A political sideshow to the escalating focus on the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram is what it means for Hillary Clinton's presidential prospects. Boko Haram was not officially designated a terrorist group until Clinton stepped down and John Kerry became Secretary...
Pull Out of South Korea
The Cato Institute's Doug Bandow argues for the U.S. to pull out of South Korea: Washington needs to reflect first on why the North is such a problem for America. A small, impoverished, and distant state, even with a handful of nuclear weapons (but no delivery...
Everything Is A Threat: The Fear-Mongering and Hysteria Over Boko Haram
The hysteria that has erupted over the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram over the last few days has been remarkable. The terrorist group abducted hundreds of girls and, thanks to a viral awareness campaign and threats from Washington to intervene, Boko Haram suddenly...
Former Head of Israeli Nuclear Commission: Iran Is At Least 10 Years Away From a Nuke
The former head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission believes Iran is more than a decade away from a nuclear weapon and that the Islamic Republic may not even want "the bomb," according to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth (Ynet news). An insider in Israel's...
A War Crime Is A War Crime Is A War Crime…Right?
According to an exclusive report from Colum Lynch in Foreign Policy, the United States agreed to let France "distribute the text of a draft Security Council resolution authorizing an ICC investigation into alleged Syrian atrocities." The U.S. has officially opposed...
A Larger Conflict in Ukraine Is Not Inevitable
Anatol Lieven's latest piece in the New York Review of Books is a sober analysis of the shaky situation in Ukraine that contrasts sharply with the overwrought commentary in the U.S. that can't seem to avoid references to pre-WWII European land grabs. Lieven says the...
John Bolton: Forget Syria, Pursue Regime Change in Iran
John Bolton is confused. After spending years berating the Obama administration for failing to take action in Syria's bloody civil war, he has come out against such an intervention...kind of. In a piece in the New York Post, Bolton criticizes the administration for...
Why Did We Really Bomb Libya?
Citing RAND Corporation political scientist Christopher S. Chivvis and Daveed Gartenstein-Ross's testimony before the House Committee on Oversight, The National Interest's John Allen Gay asks "Did We Bomb Libya to Keep the Arab Spring Going?" In addition to the...
More on the Credibility Fallacy
"Credibility" in international affairs refers to the reliability of a country keeping its promises, typically the kind that involve using force under certain conditions like coming to the defense of allies or if a red line is crossed. It is always used by hawks and...
Rand Paul to Hold Up Another Obama Nominee Over Drone Memos
Rand Paul may be on another collision course with the Obama administration over the issue of drones. According to Reason's Matt Feeney, Paul "has warned Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that he will put a hold on one of President Obama's appellate court...
