Biden’s Choice in China

by Nina Shea

The Uighur genocide is an inconvenient fact for the Biden administration’s foreign policy climate change priorities. Continue Reading »

9 Feb 2021

Battle for Europe

by ​Ryszard Legutko

Byliśmy głupi by marcin król czerwone i czarne, 256 pages, zł 39.90 Pravým okem: Antologie současného polského politického myšlení edited by maciej ruczaj and maciej szymanowski centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 203 pages, kč 249 Resistance to Communism in Eastern Europe was . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Apr 2018

Can Politicians Responsibly Discuss the Risks of War?

by Pete Spiliakos

Will the 2016 election be about foreign policy? And, if it is, can non-interventionist conservatives win that kind of election? Some think the answers to these questions might be “yes and yes.” I think that the answers are more likely to be “probably no and not yet.” Continue Reading »

16 Apr 2015

Depressing And Disturbing Reading

by Pete Spiliakos

I can’t figure out what is the worst thing to come out of this Washington Post article on the new book by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Let me mention several candidates for worst news:1. It basically confirms Carl Scott’s suspicion (in this long-ago No Left Turns thread). . . . . Continue Reading »

7 Jan 2014

Happy New Year

by Kate Pitrone

Happy new year and here is why we have had ever happier new years in the lifetimes of anyone alive today.  Regardless of the politics of nations, or the decline of social standards, or anything else we might deplore or fear, the living standards of people all over the world improve.  . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2014

Escapism

by Kate Pitrone

I can’t help but notice it here, notice it there, notice it everywhere.  A few days ago, I read Steve Hayward, on Powerline , asking, ” So When Can We Expect Obama’s Malaise Speech? “  This does feel familiar, a sense of dread, a hopelessness.  Well, in the . . . . Continue Reading »

23 Sep 2013

Notes On Natalism, Respect And Syria

by Pete Spiliakos

1. My wife is in the late stages of pregnancy with our second child, so blogging is going to be light-to-nonexistent for a while. 2. I have some On The Square thoughts about how some kinds of respect for Obama’s words and the concerns of some Obama supporters could be used to defeat . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Sep 2013

Stray Thoughts On Syria

by Pete Spiliakos

So I spent about an hour listening to John Kerry talking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about President Obama’s proposed strike. Here are some thoughts: 1. Kerry argued that the refugee crisis from the Syrian civil war was destabilizing Jordan. That strikes me as more of an . . . . Continue Reading »

3 Sep 2013

A Pause To Reflect

by Pete Spiliakos

Good for President Obama for seeking congressional authorization for a strike on Syria. Among other things, it will give the administration more time to come up with a coherent strategy that has a plausible chance of advancing American interests. The current strategy of focusing outrage on Syrian . . . . Continue Reading »

31 Aug 2013

On Syria

by Pete Spiliakos

I think Ramesh Ponnuru has it right.   Maybe the Obama administration has a plan to use military force in a decisive way, but they haven’t made the case for a large and sustained military operation if it comes to that. A military attack that is not decisive opens the possibility that the . . . . Continue Reading »

28 Aug 2013