Tag Archives: Syria
Understanding Trump’s ‘America First’ Foreign Policy
Previous administrations believed that the United States had an integral role in resolving every conflict. President Trump’s ‘America First’ policy seeks to limit our involvement in foreign conflicts without robbing us of our influence by making those interventions as decisive … Continue reading
Putin First
The world sees this lack of trust among the media, Democrats in Congress, and the Trump administration, while the absence of unity consolidates Russian influence over the United States. The good conduct of Russian-American relations goes beyond the interests of … Continue reading
Tehran’s Proxy Terrorist War Against Israel
Taking out ISIS and helping protect our ally Israel from Tehran-backed proxy terrorist wars must both be part of a well-thought-out Middle East strategy. After all, eliminating the Caliphate will ultimately make Israel and our other allies in the region … Continue reading
Boatlift to Chaos
FBI Director James B. Comey, who likely was ordered by higher-ups not to recommend indicting Hillary Clinton, recently warned of the dangers posed by migrants, “At some point, there is going to be a terrorist diaspora out of Syria like we’ve never seen before. Not all of the Islamic State killers are going to die on the battlefield.” Continue reading
Where is China in the Presidential Campaign?
The public needs to understand the larger strategic context of the 2016 presidential campaign, but is not getting enough information on the stump about the most important duty of the next president; keeping the United States the preeminent power in the world system as China (and Russia) mount new challenges. Continue reading
The Death of Europe: Is Paris the New Normal?
The European values that require Europe to commit suicide are about ideology, not language, culture or nationhood. But the incoming migrants don’t share that ideology. They have their own Islamic values. The Muslim migrants who are meant to be the retirement plan for an aging Europe are supposed to keep its ramshackle collection of economic policies, its welfare states and social programs rolling along. But they’re more like a final solution. Continue reading
Russia in Syria Reminds us of Soviet Actions in Cuba
Russian/Iranian actions in Syria represent a major gamble based on the perception of American weakness. An initial strong and swift response now will prevent the need for a riskier response in the future. Continue reading
Exodus: The ‘March for Berlin’ and the Future of Democracy in Europe
There is legitimate concern over the possibility of sowing the seeds for a majority Muslim Europe. The fact that the continent has been and is still predominantly Christian, is not what ultimately draws apprehension. The truth is that, even if the majority Muslim Europe prediction does not become a reality by 2050, as some have estimated it will, if migration keeps going at this rate, it will eventually become a fact, perhaps during the lifetime of the millennial generation’s children. Continue reading
The Rising Tide of Third World Refugees and the Plight of NATO’s Southeastern Flank
The Hungarians and others argue that for economic and cultural reasons they simply cannot accommodate the new comers. The Magyars refuse to succumb to the social engineering schemes of Brussels and prefer their country just the way it is. We should watch the European debate very carefully because it also concerns our own problems on America’s southern border. It is not Nazism to wish to protect the nation’s frontier and to uphold its cultural essence. Patriots defend their countries from all enemies: foreign and domestic. Continue reading
2014: Gazing Through a Crystal Ball, Darkly
2014 opens with gathering storm clouds and the U.S. ship of state under the command of an administration pursuing increasingly dubious foreign policies and facing declining public approval. The chickens stirred up by the “Leading from behind” approach are coming home to roost, particularly in the Middle East with the White House tilt to Iran.
The war in Syria: Building upon the sand?
In Syria, the endemic conflict that lays siege to Christianity, where it once stood as a partner of Assad’s strategic minority rule, consumes the region. At the advent of the Arab Spring, anti-government violence was ignited into a nationwide uprising that has not abated since 2011.
Chechens: Sochi or Syria?
In June of 2013, Doku Umarov, who considers himself leader of the Caucasus Emirate and is regarded as Russia’s most recent version of Osama bin Laden, resurfaced after a long period of self-imposed obscurity. The main purpose of his short video statement, which appeared on YouTube, was to offer condolences to the families of Islamic insurgents who died in a series of unsuccessful operations. Because he had not been seen since November 2012, there was speculation that he was dead or, at a minimum, irrelevant as Russia prepared to host the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
The ‘Responsibility to Protect’ Doctrine and Proxy Wars
Who will intervene and tip the scales next in the already far too internationalized proxy wars of the Middle East? Will the USA choose to initiate an overt intervention in Syria as it did in the Libyan civil war, under the UN’s multilateral Responsibility to Protect (R2P)? Or can the situation remain as it is?
In Syria, Assad’s Shawarma Republic is Burning
Syria is burning, not because of the Arab Spring or Tyranny or Twitter, or any of the other popular explanations. The fire in Syria is the same firestorm burning in Iraq, in Turkey, in Lebanon and throughout much of the Muslim world. It has nothing to do with human rights or democracy. There is no revolution here. Only the eternal civil war.
Syria’s religious fault lines: the plight of Christians in the Middle East
Though the Syrian civil war continues to rage, it’s mostly defined as a Sunni versus Shiite conflict, where the plight and suffering of this country’s ancient Christian communities is increasingly becoming an influential factor.
Obama’s Dangerous Nomination of Samantha Power
With the nomination of Samantha Power as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations replacing the infamous Susan Rice, Barack Obama has filled out his second term foreign policy team, and it isn’t pretty. With the appointment of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, to that of John Kerry as Secretary of State, the Obama administration has unsurprisingly failed to appoint a responsible foreign policy team that is willing to promote strong American interests in the Middle East.
Kerry’s Mythological Peace Process: Israel and the Terrorists
Few figures in American political life have been as consistently wrong as often as John Kerry. The former Senator bet on every Communist leader and Middle Eastern tyrant he could find only to watch the wheels of history roll over his mistakes. And now as Secretary of State, Kerry is at it again. In between peddling a Syrian peace process that no one but him believes in, he took a break to peddle the even more discredited peace process between Israel and the terrorists.
John Kerry’s first foreign trip: Much ado about nothing
On March 6, Barack Obama’s new Secretary of State, John Kerry—who succeeded Hillary Clinton as a result of the fallout following the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last September 11 — has returned home after an eleven-day nine-nation grand tour. During his first trip abroad as head of the Department of State, he visited the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.