The Brexit Prize and the IEA

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

Against the ATT, Again

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

Freedom in Bournemouth

At Britain’s CPAC, Heritage Joins Conservative Allies, Heritage Foundation Foundry, March 19, 2014. "The Heritage Foundation was proud to be the only American think tank invited to participate in the inaugural Freedom Festival, Britain’s equivalent of the Conservative Political Action Conference in the U.S. Organized by the leading center-right think tanks and activist organizations in Britain, including such stalwarts for freedom as the Freedom Association, the TaxPayers’ Alliance, and Margaret Thatcher’s own Centre for Policy Studies, the Freedom Festival was a three-day long event held on the sunny south coast of Britain in Bournemouth. If there was one opinion that united the conference, it was dislike of Britain’s membership in the European Union."

Interpol and the Risks of Irresponsibility

Don’t Look to Hollywood for the Truth About Interpol, Heritage Foundation Foundry, December 16, 2013. "This week on the big screen, martial arts master Jason Statham tangles with James Franco in Homefront. Statham’s on-screen backstory? He’s a British Interpol agent who retires to rural Louisiana, where he runs afoul of Franco and his gang. As a story, it’s not bad. But as a depiction of Interpol, it’s laughable."

Winston's Back!

Bust of Winston Churchill Dedicated in U.S. Capitol, Heritage Foundation Foundry, November 1, 2013. "Congress dedicated a bust of Winston Churchill, one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century and an honorary American citizen, in a ceremony this week in the magnificent Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. The event was a powerful tribute to Churchill’s leadership and to his great legacy in the United States and around the world."

The Considered Congressional Response to US ATT Signature

Senate Decisively Rejects U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Foundry, October 15, 2013. "The U.S. Senate responded decisively today to Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent signature of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). In a bipartisan letter led by Senators Jerry Moran (R–KS) and Joe Manchin (D–WV), half of the Senate has officially pledged to oppose the ratification of the ATT. The signatories include every Republican Senator except Mark Kirk (R–IL) and 5 Democratic Senators. The letter, with its 50 signatories, ends any hope in the foreseeable future of Senate ratification of the ATT."

The Initial Congressional Response to US ATT Signature

As Kerry Signs “Less than Useless” U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Congress Responds, Heritage Foundation Foundry, September 25, 2013. "Today, Secretary of State John Kerry signed the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on behalf of the United States. The reaction from Congress has been immediate, and rightfully so."

Leading From Behind

After Syrian Confusion, the Obama Doctrine Lies in Ruins, Heritage Foundation Foundry, September 21, 2013. "The President has never had a coherent approach to foreign policy. Instead, he entered office with a string of liberal platitudes about the world and a deep desire to focus on domestic policy. Today, the Administration’s central goal on Syria is the same as it was two years ago: to get the problem off the front pages."

Norms for Me, But Not for Thee

The Connections Between Syria and the Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Foundry, September 11, 2013. "Whether or not it is wise to arm rebels in Syria today, it is clearly not sensible for the U.S. to decide in advance that it will never arm a rebel group again. That would mean a rejection of the Reagan Doctrine that the U.S. will seek, guided by its national interests, to arm opponents of dictatorial regimes."

As U.S. Prepares to Sign ATT, Events Elsewhere Move On

The Impending U.S. Signature of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Foundry, August 28, 2013. "The ATT was negotiated in English, and initial translations of it into the U.N.’s other official languages were flawed. Revised translations have since been circulated, and unless objections to the new language have been received, the final translation – into Russian – was formally completed yesterday, August 28. Thus, by the standard Secretary Kerry has set, the U.S. may now be free to sign the ATT."

Churchill's Understanding of the Glorious Fourth

Churchill on the “Practical Truth” of the Declaration of Independence, Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 4, 2013. "As a statesman, an author, and a friend of the United States, Winston Churchill was regularly called upon to offer his sentiments on the meaning of the Fourth of July. In his remarks over the years, as Lewis E. Lehrman points out, he emphasized a similar theme: Though the Declaration of Independence signaled the American political break from Britain, it was inspired by a shared Anglo–American political tradition of resistance to tyranny."

Yes, the ATT Does Indeed Impinge on the Reagan Doctrine

Syria: Would the U.N. ATT Ban Aid to the Rebels?, Heritage Foundation Foundry, June 27, 2013. "There are indeed good reasons to be skeptical about arming the rebels in Syria. But by arguing the broader case that the ATT bans aid to non-state actors, the treaty proponents are rejecting a bipartisan tool of U.S. foreign policy, one that we may not want to use now but should not abandon. They are validating the concerns of treaty opponents, who have long argued that the ATT was a device to transform U.S. arms export policy. They are also effectively putting themselves on the side of the well-armed totalitarian regimes that kill unarmed people. And there is a final irony. The ATT is being promoted by an Administration that is seemingly intent, in Syria, on seeing the treaty their way. Other governments are likely to do the same, which implies that the ATT – to the extent that it does not over time constrain the U.S., as its advocates argue it should and will – is likely to achieve nothing at all."

When It Comes to Treaties, I Don't Believe in Magic

The Magical Thinking Behind the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Foundry, June 14, 2013. "The problem with the world’s arms trade is not, as treaty defenders like Oxfam America President Raymond Offenheiser like to claim, that there are “loopholes in the current, irresponsible global arms trade.” The problem is that some nations deliberately sell arms to terrorists and dictators, and many others are corrupt. If a nation cannot maintain democratic law and order, it will not be able to implement the ATT. A treaty cannot make the incompetent competent. Nor can it make the malicious responsible."

The Latest on the Arms Trade Treaty from the Hill

As U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Opens for Signature, Opposition Rises on Hill, Heritage Foundation Foundry, June 3, 2013. "The ATT is badly flawed in substance, and the way it was adopted in the U.N. General Assembly and the speed of the U.S. review process of the treaty poses further serious problems. In part for those reasons, the treaty has drawn considerable skepticism on the Hill. A Concurrent Resolution offered by Senator Jerry Moran (R–KS) and Representative Mike Kelly (R–PA) has 35 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate and 144 in the House. Kelly has also released a Dear Colleagues letter opposing the ATT, with 129 co-signatories. Finally, Kelly has the support of 50 of his colleagues for an amendment to the fiscal year 2014 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill that would ban funding for the ATT."

On Lady Thatcher's Funeral

Margaret Thatcher’s Funeral: America Says Goodbye to a Friend, with Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Foundry, April 17, 2013. "Margaret Thatcher will be missed. But as the world says good-bye to the Iron Lady, we can take comfort in knowing that her legacy will outlive us all."

For the ATT, A Bad Treaty, A Bad Process

U.N. General Assembly Adopts the Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Foundry, April 2, 2013. "This morning, by a vote of 154 nations in favor (including the United States), 23 abstentions, and three against (Syria, North Korea, and Iran), the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The treaty will be open for national signature on June 3, 2013, and will enter into force for its signatories when it has been signed and ratified by 50 nations."

At the ATT, A Classic Illustration of How to Blame the U.S.

The Arms Trade Treaty: The Big Lie About July 2012, Heritage Foundation Foundry, April 1, 2013. "One of the unreported stories about the negotiation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) at the United Nations is the effort by many U.N. members, supplemented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), to blame the failure of the first negotiating conference last July on the United States. This story demonstrates the widespread eagerness to blame the U.S. for anything, which in turn sheds light on how the ATT, once it comes into being, will be interpreted and implemented in practice."

At the ATT Conference, the Worst of All Possible Worlds

The End of the Arms Trade Treaty Conference Is Not the End of the Treaty, Heritage Foundation Foundry, April 1, 2013. "Late on Thursday, the U.N. conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) fell apart when Iran, North Korea, and Syria opposed the treaty. This was a surprise to virtually all the conference observers. By mid-day Friday, almost everyone thought the treaty would get done that day, if only because the delegates were too tired of the process to do anything else. Sure, there were rumors of trouble with Iran and North Korea, but when Iran’s PressTV reported that Tehran was on board with the treaty, it was hard to take the rumors seriously. The first lesson is that as long as Iran’s regime is talking, they’re lying."

Serious Problems in ATT Final Draft

The Arms Trade Treaty: Reactions to the Final Draft, Heritage Foundation Foundry, March 28, 2013. "This latest draft contains a substantial number of minor changes to the previous text. In reacting to this text, it is important to bear in mind that the treaty has underlying flaws that no amount of improved drafting can fix. The latest draft has also not remedied a substantial number of the problems in previous drafts. But the following deficiencies in the text are both new and particularly regrettable."

The ATT Demands of the Dictators and the Holier-Than-Thous

The Arms Trade Treaty, Week Two: The Ways It Might Fail, Heritage Foundation Foundry, March 27, 2013. "In New York, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) conference is entering its final phase, and the ways in which the negotiations might fail are becoming clearer. large number of nations—mainly the Middle East but also Bangladesh, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and others—are not going to get much of what they want from this treaty. That is a good thing."