Foreign Policy
January 6, 2020 — Steven Hayward
The fuss over President Trump’s decision to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is causing the usual hair-on-fire reaction among the media and foreign policy elites. Everyone is playing the parlor game of wondering how Iran might respond, and how we might respond to Iran’s well-develop capacity for “asymmetric warfare.” I got to wondering what my late professor of international relations Harold W. Rood (d. 2011) might think of the scene.
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January 6, 2020 — Steven Hayward
Over at Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds posted an interesting message from a Facebook friend who wishes to remain anonymous. Here’s the relevant part: Following the death of Soleimani, it seems like nearly the entire DC / academia / journo natsec/forpol commentariat has penned variations on exactly the same essay: the President has acted hastily, has no plan, and isn’t capable of envisioning or handling what happens next. The template was established
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October 11, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Nationalism is the subject of the moment, and both the term and the idea come with more baggage than Paris Hilton and Khloe Kardashian after an afternoon of shopping on Rodeo Drive. I’ve had a few things to say about this controversial topic myself, but I am delighted to feature as this week’s special guest Colin Dueck of George Mason University, who is the author of a new book coming
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July 30, 2019 — Steven Hayward
I’m posting up our podcast early this week, as I thought might be traveling overseas tomorrow on a sudden mission, but instead a bad back is likely going to keep me immobile. In any case, by popular demand from listeners, this special edition of the Power Line Show features both Kelly Jane Torrance of the Washington Examiner and “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery. Kelly Jane is just back from
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December 19, 2018 — Steven Hayward
The left has long liked to charge America with being an imperial hegemon, and in general a bad force in the world. The old isolationist right sometimes joins them, lamenting the presence of American military outposts around the world, and the large cost of this footprint, not to mention the way it embroils us in conflicts in so many places. In other words, as someone (I forget who, but it
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July 21, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Nicholas Frankovich at NRO writes: Foreign-policy veterans of past Republican administrations figure disproportionately in the ranks of prominent conservatives who have checked out of the GOP since 2016. Some have concluded in good faith that the foreign-policy instincts of the Democratic party are less incompatible [than President Trump’s] with America’s best interest. To Republicans who chide them for party disloyalty, they answer that loyalty to country takes precedence. Republican foreign
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August 13, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster was asked three times today by Chuck Todd whether he can work with Steve Bannon, President Trump’s chief strategist. Three times McMaster refused to say that he can. Each answer was more embarrassing than the last — to McMaster, to Bannon, and ultimately to their boss. You can read the details here. It is the job of every member of a president’s staff to work
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August 8, 2017 — Scott Johnson
This morning we continue our preview of the new issue of the Claremont Review of Books. Thanks to our friends at the Claremont Institute, I read the new issue in galley to select three pieces to be submitted for the consideration of Power Line readers. As always, wanting to do right by the magazine and by our readers, I had a hard time choosing. You, however, can do your own
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July 12, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Does any sentient human being actually read the complete communiques that these splashy G20 summits produce every year? I doubt it. Still, it is kind of fun to take in two paragraphs about global warming climate change that appear in the most recent declaration from the meeting in Hamburg last week. Note the difference between these two paragraphs: We take note of the decision of the United States of America
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June 30, 2017 — Steven Hayward
SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 30—What the heck, I may as well get my Rebecca West on and file an old-fashioned “foreign correspondent” story from the the Balkans, where I’m visiting for several days that have included a seminar for graduate students and young professionals at New Bulgarian University, and yesterday a “strategic briefing” for business and political leaders, about which more in a moment. One of my favorite ledes from Whittaker
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December 15, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
In July 2014, Vladimir Putin’s net favorability rating among Republicans was minus 64 points, according to an Economist/YouGov poll (reported by the Washington Post). Now, according to the same source, it is only minus 16. What has happened in the past two and half years that might affect how one views Putin? I can think of three things. First, Putin’s forces have taken a major role in perpetrating the atrocity
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December 13, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Rex Tillerson will be President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State. As head of Exxon-Mobil, Tillerson has ties with Russia and a good relationship with Vladimir Putin, who awarded him the Kremlin’s Order of Friendship in 2012. On the other hand, Tillerson reportedly has the support of Condoleezza Rice and former vice president Cheney. They must believe he will not be soft of Russia. Nonetheless, Senators like John McCain and
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December 12, 2016 — Steven Hayward
In the course of research for my two-volume history of Ronald Reagan I read through a lot of declassified CIA assessments and reports, and was amazed at how consistently bad, and most often wrong, the analysis was. Here’s one example I included in the book: On October 5, 1973, the CIA’s daily bulletin commented on Egyptian military exercises on the west bank of the Suez canal, just across the canal
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December 11, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Donald Trump reportedly will nominate Exxon-Mobil chief Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State barring a late and unanticipated shift in Trump’s thinking. So says the Washington Post among other outlets. Tillerson’s experience with foreign affairs apparently consists entirely of negotiating oil deals with foreigners. This is an unconventional resume for Secretary of State. However, Trump seems to have conducted a diligent search for his Secretary of State, and I
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November 6, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
On Friday, Charles Krauthammer wrote what I assume will be his last column before the election. He attacked Hillary Clinton for “shiftiness, paranoia, cynicism, and disdain for playing by the rules.” However, Krauthammer found that Donald Trump’s liabilities outweigh Clinton’s, especially on foreign policy. He sees Trump as a threat to our open, free international order. He fears that Trump will initiate trade wars and undermine our alliances with countries
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November 5, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
The Clinton Foundation has admitted that it accepted a $1 million gift from Qatar while Hillary Clinton was U.S. secretary of state without informing the State Department. Clinton had promised to let the Department review new or materially increased support from foreign governments. The Clinton Foundation claims that this did not violate Hillary’s promise because the $1 million gift did not “materially increase” Qatar’s support for the operation. Apparently, it
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October 26, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Unlike Steve, I’m convinced that, unfortunately, Hillary Clinton will win this election. Assuming she does, and that the race isn’t very close, what will happen to Trumpism? To answer this question we must identify Trumpism’s main characteristics. In my view, there are five: (1) the unbridled egotism of its leader and his whiff of authoritarianism; (2) gratuitous nastiness; (3) a strong stance against illegal immigration; (4) intense skepticism about the
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