Interpol Elections and Interpol Abusers

US Leadership Needed to Push Back on China’s Abuse of Interpol, Daily Signal, August 31, 2022. "But Interpol does have problems. And China is among the biggest. The next meeting of the Interpol General Assembly, which makes the final decisions for the organization, is set to take place in India from Oct. 18 to 21. The General Assembly’s last meeting, in 2021, was a disaster for the U.S. Representatives from authoritarian regimes, including China, took control of the Executive Committee, which supervises implementation of the General Assembly’s decisions."

A Foreign Aid Program That Works

U.S. Foreign Aid for Removing Land Mines Works Well, But Aid Allocations Need Review, Daily Signal, August 26, 2022. "The recent decision by the Biden administration to drop anti-personnel land mines from the U.S. arsenal was a serious mistake. It will not save lives. Indeed, it will likely cost lives—both of U.S. military personnel and of the civilians our military seeks to protect. But there are aspects of U.S. land mine policy that work well. Foremost among these is the support the U.S. provides to foreign countries for removing deployed land mines and destroying unexploded ordnance."

Why the ATT Is A Bad Idea, Part Infinity

War in Ukraine Shows Why Arms Trade Treaty Remains Bad Idea, Daily Signal, August 24, 2022. "The nations that have signed the Arms Trade Treaty are meeting this week in Geneva. In 2016, the Obama administration took the U.S. into the treaty. In 2019, the Trump administration took us out of it. The latter decision keeps on looking better and better."

Biden's Wrong on Landmines

The Biden Administration Is Wrong to Abandon Anti-Personnel Landmines, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #5284, August 3, 2022. "On June 21, 2022, the Biden Administration canceled the Trump Administration’s policy that allowed U.S. military forces to employ anti-personnel landmines outside the Korean Peninsula. The Biden policy is the third major change in U.S. anti-personnel landmine policy since 2009. The Biden policy denies U.S. troops the use of weapons that could help to reduce U.S. casualties and help the U.S. military to prevail in future conflicts. It was adopted against the advice of the U.S. military in order to please progressive activists who have led the campaign against anti-personnel landmines. The Biden policy is a gift to Russia’s military land power that will do nothing to curb the misuse of anti-personnel landmines, which has skyrocketed as the campaign against these weapons has helped to disarm democracies."

Interpol's Finances

Interpol Needs Improved Financial Transparency to Restore Its Integrity and Block Autocratic Manipulation, Heritage Foundation Special Report #258, August 1, 2022. "Interpol serves a valuable purpose and deserves to be properly funded. Its democratic member nations have a particular stake in ensuring thatInterpol can fund itself through its normal budgetary processes, for the less Interpol relies on statutory contributions, the more likely it is to fall into the financial clutches of the autocracies that seek to abuse it for their own ends. The U.S. and its democratic allies in Interpol need to start laying the groundwork now for the election of the organization’s next Secretary General in 2024. No reforms of Interpol’s finances or of Interpol more broadly, no matter how necessary or far-reaching, will be effective if Interpol’s leaders are not committed to upholding and advancing them."

UK Defense, Yet Again, Goes Cheap

Why UK Defense Must Go on Offense, with intern Greyson Hoye, Daily Signal, August 1, 2022. "Following a wave of Cabinet and ministerial resignations, Boris Johnson has announced that he will step down as the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Now, Britain and the world are left to wonder who will be next to command its ship of state. Whoever it might be, the next prime minister must make defense a top priority."