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."