The Greek city-states in the fourth-century BC, fifth-century AD Rome, and the Western European democracies after World War I all knew they could not continue as usual with their fiscal, social, political, and economic behavior. But all these states and societies feared far more the self-imposed sacrifices that might have saved them. Mid-fifteenth-century Byzantium was […]
As regular readers know, I write mostly about the armed forces, but there are other tools of power and influence that America needs to protect its national security. Alliances are one of those tools, and Donald Trump has made the subject timely because of his recent comments regarding NATO. I don’t agree with Mr. Trump’s […]
Hillary Clinton’s “major” foreign policy speech yesterday may have effectively knocked Donald Trump down a peg in the eyes of voters — although Teflon Trump has been largely immune to such attacks thus far — but should not reassure anybody that she’s prepared to deal with the most serious challenges facing the United States. The […]
For decades, Republican presidential candidates have enjoyed a distinct advantage when it comes to foreign and national security policy. In 2012, President Obama briefly closed the foreign policy gap with Mitt Romney before his election by promising that the “tide of war” had receded and that he would focus on “nation building here at home.” […]
Donald Trump recently ignited another controversy when he mused that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was obsolete. He hinted that it might no longer be worth the huge American investment. In typical Trump style, he hit a nerve, but he then offered few details about the consequences of either staying in or leaving NATO. NATO […]