arms Trade Treaty Activists Are Wrong to Blame Democracies, Daily Signal, January 20, 2016. "The activists behind the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) have never been shy about blaming the U.S. and other democracies far more than they blame dictatorships for the evils of the world. Their latest campaign shows they’re at it again."

Spend It, and They Won't Come

Blame Washington for Skyrocketing College Costs, Newsday, January 16, 2016. "In a matter of days, college applications will be due. No family can look at those applications without thinking of the opportunity college represents. But they also can’t look without thinking of the bills. A new research paper helps explain why those costs are so high."

What We Should Be Doing on the ATT, 2016 edition

Top Ten Areas for Congressional Action on the Arms Trade Treaty in 2016, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief, #4058, January 14, 2016. "The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which Congress has rightly opposed, entered into force on December 24, 2014. The U.S. signed the ATT on September 25, 2013, but the Administration has yet to transmit the treaty to the Senate. The first Conference of States Parties (CSP) to the ATT was held in Cancun, Mexico, on August 24–27, 2015. The CSP set out the rules of procedure for future CSPs, created a treaty Secretariat, and established a funding mechanism for both the Secretariat and future CSPs. Congress has repeatedly placed the Administration on notice that it regards the ATT as fundamentally flawed, and regularly banned the appropriation of funds to implement the ATT prior to its ratification. Congress should resolutely continue to oppose ratification of the ATT and should act to ensure that any decisions taken in Cancun do not result in the U.S. financing treaty activities."

Russia's Not Pursuing Security

Russia’s Insecurity Strategy, Washington Times, January 12, 2016. "Russia’s new National Security Strategy, signed by Vladimir Putin as last year came to a close, isn’t shy about naming its enemies. From the U.S. to the European Union, from NATO to the varying-colored revolutions, Russia sees foes everywhere. That’s understandable: the treacherous are always distrustful. But the strategy’s biggest surprise is that it shows Russia has met its actual enemy: Mr. Putin himself."

Another Obama Straw Man

A False Foreign Policy Alternative, part of "What Obama Got Wrong in the State of the Union," Daily Signal, January 12, 2016. "President Obama offered his usual false alternative between occupying and rebuilding “every country that falls into crisis” (an option that literally no one is proposing), or agreeing with his foreign policy. Putting it that way is a cheat, not a choice. But let’s take the president at his word, which is that he wants the U.S. to “help remake” the international system that the U.S. built after 1945. Even he doesn’t seem sure about this, because a few lines later, he suggests instead that we should be seeking to strengthen that order, not remake it. And a president more grounded in history might wonder if it’s wise to want to remake the order: from 1815 to 1918 to 1945 to 1991, the system has been at its most flexible after the world has been exhausted by a major war, which isn’t what any of us want. Nor did the president suggest a single measure that would genuinely re-make the world order: from fighting terrorism to complaining about ungoverned spaces to lecturing Russia to talking about trade deals, his proposals (or rather, his applause lines) were all old hat. But yet, if his goal really is to remake the order, he’s actually doing a good job of it. That order was grounded on U.S. pre-eminence – but from Ukraine, to Syria, to Iran, it’s American weakness, not its strength or its leadership, that’s on display. A world order without American leadership would indeed be a new one. But it’s not one that most Americans, or most people around the world, would like."

Advance, Project Fear!

Why Project Fear is David Cameron’s Ultimate Weapon in EU Struggle, Yorkshire Post, January 9, 2016. "DAVID CAMERON launched his renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership with the hope that “we can deliver a more flexible, adaptable and open European Union”. As that optimism has faded, the resort to fear has grown. And so far, the US has lent a willing hand. It’s startling to go back now to Cameron’s Bloomberg speech. It appeared to make the case for fundamental reform of the EU. But from the beginning, there was never any good reason to believe the EU was interested in fundamental reform.

ITAR Reform on Firearms, part 1

Bipartisan Support Grows for Reform of Rules on Gun Exports, Daily Signal, January 8, 2016. "While President Barack Obama tries to limit gun sales in the United States, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging his administration to make it easier for U.S. firearms manufacturers to export. When it comes to guns, the administration has tried to have it both ways. At home, it promotes gun control and abroad, it signs the Arms Trade Treaty, which seeks to set rules on arms exports. But under Obama’s watch, gun sales in the U.S. have boomed like never before, and the administration has promoted U.S. arms exports enthusiastically."

What We Should Be Doing in Europe, 2016 edition

Top Five Priorities for U.S. Policy Toward Europe in 2016, with Dan Kochis, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4506, January 8, 2016. "U.S. policy toward Europe in 2015 failed to rise to the significant challenges that confront it. The U.S. is no closer to having a clear and comprehensive strategy to deal with Russia than it was a year ago; it continues to devalue key bilateral and multilateral relationships in Europe for the sake of supporting the European Union (EU); and it took no effective steps to support improved governance in increasingly autocratic Turkey or in the aspiring democracy of Georgia. The devastating Islamist attacks in Paris in December 2015 prove that terrorism is an increasingly serious threat in the heart of Europe, and, from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine to the refugee crisis stemming from Syria, the EU displayed its customary obsession with inward-looking bureaucratic processes and supranationalism. The U.S. should defend European security, sovereignty, and prosperity, not support supranational institutions that undermine all these values. Here are the top five policy priorities in the European region for the Administration and Congress in 2016."

The World's Most Boring Title, Not Selected by Me

Three Things to Watch For in 2016, Newsday, January 3, 2016. "The trick in life isn’t to know the answers: it’s to ask the right questions. At the end of 2014, I asked three questions about 2015 that I believed would shape the year. Columnists are too rarely held responsible for their work, so, in the name of accountability, here were my questions for 2015, with new ones for 2016." The new questions are on the world economy, Russia, and Iran.