UAE Wins Interpol Presidency

In Interpol Elections, the Autocracies Take Control, Daily Signal, November 29, 2021. "The General Assembly last week held its latest round of elections, and the results were just about as bad as they could have been."

Brexit Won't Work Without Economic Freedom

Post-Brexit Britain Gains Prosperity via Trade Freedom, but Tax-and-Spend Policies Threaten These Gains, Daily Signal, November 12, 2021. "In the months and years before Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, Brexit’s enemies based their case overwhelmingly on economic arguments. That is what they have always done. The reason is simple: The political case for the European Union in Britain is not popular, because it means subordinating the elected House of Commons to EU bureaucrats. So the EU’s friends in Britain talked about money instead of sovereignty."

The FY2022 NDAA and Interpol

Abuse of Interpol for Transnational Repression: Assessing the FY22 NDAA’s Provisions for Prevention, with Jonathan Reich, Just Security, November 10, 2021. "The U.S. Congress has expressed increasing concern in recent years about the rise in transnational repression — that is, cross-border actions ranging from assassinations and abductions to intimidation and financial blacklisting that seek to deter and punish opposition or dissent. One form of transnational repression that has attracted considerable attention is the abuse by certain member countries of Interpol, the international organization tasked with facilitating worldwide police cooperation. As the single-largest funder of Interpol, the United States has an opportunity to take significant steps to curtail transnational repression by opposing Interpol abuse. This would both help to ensure that Interpol serves its intended purpose, and aid in setting the agenda for wider liberal democratic opposition to transnational repression in all its forms."

Interpol Priorities in 2021

Key Priorities for the U.S. at the 2021 Meeting of the Interpol General Assembly, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #3664, November 1, 2021. "The 89th annual meeting of the Interpol General Assembly to be held this November 23–25 in Istanbul, Turkey, will be dominated by the election of a majority of Interpol’s Executive Committee, including a new president of Interpol, and the election of all seven members of Interpol’s appellate body, the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files. The United States should work with other democratic nations to form a democratic caucus in Interpol to ensure that qualified candidates from law-abiding democracies fill these positions. While the agenda for Interpol reform is wide, the United States should recognize that the autocracies are bidding in particular to win Interpol’s presidency, and defeating that bid—not reforming Interpol—will have to be the top priority in 2021."

ATT Is Bad for CATP

The Biden Administration’s Conventional Arms Transfer Policy Should Not Be Handcuffed by the Arms Trade Treaty, Hertiage Foundation Issue Brief #5235, November 1, 2021. "The Biden Administration is reviewing its Conventional Arms Transfer Policy (CATP), which governs conventional weapons export. A State Department official has indicated this review would determine “the proper relationship of the United States to the Arms Trade Treaty.” Incorporating the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in a revised CATP would be a grave error. The ATT would raise serious barriers to the conduct of U.S. foreign policy—and transform difficult questions of arms export policy into matters of law. The ATT is used solely to constrain the U.S.’s democratic allies: Most of its members do not take it seriously. The U.S. should continue to have a CATP that allows policymakers to weigh all relevant factors—not be handcuffed by the ATT."