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."

Why Brexit Is In America's Interests

Ten Reasons to Rethink U.S. Support for British Membership of the European Union, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4463, September 29, 2015. "The referendum and the terms of Britain’s relations with the EU are ultimately and always matters for the British people to decide. However, in advance of the referendum, the U.S. would be well advised to consider its own interests carefully and not to continue its unthinking support for the EU, which has marked the Obama Administration and too much of U.S. policy since the end of the Cold War."

The EU, A Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone

Refugee Crisis Exposes the EU’s Many Fatal Flaws, Yorkshire Post, September 25, 2015. "THE many thousands of refugees now reaching Europe have done more than anything, except the euro, to expose the myths behind the European Union. The tragedy is that it is those myths that will prevent an effective European response."

Like It Or Not, We're Involved

The Refugees, the Europeans, and Us, Newsday, September 19, 2015. "The Obama administration never wanted to take the lead on the war in Syria. It hoped that, if we stayed out of the war, it wouldn't come to us. The wave of refugees now moving into Europe, and lapping at the shores of the United States, shows that assumption was wrong."

The Administrative State and Foreign Policy

Three Lessons from the Iran Deal, Newsday, September 5, 2015. "One legacy of the Iran deal will be a richer Iran playing a bigger role in an even less peaceful Middle East. But there should be another legacy -- a thorough congressional scrutiny of the way the legislative body's grants of power to the executive have diminished its ability to play a serious role in shaping our foreign policy."

Europe Pulls the Football Away

Europe Gives Trinidad the Charlie Brown Treatment, Daily Signal, September 3, 2015. "What I heard, again and again, was that, if the Arms Trade Treaty went to Trinidad, it would become a regional organization. And why was that? Because no Europeans wanted to work there. Europe needed the support of nations like Trinidad to make the treaty a reality. But in the end, they didn’t want to take the treaty outside Europe by forcing Europeans to actually live in Trinidad. Dedication to stopping the illicit arms trade only goes so far, apparently."

The Sting In The Tail of Cancun

In Cancun, the U.S. Gets Played, Weekly Standard, August 31, 2015. "The Conference of States Parties—the first meeting of nations that have ratified the controversial Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)—wrapped up in Cancun on Thursday. Because it’s wisely not ratified the ATT, the U.S. was there as an observer. So was I. And on Thursday, I got to observe as the U.S. got played."

Unhappy Families and Bad Agreements

Obama Deals are Heavy on Hopes, Light on Enforcement, Yorkshire Post, August 31, 2015. "Like unhappy families, bad agreements are each bad in their own way. And of course there are degrees of badness: no trade deal, no matter how implausibly dreadful, could be worse than a nuclear deal gone wrong. But bad agreements do have a few features in common."

An Absence of Standards Is A Standard Absence

How Do You Know This Treaty’s Working?,, Weekly Standard, August 28, 2015. "Supporters of human rights treaties tend to pour a remarkable amount of energy into promoting treaty ratification, while spending remarkably little time thinking about the problems of assessing compliance and, ultimately, whether the treaty is actually working. That’s certainly been the case with advocates of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The consequences of this modus operandi are evident here in Cancun, where the states signed onto the pact are holding their first meeting."

Another Broken Red Line

In Treaty Negotiations, Obama Administration Broke Own Red Line and Alienated China, Daily Signal, August 27, 2015. "When the negotiations for the Arms Trade Treaty began, the Obama administration promised that they’d be conducted by consensus. In the U.N., that means that no one objects. But when the negotiations couldn’t reach a consensus agreement, the U.S. supported jumping to the U.N. General Assembly, which adopted the treaty by majority rule. The issue isn’t so much that China’s worried about the Arms Trade Treaty, or, indeed, that this treaty would actually change China’s behavior. But as the Chinese delegate said, the move to the General Assembly 'sets a bad precedent.'"

The Failures of Cancun

In Cancun, the Air Leaks Out of the ATT’s Balloon, Weekly Standard, August 26, 2015. "But in spite of the sandcastle tank and similar inspired silliness, there’s a distinct sense that the air is coming out of the ATT’s balloon. The U.S., China, and India are here only as observers, and Russia didn’t show up at all. With only 121 attendees, there are 72 U.N. member states missing. True, a few delegations were apparently held up by visa problems (it’s rumored that some of the African delegations that Control Arms funded to attend were denied transit rights by the U.S., on the grounds that they’d committed human rights violations). But the blunt fact is that this room is filled mostly with nations that play, and can play,virtually no role in controlling or participating in the international arms trade."

Global Economic Freedom Agenda

2015 Global Agenda for Economic Freedom, section on "Europe," with other Heritage authors, Heritage Foundation Special Report #160, August 26, 2015. "The promotion of economic freedom at home and abroad is essential not only for a genuine and sustained revitalization of the U.S. economy, but also to strengthen U.S. national security. In 2010, the United States fell from the highest category of economically free countries in the Index of Economic Freedom and has been stuck in the ranks of the “mostly free,” second-tier economic freedom category ever since. The message for the U.S. in the 2015 edition of the Index is simple: to avoid further decline Americans must press for more economic freedom at home and abroad. This Heritage Foundation Special Report describes in detail concrete plans to promote global economic freedom. It describes many actions that nations around the world need to take, and offers Washington a blueprint for a practical and effective global strategy. American leadership can be decisive in promoting property rights and anti-corruption measures in other countries. In addition, the report urges the U.S. government to pursue more vigorously agreements with partner countries around the world that reduce barriers to trade and investment, as opposed to any that might only create additional regulatory hurdles to doing business. It also stresses the importance for all governments (including in the U.S.) to promote opportunity for all and to identify and reduce support for state-owned enterprises that are breeding grounds for cronyism and favoritism. This global agenda can and should be implemented—starting today."

In Cancun, Blame America First

Arms Trade Treaty: The Blame America First Crowd Goes to Cancun, FoxNews.com, August 25, 2015. "The first annual meeting of the nations that have ratified the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) opened on Monday, August 24 at a spa in Cancun, Mexico. The treaty’s been controversial in the U.S. from the moment negotiations on it began, and this meeting will surely stoke the suspicions of those who think the treaty’s real aim is to crimp America’s sovereignty and constitutional liberties."

The Down Sides of Transparency

The Arms Trade Treaty and the Paradoxes of Transparency, Weekly Standard, August 24, 2015. "The first Conference of States Parties (CSP) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) opens today in Cancun. Evidently, treaty signatories believe a seaside resort is a suitable location to discuss the international arms trade. Perhaps they’re right. This treaty is so ridiculous, so silly—in a word, so unserious—that it’s fit for beach reading."

Sport Shooting's Not the Problem, It's an Answer

Walter Palmer Isn’t Africa’s Biggest Problem, Newsday, August 23, 2015. "Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who shot Cecil the lion, has emerged from hiding. He should never have had to go into it. Hunters like Palmer aren't the problem: they're part of the solution."

The ATT Limits the US Must Uphold

The U.S. Must Uphold the Arms Trade Treaty’s Limits at the First Conference of States Parties, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4456, August 21, 2015. "The first Conference of States Parties (CSP) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be held in Cancun, Mexico, on August 24–27, 2015. This CSP will establish the rules of procedure for this and all future CSPs, decide how to organize and fund the treaty secretariat, adopt procedures for the reporting mandated by the treaty, and perhaps begin the campaign to amend the treaty. At the CSP, the U.S. needs to resist efforts to set precedents and create institutions that could be used to expand or reinterpret the treaty. The U.S. delegation should respect Congress’s opposition to funding the secretariat and, above all, emphasize that the treaty is the creation of U.N. member states and is to be implemented by only those states, not by the treaty secretariat or by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)."

Poorly Made in China

Stock Prices Aren’t All That’s Poorly Made in China, Newsday, August 9, 2015. "The well-reported gyrations in China's stock market have many Americans wondering whether China itself is heading for a fall. In his newly updated and exceptionally readable "Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game," Paul Midler says it's not just China's stock prices that were too good to be true."

Riding It All The Way Down

All the Way with LJB and Obama, Newsday, July 25, 2015. "Count on it: When it comes to foreign policy, two-term presidents -- and even most one-term presidents -- will change course along the way. Since 1933, only two have not: Lyndon Johnson, who rode the Vietnam War all the way down, and Barack Obama. That's not a good sign."

The Other Cost of Shredding Sanctions

The Iran Deal Will Have Disastrous Non-Nuclear Consequences, Too, National Review Online, July 23, 2015. "So far, the most intense criticism of the Obama administration’s deal with Iran has focused on its wildly imbalanced nuclear provisions, under which, in exchange for limited inspections, Iran gets to keep many of its centrifuges, its entire nuclear infrastructure, its research and development programs, and its ballistic-missile program, among many other things. This criticism is certainly warranted, but the deal will have consequences beyond the realm of nuclear weapons: The fate of the regime of Western sanctions on Iran matters just as much, because those sanctions have wide-ranging global implications."

Another UN PoA Failure

The Failings and Structural Irrelevance of the U.N.’s Small-Arms Process, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4435, July 20, 2015. "On June 1–5, 2015, the Second Meeting of Governmental Experts (MGE2) under the PoA was held in New York City. The purpose of MGE2 was to allow nationally nominated experts to address technical issues raised at the Fifth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS5), which was held June 16–20, 2014, and to prepare for the Sixth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS6), to be held in 2016. The “Chair’s Summary” of MGE2, released on June 17, 2015, demonstrates again that the PoA is accomplishing nothing and that it continues to be a forum for demands for increased U.S. aid and the promotion of government controls on private individuals. Moreover, as a U.N. mechanism, the PoA makes it harder to address the genuine challenges stemming from the illicit arms trade."

The Need for a British World Role

Without a Sense of Purpose, What is Britain Defending?, Yorkshire Post, July 17, 2015. "Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s pledge to meet Nato’s spending target of two per cent of national income on defence through 2020-21 is welcome, but it’s not enough. This isn’t, simply, a problem of money. It’s a problem of Britain’s belief in its world role."

Against an International Investment Court

The Proposed Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanism: U.S. Should Oppose EU Demand to Abandon It, with James Roberts and Riddhi Dasgupta, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4432, July 14, 2015. "One of the most important components of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union is the establishment of a mechanism for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). An appropriately structured ISDS is an essential part of trade agreement enforcement and should be included in any comprehensive U.S. trade agreement with the EU. The EU’s proposal, backed by a vote of the European Parliament on July 8—that the TTIP should establish a permanent investment court, not an ISDS mechanism—is a bad solution in search of a non-existent problem. ISDS mechanisms work well to secure basic legal protections for a signatory state’s nationals abroad. The U.S. should firmly reject the EU’s proposal and insist that TTIP establish an ISDS."

Depression's Not the Cure for Greece

European Union Not the Answer to Greek Extremism, Newsday, July 11, 2015. "After 1945, the U.S. promoted economic freedom and growth in Europe to keep Communism at bay. Today, by backing the European Union in Greece, the Obama administration is driving Greece deeper into a depression that already has brought the far left to power."

The Ponderous PoA

The U.N. Confuses Gun Ownership with Arms Trafficking, National Review Online, June 9, 2015. "I spent last week at the U.N., watching so-called national experts talk about guns. Turns out most of them weren’t experts. Then again, the ponderousness of the meeting’s title — the Second Meeting of Governmental Experts for the U.N.’s Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects — gave fair warning that the gathering was unlikely to achieve anything of use."

Liberalism's AWOL Leaders

Where Are the New Leaders For Unpopular Left?, Yorkshire Post, July 6, 2015. "It's difficult to look around America, or Britain, and see the next generation of liberal leaders. Undoubtedly, this is partly cyclical: in the mid-1990s, the Tories were short on talent, yet a decade later, it was Labour that was exhausted. Liberalism is not down forever."