There is a renewed push from some European allies for NATO to create a “road map” for Ukraine to join the alliance. According to The Financial Times, Poland and the Baltic states are pressing the alliance to take steps to move Ukraine closer to the future membership that the alliance promised in 2008 at the Bucharest summit. The somewhat surprising news in the report is that the Biden administration has joined Germany and Hungary in opposing these efforts “to offer Kyiv deeper ties with NATO and clear statements of support for its future membership.” The U.S. has been one of the…

After an intense round of secret negotiations between Iranian and Saudi representatives, at they would resume diplomatic relations following seven years of regional antagonism. In the wake of the reconciliation deal, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud officially invited President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh. Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mokhber revealed that Raisi has accepted the invitation, and Iranian Foreignfacilitated by Chinese mediation, Tehran and Riyadh announced in mid-March th Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said Iran will reciprocate and send a similar invitation to the Saudi king. It is unclear if the Saudi-Iranian détente will last, but at least for now, China’s role in resolving this diplomatic stalemate…

China is spewing threats as Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen crosses the U.S. and meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Even though war rages in Europe, most American policymakers believe the People’s Republic of China poses a greater military challenge than does Russia. Indeed, the prospect of conflict with the PRC over Taiwan has become an increasingly popular topic in Washington.   There is overwhelming support for risking war with China, a rising, nuclear-armed power and potential peer competitor to the U.S. The only serious disagreement within the foreign policy blob is over secondary issues—for instance, should America make its commitment…

This week marks fifty years since the United States withdrew its last troops from Vietnam. It was the end of America’s bloodiest war, as measured by American casualties, since World War II. The departure of the last troop-bearing plane culminated in a sixty-day withdrawal period as specified by a peace agreement that Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho had negotiated and was signed in Paris in January 1973. I was on that last plane. As an Army lieutenant in a unit that processed personnel coming in or out of Vietnam, I had to manage the departure of other GIs who…

Confidence in the American legal system hinges on the beliefs that justice is blind and judges are impartial.  That confidence has taken a significant hit in recent years because Americans across the country have watched a two-tiered justice system emerge where violent activists are allowed to tear apart, loot, and burn whole neighborhoods in the name of social justice, while any excuse is accepted for arresting actual peaceful pro-life protesters who are at odds politically with the Biden Administration.   Further reputational damage occurred when no one was held accountable for leaking the Supreme Court’s draft decision in the Dobbs…