ICE's Interpol Errors

ICE Wrongly Continues to Use Interpol Red Notices for Targeting, Forbes, December 19, 2018. "Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it had arrested 105 people in an operation “targeting criminal aliens and public safety threats.” The agency described four of those arrested as having “Interpol warrants.” These arrests are part of a larger, disturbing pattern of ICE reliance on Interpol Red Notices to target individuals for arrest. It’s a practice which runs a serious risk of allowing Vladimir Putin to pick his victims in the United States."

The Palestinians Get Started With Interpol Abuse

The Palestinian Abuse of Interpol Has Begun, Forbes, December 14, 2018. "In “How the United States Should Respond to Palestinian Membership in Interpol,” a lengthy paper published in May, I pointed out that the Palestinian Authority said it wanted to get into Interpol for political reasons, and that it had repeatedly given notice of its intention to abuse Interpol. In other words, the Palestinians want to use Interpol for political purposes. I also pointed out that, while Palestinian membership would pose a risk to Israeli officials and, more seriously, to the friends of Israel around the world, “the most likely targets are in fact Palestinian opponents of the Palestinian Authority.” The risk to Interpol, I predicted, was that it would become part of the Palestinian knife fight for control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and for the succession to the aging Palestinian president for life Mahmoud Abbas. That prediction has come true."

How The U.S. Can Curb Interpol Abuse

10 Ways the U.S. Can Curb Interpol Abuses, Just Security, December 11, 2018. "Interpol is not an international police agency. It’s a bulletin board on which notices are posted, and a communications system by which messages are sent. The board and the system have rules, the most important of which is that — as required by Interpol’s Constitution — they cannot be used for political, racial, religious, or military purposes. Interpol cannot stop its member nations, which are fully sovereign, from creating and prosecuting political offenses. All it can and is required to do by its Constitution is ensure that it is used only in connection with genuinely criminal offenses. Unfortunately, Interpol is falling short on that count. But there are ways to improve its record."

The Great French Illusion

Macron Gas-Tax Retreat Is No Surprise, Newsday, December 9, 2018. "The latest riots in Paris — the most extensive since 1968 — show that while Europeans may pay higher gas taxes than we do, they don’t enjoy it. But the riots aren’t just about the price at the pump. They reflect the irrelevance of Emmanuel Macron, France’s latest man on a horse, to the problems that led to his election — and those problems are not uniquely French."

What We, And They, Are Doing Wrong

A New Approach to Europe: U.S. Interests, Nationalist Movements, and the European Union, Heritage Foundation Lecture #1300, December 4, 2018. "Current European policy combines low growth, low levels of job creation, high levels of unskilled immigration, increasing levels of supranational control, a rejection of the assimilative force of national identity, and lashings of deeply felt guilt. The first error of U.S. policy toward Europe is supporting the errors of its fiscal and monetary systems. The second error the U.S., and Europe, have made is to neglect security. The threats to European security today come from two quarters: Russia and the Mediterranean, the latter due in large part to the effects of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cataclysmically irresponsible open-borders policy."

Interpol -- The Basics

What Not To Believe About Interpol – Exploding Five Myths, Just Security, November 26, 2018. "If Interpol is to be fixed — and by fixed I mean that Interpol should operate according to its own rules — we have to know the difference between the truth about how Interpol actually works, and the myths about it that are widely believed."

The Importance of Interpol's Executive Committee

Putin’s Man Isn’t The Only Candidate Who Matters At Interpol, Forbes, November 20, 2018. "Understandably, all of the press coverage of this week’s meeting of the Interpol General Assembly in Dubai has focused on the possibility that Vladimir Putin’s candidate, Russian abuser-in-chief Alexander Prokopchuk, will be elected the next President of Interpol. But that’s not the only election that matters."

Right In Retrospect

Presidencies in the Rear View Mirror, Newsday, November 19, 2018. "Presidents are often hailed in retrospect for what were condemned as failures while in office. The converse is true, too: victories in the Oval Office are frequently ephemeral. President Donald Trump may be the exception to many rules, but in this regard, he is conforming to the pattern of his predecessors."

The Wrong Man to Lead Interpol

The Election of Russia’s Abuser-in-Chief to Lead Interpol Would Raise Fundamental Questions, Forbes, November 18, 2018. "Reports in the British press indicate that Alexander Prokopchuk, who has served in Russia’s Interior Ministry since 2003 and as Interpol’s Vice-Chair for Europe since 2016, will be elected as the new president of Interpol at the meeting of the Interpol General Assembly now taking place in Dubai. If accurate, this report raises fundamental questions for all democratic nations in Interpol."

Goodbye, Mother

Uncrowned Queen of Europe, Newsday, November 4, 2018. "German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to surrender her leadership of the Christian Democratic Union is a surprise, though not a shock. The causes of her departure reveal the folly of the course that Germany followed under her leadership."

Dubai Priorities for Interpol

Key Goals for the United States at the 2018 Meeting of the Interpol General Assembly, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief, November 2, 2018. "Absent U.S. action, Interpol, which is heavily used by U.S. law enforcement, will continue to lose credibility in ways that will damage both the institution itself and the interests of the U.S."

Order A Salad, Get The Menu

Why the Arms Trade Treaty Is No Answer for the Saudi Problem, Forbes, October 31, 2018. "As part of the reaction to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and as part of the wider left-wing preference for siding with Iran instead of Saudi Arabia, progressives who were already thoroughly in favor of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) are arguing that Western governments should ratify it, or uphold it, in order to cut off arms sales to the Saudis. This is a terrible argument."

An Academic Question

Why the U.S. Sometimes Supports International Treaty Enforcement, Forbes, October 31, 2018. "Thanks both to President Barack Obama’s willingness to evade the treaty-making process entirely in order to do his deals with Tehran and in Paris, and to President Donald Trump’s justified skepticism that it’s in the U.S.’s interests to stay in the INF Treaty while the Russians serially violate it, treaties are suddenly interesting again. But activists tend to ignore one of the more important questions regarding treaties: How will they be enforced? A second question follows logically: What will the U.S. support by way of enforcement?"

The Disappeared

Why Interpol’s Chinese President Disappeared – And Why It Matters, Daily Signal, October 22, 2018. "It was unseemly for Interpol to have a Chinese political policeman as its president to begin with. It’s also true that the danger of having the Chinese political police at the helm of Interpol was not quite what it seemed."

A Choice Between Bad and Worse

What Not To Do About Khashoggi, Newsday, October 21, 2018. "The death of Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi Arabia offers a terrible temptation to the United States: We can indulge our outrage at the expense of our interests. We have few good options, but giving in to that temptation would be the worst thing to do."

What's at Stake in Meng Hongwei's Removal

Why China Shouldn’t Run Interpol, Weekly Standard, October 19, 2018. "And that is what is at stake in Meng’s leadership of, and removal from, Interpol. The issue is not that by charging a Chinese national who happened to be the president of Interpol with a crime, Beijing has done something inherently wrong."

Steady Downward As She Goes

Europe Paves the Way for Its Decline, Newsday, October 7, 2018. "Europe is declining. It’s getting richer too slowly — so slowly that it’s being left behind by the rest of the world. Strangely, that’s the result Europe prefers. Britain has a chance to escape from the European trap, but even if it does, Europe’s decline is a defeat for the United States."

A Fight Delayed

Britain’s Conservatives Press the Pause Button, Weekly Standard Online, October 4, 2018. "If you are looking for a disastrous performance in a starring political role, it would be hard to top British prime minister Theresa May’s turn at last year’s Conservative Party Conference. There, following the catastrophic June 2017 general election, she delivered an equally catastrophic speech, culminated in a coughing fit so severe as to be almost terminal. This year’s Party Conference, held in Birmingham, went a good deal better than that. But then, if you set your standards low enough, you’ll never be disappointed."

The Tory Fade in Birmingham

British Conservatives Are Growing Weary of Their Own Leaders, Daily Signal, October 3, 2018. "It’s almost universally accepted here that by this time next year, May will be a former prime minister. Expectations like that have a way of fading, but today, May is simply not delivering on either the substance or the style that her party demands."

A Train Line to Nowhere

Look at America’s Example – HS2 Will Only Drain Britain – and the Economy – Towards London, Yorkshire Post, October 1, 2018. "But neither commuter trains nor the fast one – the Acela – that runs between New Haven and New York can make New Haven as attractive as New York. The trains, basically, are a way to get to New York. And I fear that will be the fate of Britain’s newest tracked adventure, HS2, the fast line from Birmingham to Euston – and, latterly, Leeds. It is a curious fact that Britain, a nation that is unhappy about its existing trains, has decided that it should spend a great deal of money building another one."

It's Getting Bigger

How Many Interpol Red Notices Break the Rules?, Forbes, September 25, 2018. "In the first blog in this series, I calculated that Interpol deleted approximately 170 Red Notices in 2016 for not complying with its rules — in all likelihood, because they were efforts to use Interpol for political purposes. In this second and concluding blog, I will explain what this deletion rate means for Interpol as a whole."

How Big Is the Ocean?

How Many Interpol Red Notices Break the Rules?, Forbes, September 25, 2018. "How many Red Notices, published by Interpol, are later found to be out of compliance with its rules? This is an important question for U.S. policy, and for the policies of all democratic nations. There is rising concern, and press and political interest, in the problem of Interpol abuse — that is, the use of Interpol by autocratic states (including Russia) to harass dissidents, refugees, and political opponents. But we do not have a handle on how big a problem this is."

Don't Post That Meme

Restrictive Nonsense from the EU, Newsday, September 23, 2018. "In an act of unmitigated stupidity, the European Union Parliament has adopted a ban on Star Trek parodies. And posting photos at sporting events. Or photos with anything copyrighted in the background. The EU wants to tax your memes."

An Opportunity of Brexit

Ideal US-UK Free Trade Agreement Supports the Special Relationship, Heritage Foundation Commentary, September 20, 2018. "On Tuesday, a group of 11 conservative and libertarian think tanks launched “The Ideal U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Agreement: A Free Trader’s Perspective.” Published by the Cato Institute, and its primary authors, Dan Ikenson and Simon Lester of Cato, it is not a plan for a free trade area, or a plea for one. It is the actual text of an agreement. The governments of Britain and the United States could sign it tomorrow."

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, It's Yours

There’s Now A US-UK Trade Deal Ready To Be Signed, BrexitCentral, September 18, 2018. "Yesterday, 11 think-tanks from the United States and the United Kingdom came together to launch a full agreement for free trade between our two countries. This isn’t a plan for a deal (like Chequers) or a plea that a deal is possible. It’s an actual, complete agreement, legal in every detail, and ready for signature."

As Goes Sweden, So Goes Europe

Swedes Could Join European Populist Force in Upcoming Vote, Newsday, September 8, 2018. "It’s hard to imagine that anyone in Sweden, a rich and beautiful nation, has a reason to be discontented. Yet, in its election on Sunday, Sweden will likely become the next European nation where a rebel party that defies the left/right divide will gain votes."

The ATT Circus Leaves Town

The Annual Arms Trade Treaty Conference Sputters to a Close, Forbes, August 31, 2018. "The Conference of States Parties (CSP) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) closed on Friday in Tokyo. This circus will come to town in Geneva again next August, but I can’t believe anyone is eager for the big top to re-open. Of all the ATT meetings I have attended since 2012, this was by far the least consequential."

A Gilded Waste of Space

This Arms Treaty Is a Pathetic Waste of US Cash. We Should Pull Out, Daily Signal, August 31, 2018. "If you were debating the arms trade, what would you want to talk about? Iran’s support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen? China’s sale of arms in Africa? How guns flow from Libya to ISIS? No, that’s boring. How about debating which bureaucrat should control the travel stipends to attend the debate? That’s the good stuff."

It's Not Just Asian-Americans . . . .

Base College Entry on Credentials, Newsday, August 24, 2018. "This month, millions of students will head to college. But some — including many Asian-Americans — won’t be going where they wanted to. A lawsuit against Harvard University has the potential to change that, and to expose one of the ways colleges discriminate against the best and brightest."

ATT Reporting Goes Down, Down, Down

he Failure of Conventional Arms Reporting Under the Arms Trade Treaty,, Forbes, August 22, 2018. "I’m in Tokyo this week attending the fourth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Over the years I’ve written at length on the ATT, which was adopted as the result of a campaign by what is politely called “civil society” — in other words progressive NGOs — who were frustrated by the failure of all the other institutions focused on conventional arm to get them where they wanted to go."

What, We're Still Paying In To The ATT?

This Treaty Takes U.S. Money While Repeatedly Attacking Us, Daily Signal, August 22, 2018. "Nations who are party to the Arms Trade Treaty are holding their fourth annual meeting this week in Tokyo, Japan. I’m attending the meeting as a representative of The Heritage Foundation. Supposedly, the purpose of the treaty is to apply humanitarian standards to the international arms trade. Actually, the treaty is a pointless talking shop and a box-checking exercise, with a generous dash of blame America first and a little spice added by the gun control supporters who cluster on its periphery."

Russia Reset, Take Four

What’s Vladimir Putin’s Next Play?, Newsday, August 10, 2018. "There’s no shortage of comment on Trump’s policies, but we hear a lot less about Putin’s. That’s a pity, because we can’t judge our policies without reference to what he’s doing."

It's Woodrow Wilson's Fault

Cracking Down on Presidential Power, Newsday, July 22, 2018. "The power of the presidency has grown at the expense of Congress. President Donald Trump’s trade policy is the latest illustration of the fact that the chief executive in the United States is over-mighty. Unfortunately, the progressive left likes it that way."

Adenauer and de Gaulle All Over Again

With her Chequers Plan, Theresa May is repeating the mistakes of former Tory Prime Ministers, BrexitCentral, July 13, 2018. "The cardinal sin inherent in the way Britain thinks about the EU — and its predecessors — is that Britain focuses on economics at the expense of politics, and fixates on visible trade at the expense of invisibles. The focus on economics, I believe, reflects a couple of things."

The U.S. As Muscle-Bound Giant

Why The U.S. Struggles to Come to Grips with the U.N.’s Gun Control Program, Forbes, July 12, 2018. "The most fundamental U.S. difficulty is that, in most U.N. venues, the U.S. is permanently on the defensive: the best we can do is to limit our losses. I would love to take the offensive, to come up with proposals that we can back and to force others to react to them, instead of us being forced to always react to the idiotic proposals of others."

The PoA's Little Inanities

The Little Inanities of the U.N.’s Gun Control Program, Forbes, July 12, 2018. "During the last two weeks of June, I was in New York, watching the Third Review Conference of 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, usually abbreviated as the Programme of Action, or just the PoA. For the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, I’ve explained how the U.S. was cheated by a last minute rule change. But spending a fortnight at the PoA also occasions a few broader thoughts on the dysfunctions of the PoA, and the way the U.S. deals with dysfunctional international institutions. In this column, I’ll look at some of those dysfunctions. In the next, I’ll focus on how the U.S. tries — and sometimes fails — to come to grips with them.

Trump's To-Do List in the UK

For Trump It Looks Like A Bad Time To Arrive in Britain – Actually, It’s Ideal. Here’s Why, Fox News, July 12, 2018. "President Donald Trump will have to learn some new names in London. Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and David Davis, who led Britain’s arrangements for exiting the EU, resigned out of dissatisfaction with the government’s plans for Brexit. On the surface, this looks like a bad time for Trump to arrive. Actually, it’s ideal."

Keeping the Party Going at the PoA

To Promote Gun Control, the UN Changes the Rules, Daily Signal, July 10, 2018. "In the last two weeks of June, the United Nations held another review conference on its efforts to counter what it considers illicit dealing in small arms. The U.S. played the game well. But unfortunately, you can’t beat a cheater. In theory, this U.N. program might be a modestly useful way to promote cooperation against the illicit international trade in small arms. In practice, as even the world body has agreed, it does nothing very useful, mostly because most nations at the U.N. are too incompetent, or too ill-willed, to follow through on their commitments."

My PoA Top Ten

The Ten Dumbest Things I Heard About Guns at the United Nations, Forbes, June 28, 2018. "In theory, the purpose of the PoA — which is a political instrument, not a treaty — is to encourage cooperation on the illicit international trade in small arms. If the PoA stuck to this, it might be modestly useful. It can only be modestly useful because far too many nations at the U.N. don’t right now have the ability, or the desire, to do the basic things they have repeatedly committed to do."

Yes, Get Out of the Human Rights Council

U.S Right to Quit Human Rights Panel, Newsday, June 24, 2018. "The UN Human Rights Council is a disgrace. No democracy should listen to the council, much less participate in it. The Trump administration’s decision to quit this rotten body was not merely right. It embodies the way we should treat failed international institutions."

What A Waste of Time

I’m Sitting Through One of the UN’s Most Useless Conferences. Here’s What’s Happening, Daily Signal, June 23, 2018. "or this week and the next, the United Nations is hosting a conference of its Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects—fortunately abbreviated as the PoA. Like the U.N. Human Rights Council, the PoA is a classic U.N. institution: It’s a good idea in theory, but a terrible failure in practice."

Brexit Becomes Law

Yes, Brexit Will Happen. And It Will Work, Daily Signal, June 22, 2018. "The past week has seen big, and potentially confusing, events in Great Britain’s struggle to Brexit—to regain its national independence from the European Union. As we reach the second anniversary of the Brexit referendum, which took place on June 23, 2016, here’s what has happened."

Weaponizing Interpol

Palestinians Use Interpol As A Weapon of War, Fox News, June 16, 2018. "Should the Palestinian Authority (PA) be able to use an international organization like Interpol as a weapon in its internal fights between factions? The question seems absurd. Yet it is exactly what the PA and its bombastic president, Mahmoud Abbas, are now trying to do."

Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three . . .

Do You Want Your Voice In Interpol’s Database?, Forbes, June 13, 2018. "In my last post, I pointed out that one lesson of Bill Browder's arrest in Spain last month is that the little-known system of Interpol alerts known as "diffusions" is badly in need of reform. But it’s not just the diffusion system that needs reform. We badly need a way to protect Americans — and others — from the abusive use of the Interpol system. My latest paper on Interpol proposes creating a “white list” of victims of abuse. Browder is certainly one such victim."

Answering Questions on the Browder Arrest

How Could Bill Browder Be Arrested?, Forbes, June 13, 2018. "Late last month, I analyzed Bill Browder’s brief arrest in Spain, arguing that it was likely the result of a Spanish bungle, not a new Interpol action taken at Russia’s request. This assessment has since been supported by journalists and by former Secretary-General of Interpol Ron Noble (in a tweet that Mr. Noble later deleted, perhaps after recalling that I have been one of his more severe critics). But precisely because it seems to — indeed, does — point to larger problems, the arrest has occasioned a lot of subtle politicking, which I want to call out for the sake of the unwary."

It's Expired and Gone to Meet Its Maker

Will Italy Be The Next European Domino?, Newsday, June 10, 2018. "Eight years ago, the euro and the European Union were rocked by the near-collapse of Greek finances. Since then, migrants and Russia have crowded Europe’s banks from the headlines. But as events in Italy over the past two weeks have shown, the European peril is not dead. It is only resting."

LOST at Sea

7 Reasons U.S. Should Not Ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, with Brett Schaeffer and James Carafano, Heritage Foundation Commentary, June 4, 2018. "U.S. accession would provide no benefits not already available to the U.S., while creating unnecessary burdens and risks. Heritage Foundation research linked below addresses these points clearly and unequivocally."

The Background to Spain's Arrest of Browder

Why Was Bill Browder Arrested in Spain?, Forbes, May 31, 2018. "Bill Browder, the well-known author of Red Notice, energetic opponent of Russian corruption, and progenitor of the Magnitsky Act, was briefly arrested in Spain yesterday morning. The circumstances of his arrest are “murky,” but here’s what I believe happened."

The Ups and Downs of Firearms Export Control Reforms

The Good and the Bad of Reforms to Firearms Export Controls, Forbes, May 29, 2018. "In my last column, I summarized the origin of the proposed changes to the export controls on firearms, ammunition, and related materials, and dismissed some of the criticisms of these reforms as based on ignorance of how the system will work -- or on the presumption that if the Trump administration is doing it, it must be bad. In this column, I'll look at the up- and downsides of the proposed reforms."

The Background to ITAR 1-3 Reform

Trump Administration’s Proposed Reforms to Firearms Export Controls Are Good – Mostly, Forbes, May 29, 2018. "On May 24, 2018, the Federal Register's website officially posted proposed reforms to the export controls on firearms and some related items. By and large, the reforms are sensible and welcome — but the 45 day comment period that begins today is also welcome, because not everything in the new rules is on point. In this two part series, I’ll explain the background of the proposed reforms, and then look at their up and down sides."

Impose Costs

Will Trump’s Iran Strategy Work?, Newsday, May 26, 2018. "In his first major policy speech as secretary of state — delivered Monday at the Heritage Foundation — Mike Pompeo set out the Trump administration’s Iran strategy. It’s heartening that the United States has a plan: ditching the nuclear deal is well and good, but it’s not a strategy. But is the plan a good one?"

The U.S. Goal Is to Ensure the PoA Continues To Do Nothing

U.S. Goals at the 2018 Review Conference of the U.N.’s Programme of Action on Small Arms, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #3313, May 14, 2018. "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 (PoA) is a political mechanism, which works by unanimous consensus for encouraging voluntary cooperation against the illicit small-arms trade. It is a substantive failure, but that is unlikely to stop the PoA’s forthcoming Third Review Conference from seeking to expand the PoA in unproductive ways—including by advocating an unworkable plan for the registry of individual rounds of ammunition and supporting new technical requirements for civilian firearms. If the U.S. continues to participate in the PoA, it should send a strong delegation to the Conference to effectively oppose these ideas. Likewise, the U.S. should staunchly reject all efforts to transform the PoA into a treaty and not be taken in by Trojan Horse strategies designed to impose constraining international norms on the U.S."

Unsign, Already

Key Goals for the United States at the 2018 Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Issue Brief #4842, May 14, 2018. "The fourth annual Conference of States Parties to the ATT (CSP4) will be held in Japan from August 20–24, 2018. Because the ATT is not in the interests of the United States, the Administration should “unsign” the ATT. It should attend CSP4 as an observer state—with the goal of opposing any expansion of the ATT or its Secretariat."

The Power of the Executive . . .

The Other Problem with the Iran Nuclear Deal, Newsday, May 11, 2018. "The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aka the Iran nuclear deal, is history — at least as far as the United States is concerned. That’s both a good thing and a bad one."

U.S. Responses to Palestinian Membership of Interpol

How the United States Should Respond to Palestinian Membership in Interpol, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, May 1, 2018. " SUMMARY The Interpol General Assembly’s September 2017 decision to admit the Palestinian Authority to membership was a grave error. The Authority will likely use its membership both to pursue its political and legal war against Israel and to harass opponents abroad. The PA’s membership further debases Interpol, an international organization of police and law enforcement organizations that is constitutionally required to focus exclusively on ordinary crime. It also reflects awareness by autocracies that Interpol can be a valuable instrument of oppression and that the Western democracies’ historically dominant role in Interpol is fading. The U.S. and other like-minded nations should limit the damage that the Authority can do through Interpol and develop a strategy to resist the organization’s wider politicization."

Selfishness and Self-Righteousness

Not All U.S. Allies Are Created Equal, Newsday, April 29, 2018. "Everyone, including President Donald Trump, likes French President Emmanuel Macron. He’s the first foreign leader Trump hosted for a state visit. And at least France’s policies — unlike Germany’s, whose chancellor, Angela Merkel, arrived on Friday for her visit — are gloriously selfish."

Bombs Away . . . .

Damn, Busted, Weekly Standard, April 27, 2018. "As a nation, Brexit Britain is stepping out of the shadow of the EU. But as a military power, it’s stepped into the shade."

The Inoculation Effect

Why Syria Felt Emboldened to Use Deadly Gas, Newsday, April 15, 2018. "Despite their fearsome reputation, most weapons of mass destruction — even the conventional ones — are not used often. Like a vaccine, their first use seems to inoculate the world against further uses. But in Syria — struck by Western missiles early Saturday — the inoculation effect against poison gas has been failing. And so is the U.S. policy that contributed to it."

What We All Got Wrong

So Many U.S. Delusions in Foreign Affairs, Newsday, April 1, 2018. "It’s a common lament that politics don’t stop at the water’s edge. Foreign policy, the argument goes, should be run on the basis of national interest, not party politics. But in reality, U.S. administrations of all colors have a lot of beliefs in common. Unfortunately, all too often, they believe in illusions."

As Bad As We Wanna Be

We Are Only As Powerless As We Want To Be, Newsday, March 20, 2018. "Isn’t it time to give this nonsense about not wanting a new Cold War a rest? This is a new Cold War. And isn’t it time for us to stop confessing our own powerlessness? The West isn’t powerless."

It's the European Commission

The Problem with Brexit Isn’t Britain, National Review Online, March 6, 2018. "Several decades of studying Britain’s relations with the European Union and its predecessor organizations have left me pessimistic about the U.K.’s ability to secure exit from the E.U. on the terms that appear clearly to be in everyone’s best interests. And a few days in Brussels have led me to conclude that the prospect of a negotiated exit is growing more remote."

How Brexit Opens the Way for a US-UK FTA

How Brexit Opens Up a Path for a US-UK Free Trade Area, Daily Signal, March 5, 2018. "Last week, I was in Brussels to help launch a new report on financial services in Britain and the European Union after Brexit. During that time, we inched a bit closer to the creation of a free trade area between the U.S. and Britain—and I learned a bit about why the EU is standing in the way."

New Democrats, New Dangers

Obama’s Ugly Legacy in the Mideast, Newsday, March 4, 2018. "The war in Syria was like a stone thrown into a lake. The initial splash has subsided, but the waves are spreading throughout the region. Where the waves meet the shores of the lake, they splash again into new wars. The wars of the Persian Gulf, the Kurds, and Israel are beginning."

A Summary of the Case for Unsigning the ATT

Why the U.S. Must Unsign the Arms Trade Treaty in 2018, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #3287, February 22, 2018. "The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is one of a number of treaties that work not through verifiable commitments but by promoting restrictive norms. Over time, as similar treaties have done, the ATT will shape U.S. policymaking, as the undefined standards at its heart evolve and are applied through political pressure, moral suasion, or the actions of the courts. Even by the standards of the Obama Administration, the ATT is a substantive failure, and it lacks congressional support. But for the progressive activists behind the ATT, its inevitable inability to improve the world’s incompetent and malevolent nations is irrelevant. No U.S. action can eliminate the long-term risks posed by the ATT, but the U.S. can and should mitigate them by “unsigning” the treaty."

Another Abusive Authoritarian Joins Interpol

How U.S. Can Stop Palestinian Authority from Abusing Interpol, Washington Times, February 19, 2018. "Interpol is supposed to help the world’s police agencies communicate with each other, not to play politics. But when Interpol’s member nations voted to admit the Palestinian Authority, they brought a supporter of terrorism into the organization, and Interpol itself into new disrepute."

Kick the Russians Out

The Indecency of the Olympic Games, Newsday, February 18, 2018. "Anyone who thinks that politics are new to the Olympics doesn’t know the Games. But there are politics, and then there are politics. The politics of the 2018 Winter Games are blatant. And they’re working."

The 2019 NDAA

The 2019 NDAA Must Continue to Rebuild the Military and Make it More Efficient, contributor to to Heritage Foundation Special Report #198, February 9, 2018. "The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) needs to be a step forward in rebuilding the Armed Forces’ capacity, capability, and readiness. Every single service is facing important questions about its future, both in terms of end strength and the infrastructure that will support its mission. Congress plays a vital role in shaping the military forces for next year and for the years to come. The NDAA is the best vehicle for Congress to shape the military’s present and future. The military did not get to the current level of deteriorated readiness in one year, and it will take consistent and sustained effort to rebuild that readiness. The 2019 NDAA needs to build on last year’s efforts and establish a reliable trend of investment."

They Don't Like Him As Much As You Think They Do

The Gun Industry’s Surprising Take on the Trump Administration, Daily Signal, February 2, 2018. "Certainly, it was great to hear the president speak up for the Second Amendment in his State of the Union address. But as I learned at this year’s SHOT—Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades—Show, which wrapped up last week in Las Vegas, it’s more complicated than that."

New Hope for A US-UK FTA

New Trade Deals, Daily Signal, January 30, 2018. "The president’s call for new trade deals that are fair and reciprocal, and that protect American workers and American intellectual property, bode well for a ground-breaking free trade area agreement between the U.S. and Britain."

Another Impending UN Misfire

Beware: The United Nations Is Taking Aim at Ammo, Fox News, January 30, 2018. "The United Nations will have a busy year in 2018 on the firearms front. That’s not good news for anyone in the U.S. who buys firearms. When it comes to the U.N. and guns, the best form of action is always inaction."

What Trump Got Right and Wrong

Trump’s Hits and Misses, Newsday, January 30, 2018. "Despite the incessant media uproar — some of it caused by the man himself — President Donald Trump hasn’t been the disaster his opponents expected. In both policy and process, his successes mirror his failures."

A US-UK FTA, Closer Than Ever

New Trade Deals, Daily Signal, January 30, 2018. "The president’s call for new trade deals that are fair and reciprocal, and that protect American workers and American intellectual property, bode well for a ground-breaking free trade area agreement between the U.S. and Britain."

What's Up For Guns in 2018

It Could Be A Great Year for America’s Gun Owners. And for Gun-Makers, Too, Daily Signal, January 30, 2018. "One of the nation’s largest gatherings of gun owners, hunters, and sports shooters was bigger and better than ever, and again set the tone for the year in firearms—and for the people who love and work in the industry. In previous years, the tone at the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show, known as the SHOT Show, had been buoyant but concerned. Buoyant because in the years after 2009, fears about what President Barack Obama would do drove gun sales to unprecedented heights. Concerned because—well, it’s never pleasant to know that the man in the White House doesn’t like you."

Spot the Radical

Who’s the Radical, Trump or Obama?, Newsday, January 14, 2018. "In assessments of President Donald Trump’s first year in office, a common theme among commentators has been that he falls outside the American political mainstream. In some ways, that’s true. But in most ways, he’s been traditional. It was his predecessor, Barack Obama, who was the radical."

NYT, Wrong Again

New York Times Gets the Facts Wrong on Land Mines, Daily Signal, January 11, 2018. "Every year, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines publishes a report on the number of casualties caused by land mines—or so it says. And every year, gullible journalists take the report’s headline figure at face value. But this year, the worst offender is a particularly prestigious outlet: The New York Times, whose editorial board authored a column titled “Why Do Land Mines Still Kill So Many?”"

The EU's Data Protection Regulations

The U.S. Must Draw a Line on the EU’s Data-Protection Imperialism, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #3276, January 9, 2018. "On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force. Described by the European Commission as a measure to strengthen individual rights in the digital age and facilitate business, the GDPR embodies and expands the EU’s effort to apply its data-protection standards to governments and private enterprise inside and outside the EU. Together with an EU directive governing the processing of personal information by government authorities, the GDRP will mark the beginning of another phase in a long-running struggle between the U.S. and the EU over the handling of individual data by U.S. corporations and the U.S. government."