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."

Adenauer and de Gaulle All Over Again

With her Chequers Plan, Theresa May is repeating the mistakes of former Tory Prime Ministers, BrexitCentral, July 13, 2018. "The cardinal sin inherent in the way Britain thinks about the EU — and its predecessors — is that Britain focuses on economics at the expense of politics, and fixates on visible trade at the expense of invisibles. The focus on economics, I believe, reflects a couple of things."

The U.S. As Muscle-Bound Giant

Why The U.S. Struggles to Come to Grips with the U.N.’s Gun Control Program, Forbes, July 12, 2018. "The most fundamental U.S. difficulty is that, in most U.N. venues, the U.S. is permanently on the defensive: the best we can do is to limit our losses. I would love to take the offensive, to come up with proposals that we can back and to force others to react to them, instead of us being forced to always react to the idiotic proposals of others."

The PoA's Little Inanities

The Little Inanities of the U.N.’s Gun Control Program, Forbes, July 12, 2018. "During the last two weeks of June, I was in New York, watching the Third Review Conference of 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, usually abbreviated as the Programme of Action, or just the PoA. For the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, I’ve explained how the U.S. was cheated by a last minute rule change. But spending a fortnight at the PoA also occasions a few broader thoughts on the dysfunctions of the PoA, and the way the U.S. deals with dysfunctional international institutions. In this column, I’ll look at some of those dysfunctions. In the next, I’ll focus on how the U.S. tries — and sometimes fails — to come to grips with them.

Trump's To-Do List in the UK

For Trump It Looks Like A Bad Time To Arrive in Britain – Actually, It’s Ideal. Here’s Why, Fox News, July 12, 2018. "President Donald Trump will have to learn some new names in London. Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and David Davis, who led Britain’s arrangements for exiting the EU, resigned out of dissatisfaction with the government’s plans for Brexit. On the surface, this looks like a bad time for Trump to arrive. Actually, it’s ideal."

Keeping the Party Going at the PoA

To Promote Gun Control, the UN Changes the Rules, Daily Signal, July 10, 2018. "In the last two weeks of June, the United Nations held another review conference on its efforts to counter what it considers illicit dealing in small arms. The U.S. played the game well. But unfortunately, you can’t beat a cheater. In theory, this U.N. program might be a modestly useful way to promote cooperation against the illicit international trade in small arms. In practice, as even the world body has agreed, it does nothing very useful, mostly because most nations at the U.N. are too incompetent, or too ill-willed, to follow through on their commitments."

My PoA Top Ten

The Ten Dumbest Things I Heard About Guns at the United Nations, Forbes, June 28, 2018. "In theory, the purpose of the PoA — which is a political instrument, not a treaty — is to encourage cooperation on the illicit international trade in small arms. If the PoA stuck to this, it might be modestly useful. It can only be modestly useful because far too many nations at the U.N. don’t right now have the ability, or the desire, to do the basic things they have repeatedly committed to do."

Yes, Get Out of the Human Rights Council

U.S Right to Quit Human Rights Panel, Newsday, June 24, 2018. "The UN Human Rights Council is a disgrace. No democracy should listen to the council, much less participate in it. The Trump administration’s decision to quit this rotten body was not merely right. It embodies the way we should treat failed international institutions."

What A Waste of Time

I’m Sitting Through One of the UN’s Most Useless Conferences. Here’s What’s Happening, Daily Signal, June 23, 2018. "or this week and the next, the United Nations is hosting a conference of its Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects—fortunately abbreviated as the PoA. Like the U.N. Human Rights Council, the PoA is a classic U.N. institution: It’s a good idea in theory, but a terrible failure in practice."

Brexit Becomes Law

Yes, Brexit Will Happen. And It Will Work, Daily Signal, June 22, 2018. "The past week has seen big, and potentially confusing, events in Great Britain’s struggle to Brexit—to regain its national independence from the European Union. As we reach the second anniversary of the Brexit referendum, which took place on June 23, 2016, here’s what has happened."

Weaponizing Interpol

Palestinians Use Interpol As A Weapon of War, Fox News, June 16, 2018. "Should the Palestinian Authority (PA) be able to use an international organization like Interpol as a weapon in its internal fights between factions? The question seems absurd. Yet it is exactly what the PA and its bombastic president, Mahmoud Abbas, are now trying to do."

Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three . . .

Do You Want Your Voice In Interpol’s Database?, Forbes, June 13, 2018. "In my last post, I pointed out that one lesson of Bill Browder's arrest in Spain last month is that the little-known system of Interpol alerts known as "diffusions" is badly in need of reform. But it’s not just the diffusion system that needs reform. We badly need a way to protect Americans — and others — from the abusive use of the Interpol system. My latest paper on Interpol proposes creating a “white list” of victims of abuse. Browder is certainly one such victim."

Answering Questions on the Browder Arrest

How Could Bill Browder Be Arrested?, Forbes, June 13, 2018. "Late last month, I analyzed Bill Browder’s brief arrest in Spain, arguing that it was likely the result of a Spanish bungle, not a new Interpol action taken at Russia’s request. This assessment has since been supported by journalists and by former Secretary-General of Interpol Ron Noble (in a tweet that Mr. Noble later deleted, perhaps after recalling that I have been one of his more severe critics). But precisely because it seems to — indeed, does — point to larger problems, the arrest has occasioned a lot of subtle politicking, which I want to call out for the sake of the unwary."