More on the Credibility Fallacy
May 6, 2014
“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 warmongers to argue for a more forceful foreign policy, with […]
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Rand Paul to Hold Up Another Obama Nominee Over Drone Memos
May 5, 2014
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 nominees over his role in crafting justification of the assassination of […]
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Needed: Obama-Putin Summit on Ukraine
May 4, 2014
MEMORANDUM FOR: The President FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) SUBJECT: Urgent Action on Ukraine The buck stops with you, Mr. President. If you want to stop a bloody civil war between east and west Ukraine and avert Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine, you may be able to do so before the violence […]
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Debunking Credibility: ‘Ukraine Does Not Really Matter’
May 4, 2014
Over at Foreign Policy, Christopher J. Fettweis argues the hysteria in Washington over Ukraine is based on “pathological beliefs” about foreign policy. “The United States has no interest at stake in eastern Ukraine or Crimea,” Fettweis writes. “It is hard to imagine how any outcome here would affect the American people…” Most importantly, Fettweis debunks the […]
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American Skateboarders in Iran
May 3, 2014
Reprinted from LobeLog with permission of the author. I’m supposed to be editing right now, but I’ve discovered something wonderful enough to put aside my responsibilities for a moment and write about it here. The short film posted above is part of videographer Patrik Wallner’s skate documentary, the Visualtraveling series, which features countries that people […]
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The Munk Debate: Worlds in Collision
May 2, 2014
The much-touted debate on NSA spying sponsored by Canada’s Aurea Foundation between Michael Hayden and Alan Dershowitz on one side and Glenn Greenwald and Alexis Ohanian had few surprises — except for the surprise appearance of Edward Snowden in a video made for the occasion. In it, Snowden explains the power and scope of the […]
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Ron Paul vs The IRS
May 2, 2014
Campaign for Liberty, the political action group founded by Ron Paul, led the fight to audit the Federal Reserve. Now the IRS is demanding information about its donors. But no one receives a tax deduction for donations to Campaign for Liberty and the IRS is not entitled to their names. Still the IRS has come […]
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No, Obama Hasn’t Let Go of Global Hegemony
May 1, 2014
Over at The Dish, Andrew Sullivan notes the difference in opinion between the elites and the general public on foreign policy. Elites in New York and Washington, DC are upset that Obama hasn’t been forceful enough, whereas the public, as I noted yesterday, in greater numbers than ever want a less interventionist foreign policy of […]
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Washington Post: Warmongering Doesn’t Pay
May 1, 2014
It is regrettable that the Washington Post’s editorials on foreign policy are rarely as profound as its editorial cartoons. Someone could easily compile a list of Washington Post editorials and guest articles by bellicose nitwits urging U.S. preemptive strikes for each venue that Tom Toles lists in this ‘toon.
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Israel Approved 14,000 New Settlement Units, Demolished 500 Palestinian Structures During Talks
April 30, 2014
Israel’s primary criticism of the Palestinian side is that they are not engaging in “good faith negotiations,” they are not “partners for peace.” As I’ve noted several times in the past few weeks, that critique rings hypocritical given Israel’s negotiating positions. After all, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted it was Israel’s failure to comply […]
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