The Need For A Positive No to the EU

UK Needs Freedom to Pick Talent from the Whole World, Yorkshire Post, November 23, 2013. "The EU’s problems are real, and underneath, they will drive voting in the referendum. But the Out campaign needs not just the Thatcherite spirit of rebellion: it needs her optimism. Even in terms of immigration, the EU means favouring talent from Europe, a tiny part of the world, at the expense of talent from the rest of it. And that makes less sense today for Britain than it ever did in the past."

A Question of National Honor

When We Leave, Friends Suffer First, Newsday, November 22, 2013. "My bottom line on U.S. foreign policy is to keep faith with our friends. Once we make a promise, we uphold it. Now, if a friend breaks faith with us, the deal is off. We're called upon to be true to our word, not to be suckers."

On the Curious Contradictions Between Obama's Foreign and Domestic Policies

Barack Obama Doubles Down Abroad, Newsday, November 8, 2013. "Obama's policy of backing down abroad and doubling down at home is out of sync with the American system. Under the Constitution, the president is supposed to be energetic abroad, but restrained at home. This president has been the reverse. His approach has served the nation poorly, and in any deal with Iran, it will prove disastrous."

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."

As Cameron Goes, So Goes (Maybe) the GOP

Britain’s Lesson for U.S. Conservatives, Newsday, October 25, 2013. "Britain is led by a coalition of two parties: the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. That may well change in 2015, after the next election. Conservatives’ difficulties in Britain offer lessons for their U.S. counterparts."

The ATT's Race to 50 -- In The Senate

Good News From Washington – UN Arms Trade Treaty DOA in US Senate, Foxnews.com, October 18, 2013. "Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) released a bipartisan letter this week signed by 48 of their colleagues pledging to oppose the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which Secretary of State John Kerry signed on behalf of the United States in September. This letter makes it clear that the Senate will not ratify the treaty in the foreseeable future."

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 Separation of Powers Works

The Real Insanity Inside the Beltway, Newsday October 11, 2013. "The American government was not created to do lots of things, except for in a few areas such like as the national defense. It was intended to be a limited government. It certainly wasn’t created to run a national health care system, especially one of unprecedented cost and complexity."

The Commonwealth Is Not "The" Alternative to the EU

Flexible Relations Will Help Britain Achieve a More Prosperous Future, Yorkshire Post, October 7, 2013. "Britain doesn’t need to be part of any one dominant bloc. What Britain needs above all is the national flexibility and determination to make good policies on its own, and that’s exactly what the EU denies it. Looking around for a new home is a much less useful activity than checking out of the European emergency ward."

The EU As Carcass

Under Obama, the U.S. Clings to the Carcass of the European Union, Forward!, Autumn 2013. "The EU today is a carcass, the shred of an old policy that once had a solid basis, but is now merely a rag. It is time for Britain to cut loose, and for the United States to recognize that a sovereign Britain, able to trade freely around the world and unshackled by the ever more supranational EU, would be a better friend and a better ally than a Britain slowly and reluctantly submerged in a deeply undemocratic EU will ever be. It must be the conservative mission in both Britain and the United States to make that recognition a policy reality on both sides of the Atlantic."

Syrian War Won't End There

Jihad is the War that Won’t End, Newsday, September 27, 2013. "When that conflict ends, the forces opposing Assad will move elsewhere, including to Europe. We may not want to intervene in Syria, but Syria is likely to intervene in us."

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."

Options Remain for ATT Opposition

U.N. Arms Treaty Will Be Menace to U.S. For Years to Come, FoxNews.com, September 25, 2013. "Secretary of State John Kerry’s signature of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty today was a serious error, one that will have far-reaching consequences for American foreign policy and American sovereignty. Those consequences will be even worse because the Senate, which has signaled many times that it is opposed to the treaty, will likely have no real opportunity to reject it."

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."

No Staying Power

Dictators and Despots Call Obama’s Bluff Over His War of Empty Words, Yorkshire Post, September 16, 2013. "The Russian role in the Syrian crisis is thus not the really dangerous part of the affair. The true danger lies in the fact that, once again, President Obama has shown that he has no staying power at all. He quit in Iraq, because that was supposedly the wrong war. Afghanistan was, he said, the right one. Well, we are quitting there too."

The Coming Slaughters

What About All the Other Massacres?, Newsday, September 15, 2013. "The Taliban will return, and they will take vengeance. Today, you can easily find savage videos of Taliban atrocities online. When they are back in power, they will be worse. And when they execute people for the crime of being friendly to the United States, we should remember that — as across the Middle East — we had the power to make a difference. We just chose not to use it."

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."

Neither the Will Nor the Way

Where the Syria Vote and Obama’s EU Advocacy Meet, Centre for Policy Studies, September 10, 2013. "As that Blairite wave has receded, the British left has moved back closer in line to the tendencies of Europe. The U.S. pressure on Britain to stay in the E.U. is only going to give ideological and practical encouragement to those tendencies, and make it even harder for the government of the day to win the vote on the next crisis – when the case for action in alliance with the U.S. may be much better than it is in Syria today. And if Britain lacks both the way and the will to act, the Special Relationship will indeed be much diminished."

The End of a Mission

Tony Blair’s Vision for the Middle East and Britain’s Role in It Has Collapsed, Sunday Express (UK), September 1, 2013. "While Britain may not want to contribute to it, there’s fighting aplenty in the Middle East. In the midst of it stands Tony Blair, honored with the title of Representative of the Quartet on the Middle East, charged with bringing peace between Israel and the Palestinians. That mission has been a failure."

Which Way Does the Wind Blow Today?

Barack Obama’s A Finger-In-The-Wind Policy on Syria, Newsday, August 31, 2013. "As Karl Marx observed, when history repeats itself, it’s tragedy the first time and farce the second. If the Iraq War was the tragedy, then Syria is certainly the farce. The White House is still agonizing about whether it will launch missile strikes on Syria. As its nightmare of consideration continues, it should remember something: If you want to use military force, you are practically and morally obligated to think about what you are trying to achieve with it."

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."

The Top Ten, But Not the Only, Reasons Not to Sign the ATT

Top 10 Reasons Why the U.S. Should Not Sign the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4028, August 27, 2013. "Once the U.S. signs the treaty, and even without the advice and consent of the Senate, the U.S. will consider itself obliged not to violate the treaty’s object and purpose. The top 10 reasons why the U.S. should avoid putting itself in this dangerous position by not signing the ATT are . . . ."

The U.S., Sadder But Wiser, Maybe

Optimistic America Deludes Itself About Democracy, Newsday, August 16, 2013. "American enthusiasm for foreign upheaval is as old as Thomas Jefferson's naive admiration of the French Revolution. But that led to the Reign of Terror, and then the Napoleonic Wars. We will be lucky if the Middle Eastern war spawned by the Arab Spring does not spread beyond Syria."

First the Falklands, Now Gibraltar

U.S. Should Condemn Spain’s Bullying Tactics Over Gibraltar, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4007, August 6, 2013. "Spain’s recent antagonistic behavior toward Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory on the Iberian Peninsula, for recently constructing an artificial reef inside the limits of its territorial waters is unbecoming of a NATO ally in 21st-century Europe."

Three, Two, One . . .

Saudi Arabian Missile Base Is A Sign of Waning U.S. Influence, Newsday, August 2, 2013. "The U.S. retreat from Iraq and its handoff policy on Syria and Iran are creating a security vacuum that regional powers are already filling. Last month IHS Jane's, Britain's famed defense and intelligence firm, announced that it had spotted a missile base in the heart of Saudi Arabia. Designed to launch Chinese-made DF-3 missiles, the base targets both Iran and Israel."