Back to Cluster Munitions

The Left Was Wrong, Wrong, Wrong on Cluster Munitions, with Steven Groves, Daily Signal, July 13, 2023. "For well over a decade, the Left has waged war on cluster munitions. Left-wing nongovernmental organizations and other groups have demonized them, liberal U.S. administrations have downplayed them, and the left-leaning media have exaggerated the civilian casualties they cause. But now, in a complete about-face, the U.S. has agreed to supply cluster munitions to the embattled forces of Ukraine in its war against Russia.That’s the right decision. But in coming belatedly to it, the Biden administration has effectively admitted that the Left’s case against cluster munitions was baseless."

NATO - The Foundation, But Not the Sole Focus, of U.S.'s Europe Policy

Ahead of 2023 NATO Summit, U.S. Policy in Europe Must Advance Prosperity and Security, with Dan Kochis, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #5323, July 7, 2023. "The U.S. does not have a serious policy for Europe: The Biden Administration’s claim that foreign and domestic policy are now one is intended to excuse its failings abroad and justify its progressive policies at home. At the July 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, the U.S. should press for the rapid adoption and full funding of NATO’s regional plans and support Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, while building a wider security and economic framework that will serve the West in the face of an aggressive China. The Biden Administration remains reflexive in Europe, clearly keen to shelve the region and return to its domestic priorities once the war subsides. This approach does not serve U.S. interests."

The Russian Nuclear Danger

What Russia Says About Nuclear Weapons And What It Means, with Robert Seely PhD MP and Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, 19fortyfive March 14, 2023. "Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime has consistently signaled that the Ukraine War could trigger Moscow’s use of nuclear weapons. After a lull in threats toward the end of last year, possibly due to China exerting its influence over the Kremlin, those threats are on the rise again. At the end of February, former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said the world faces a nuclear apocalypse if the West continues to arm Ukraine with advanced weaponry."

A Moment of Opportunity

How Russia’s War Impacts U.S. Influence in Europe, Limes Online, February 24, 2023 [paid access]. "One of the many unintended side-effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine has been the sudden revival of the U.S.’s influence in Europe – or at least in NATO. Yet again, as it has done so many times in the past, the European members of NATO have been reminded that the threats to European security are real and cannot be met without the leadership and assistance of the United States. But the U.S. recovery of its influence risks being a waning asset, because of the strains posed by the war, because of the decline it implies in Russia’s influence, and because the U.S. ultimately faces a greater challenge from China, a challenge to which Europe is only beginning to awake."

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."

U.S. Policies in Europe After Russia's Invasion

The Top Five U.S. Priorities for European Policy After Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, with Daniel Kochis, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #5258, April 7, 2022. "The year 2022 is the most important in transatlantic relations since the end of the Cold War. Russia’s unprovoked second invasion of Ukraine brings new urgency to the need for cooperation between the United States and its European allies. The U.S. can only meet the demands of this new era of great-power conflict, in which Russia and China both pose grave and wide-ranging challenges, if the U.S. builds on the strength of the transatlantic alliance, which remains central to its security. The Russian attack demonstrates that Europe has profoundly underestimated the dangers for which NATO was founded—and exists—to deter. The shock of the Russian assault must lead to unified action."

At Your Throat or At Your Knees

Europeans Forgive the Russians, Again, Newsday, February 3, 2019. "In recent years, Germany has often been lauded as a heroic defender of the free world. As former Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes relates, President Barack Obama said goodbye to Chancellor Angela Merkel with a sad “She’s all alone.” But Germany is not alone. It is trying to cut deals with Russia. Russia is far more popular in Germany than Obama’s whimper implied."

What We Should Be Doing in Europe, 2016 edition

Top Five Priorities for U.S. Policy Toward Europe in 2016, with Dan Kochis, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4506, January 8, 2016. "U.S. policy toward Europe in 2015 failed to rise to the significant challenges that confront it. The U.S. is no closer to having a clear and comprehensive strategy to deal with Russia than it was a year ago; it continues to devalue key bilateral and multilateral relationships in Europe for the sake of supporting the European Union (EU); and it took no effective steps to support improved governance in increasingly autocratic Turkey or in the aspiring democracy of Georgia. The devastating Islamist attacks in Paris in December 2015 prove that terrorism is an increasingly serious threat in the heart of Europe, and, from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine to the refugee crisis stemming from Syria, the EU displayed its customary obsession with inward-looking bureaucratic processes and supranationalism. The U.S. should defend European security, sovereignty, and prosperity, not support supranational institutions that undermine all these values. Here are the top five policy priorities in the European region for the Administration and Congress in 2016."

The Bear in the Desert

For Every Russian Tank Sent to Syria . . ., Newsday, October 2, 2015. "The Russian airstrikes in Syria make it clear that Vladimir Putin has joined yet another war. The bear's entry into the desert offers opportunities for the United States. Unfortunately, the Obama administration shows no interest in seizing them."

The Hour of Europe (Again)

Germany Falters in Ukraine and Greece, Newsday, February 22, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently negotiated a cease-fire in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Within days, Ukrainian troops lost the city of Debaltseve to a new Russian-backed rebel offensive. At the same time, European negotiations on the Greek financial crisis broke down in acrimony. This is the hour of Europe, and it's a disaster."

His Challenges, Unfortunately, Are Ours Too

Foreign Crises Weaken Obama at Home, Yorkshire Post, November 3, 2014. "The conventional wisdom is that US voters don’t care about foreign policy. Even on its face, this is silly: Korea, Vietnam, 9/11, and Iraq mattered in the ensuing elections. But voters don’t just care about wars. They care about perceptions of strength. And since 2013, President Barack Obama has looked weak."

The Traditional Requirements of Sovereignty

An Assault on Sovereignty in Israel, Ukraine, Newsday, July 25, 2014. "At a conference in Israel earlier this month, the White House's Middle East coordinator, Philip Gordon, spoke the magic word: sovereignty. Unfortunately, for the White House, it's just a word. From Israel to Ukraine, today's crises show what happens when the world forgets what sovereignty requires."

Recommendations on U.S. Policy Towards Europe

President Obama Goes to Europe: Top Five Policy Recommendations, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4234, June 4, 2014. "President Obama’s visit to Europe this week will be an important opportunity for the U.S. President to restate America’s commitment to the transatlantic partnership, strengthen the NATO alliance, and shore up European opposition to Russian aggression against Ukraine."

Irrelevancy Commands No Respect

Obama Is Irrelevant Abroad and Now Disliked at Home, Yorkshire Post, April 29, 2014. "A year ago, Obama’s highest Gallup rankings were on foreign affairs. But by February, a majority of Americans believed the world’s leaders had little respect for the U.S. president. In late March, CBS found that only 36 percent of Americans approved of his foreign policy. Even Obamacare is more popular."

Favors Don't Work in International Affairs

The Genesis of Really Bad Ideas, Newsday, April 4, 2014. "Most bad ideas in the world grow from a few seeds. And there is no seed more dangerous than the belief that we can make other places see things our way by tossing out favors like candy at Halloween."

What We Can Do Now About Ukraine

Ten Ways the West Can Help Ukraine, Newsday, March 21, 1014. "It's not good enough to say the United States can do nothing to help Ukraine and deter Russia from future bullying and aggression. While we cannot overcome six years of errors in a day, we are only as powerless as we want to be. Here are 10 ways we can start to do better."

The Troubled European Periphery

Europe Must Wake Up to New Danger, Newsday, March 7, 2014. "If you looked out from Europe in the 1990s, you could see sunshine on the horizon. With the end of the Cold War, NATO appeared to be on the road to irrelevancy. But the sunshine has faded. Russia's dismemberment of Ukraine should remind Americans and Europeans that European security, for which all of us paid a high price over the past hundred years, is not assured."