Free Republic

"Could a U.S. response to Russia's action in Ukraine provoke a confrontation that leads to a U.S.-Russia War?" This jolting question is raised by Graham Allison and Dimitri Simes in the cover article of The National Interest. The answer the authors give, in "Countdown to War: The Coming U.S. Russia Conflict," is that the odds are shortening on a military collision between the world's largest nuclear powers. The cockpit of the conflict, should it come, will be Ukraine. What makes the article timely is the report that Canada will be sending 200 soldiers to western Ukraine to join 800 Americans...

On Monday, I wrote about how Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is the foreign policy antithesis to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) in the 2016 GOP presidential field, frequently sparring directly with his fellow member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. To collect some of Rubio's foreign-policy uber-hawkery in one place, I've compiled a list of seven highly questionable judgments by the Cuban-American freshman senator. 1) Supported regime change in Libya. March 30, 2011: [T]his resolution should also state that removing Muammar Qaddafi from power is in our national interest and therefore should authorize the President to accomplish this goal. […]For more...

At the Summit of the Americas where he met with Raul Castro, the 83-year-old younger brother of Fidel, President Obama provided an insight into where he is taking us, and why: "The United States will not be imprisoned by the past -- we're looking to the future. I'm not interested in having battles that frankly started before I was born." Obama was not yet born when Fidel rolled into Havana, Jan. 1, 1959. He was 1 year old during the missile crisis. His mother belonged to a 1960s generation that welcomed the Cuban Revolution. His father came from an African...

There's an emerging conventional wisdom that the 2016 presidential race, once predicted to be mostly about economic issues, will instead be dominated by foreign policy. "This is going to be a foreign policy election," National Journal's Ron Fournier said recently. "A foreign policy election (more or less) is upon us," declared "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd. "We are likely to have a foreign policy election in 2016," said the Weekly Standard's William Kristol. The argument is that the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an ongoing crisis in Syria, the Iranian nuclear negotiations, Russian aggression and...

In October 2013, then-Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki visited Washington for the last time before being forced to relinquish his seat in the face of the sectarian violence that his policies helped to inflame. Unfortunately, the Administration had done little to confront those policies at the time, or to challenge Maliki’s close relationship with neighboring Iran. And now, even as the U.S. negotiates a nuclear treaty with Iran, that mullahs expand their military and terrorist presence throughout the region. On Tuesday, Maliki’s successor Haider al-Abadi will go to White House to visit the President. The two are expected...

Too bad Barack Obama didn’t spend less time in Chicago with Bill Ayres and Bernardine Dohrn and more with typical South Side “homeys.” The future president of the world’s most powerful nation might have learned about real- world diplomacy. Community organizers indeed! Those gentlemen really know how to “organize a community” in their favor. Any of these gang leaders (and even members) could teach Obama that earning real-world respect and defending your turf is a cinch. And it’s not by emulating Anastasia Steele at the hands of Christian Grey Obama arrived in Panama City On April 10th for the Summit...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker "absolutely" expects to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his first visit to Israel next month, the Republican said as he prepared to depart for a western European trade mission. The likely presidential candidate told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the Netanyahu meeting in mid-May is not yet confirmed, but that it's his "hope and expectation" it will happen. A spokeswoman for Walker's political group, Our American Revival, did not immediately confirm Friday whether the meeting has been set up. Walker met with British Prime Minister David Cameron during a trade mission...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker heads to Europe this week on a trade mission featuring private meetings with business and government representatives in Germany, France and Spain, as he ramps up for a likely bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. The most high-profile event on Walker's itinerary comes Tuesday when he's slated to deliver a 15-minute speech titled "Opportunities for bilateral trade and investment" at the Hannover Messe trade show in Germany. That is the world's largest industrial fair, Walker's office said in the documents detailing the trip provided to The Associated Press.... Walker's last trade...

"......Mr. Walker said the Iranians are not coming to the negotiating table “out of the good nature of their hearts trying to push for world peace.” “They’re coming to the table because they were being brought to their knees because of the sanctions from the United States and from our allies particularly in Europe,” he said. “And right at the time when they’re working think about this kind of negotiation. We should have been saying here’s the deal: you take it or if not we’re going to go back to our allies and push for even stronger sanctions because we...

Barack Obama is a young man. By the time he leaves office, he will be in his mid-50s. Based on life expectancy, he could live for another 40 years or so. So he will be around to see the full consequences of his disastrous Iran nuclear "framework." The deal is done. No matter what Republicans do, Europeans fully intend to let sanctions expire. They just needed an excuse to do so, an excuse that Obama provided. Someday, nations will ask why the world's superpower ignored chants of "death to America" and "death to Israel" and allowed Iran to slow-walk toward...

Possible presidential contender Scott Walker came out swinging on national television against President Obama, who had publicly suggested the Wisconsin governor was “foolish” for taking a hardline stance on nuclear negotiations with Iran. The public tiff took off when Walker simply said he would not agree to any nuclear deal with Iran that allowed the country to enrich uranium – and Obama couldn’t let the comment go. The president said Walker had adopted a “foolish approach,” and added: “Perhaps Mr. Walker, after he’s taken some time to bone up on foreign policy, will feel the same way.” Walker, late Wednesday...

Yesterday, Senator Rand Paul formally announced his candidacy for president, becoming the second Republican, following Ted Cruz, to throw his hat into the ring. Almost immediately, a PAC organized by the same group responsible for the famous anti–John Kerry Swift Boat ads launched a $1 million advertising campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina attacking Paul for being soft on national security and, specifically, soft on Iran. Paul’s candidacy and the quick response by Republican hawks lays open what may be a significant divide in the party over foreign-policy issues. There is no doubt that Paul is the most...

“I think the biggest threats that they face may not be coming from Iran invading,” said Obama. “It’s going to be from dissatisfaction inside their own countries.” While the president’s remarks were mostly overlooked by the U.S. and Western media, the comments received headline coverage in news outlets run by Iran and by the Hezbollah jihadist organization. Obama sat down Saturday with Times’ columnist Thomas L. Friedman, who asked about “protecting our Sunni Arab allies, like Saudi Arabia.” Obama explained he thinks “that our friends in the region, our traditional Sunni states, have some very real external threats, but they...

"Pat, sometimes it seems like our friends want me to go over the cliff with flags flying," President Reagan once told me. Today, it is "Bibi" Netanyahu and the neocons howling "kill the deal" and "bomb Iran" who are shoving the Republican Party toward the cliff. The question, which may decide 2016, may be framed thus: Should a Republican Congress meticulously point out the flaws and risks of this nuclear deal with Iran and, if the Iranians do cheat or attempt a breakout, be rewarded for their skepticism and statesmanship? Or should the GOP sabotage and scuttle the deal and...

President Obama has tried really hard to stay out of the 2016 race for his job, except when it comes to one person: Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker. First, Obama ripped Walker last month for signing into law a right-to-work bill. Then, in an interview with NPR published Tuesday, the president said Walker needed to "bone up on foreign policy" after suggesting he would undo any nuclear pact with Iran were he to win control of the White House. Yet, the White House insists that Obama isn't going out of his way to rip Walker. "It's nothing personal," White House...

For many, President Barack Obama entered the White House a coddled narcissist whose thin set of accomplishments was papered over by his supporters. They liked his ideals, his identity, and how he made them feel about themselves. That was sufficient to prompt millions of Americans to bury their concerns about this energetic but untested freshman senator and his readiness for the presidency. Six years later, the nationÂ’s affairs are in a shambles. The presidentÂ’s once ascendant party has been decimated, his signature achievement the focus of endless court challenges and political fights, and the international environment appears less stable...

For many, President Barack Obama entered the White House a coddled narcissist whose thin set of accomplishments was papered over by his supporters. They liked his ideals, his identity, and how he made them feel about themselves. That was sufficient to prompt millions of Americans to bury their concerns about this energetic but untested freshman senator and his readiness for the presidency. Six years later, the nation’s affairs are in a shambles. The president’s once ascendant party has been decimated, his signature achievement the focus of endless court challenges and political fights, and the international environment appears less stable than...

When Republicans criticize Barack Obama’s foreign policy, their critiques usually break down into two broad themes: America’s enemies no longer fear us, and America’s allies no longer trust us. The part about our enemies fearing us is usually a reference to Russia – conservatives believe quite earnestly that Russia’s military expansionism over the last few years is a consequence of Vladimir Putin sizing up the president and determining that he’s a weakling. No less an authority than Peggy Noonan made this very argument just last Friday, lamenting “a Russian president who took the American’s measure and made a move, upsetting...

During today’s unscheduled press conference President Barack Obama responded to a wide range of questions varying from race relations in the United States to the Russian incursion into Ukraine. The president spent over an hour answering questions from the White House press contingent, offering the frankest assessment of his administration’s policies to date. With regard to Israel the president came down strongly on the side of Israel and directed a stern warning against the Iranian regime in Tehran, advising the ruling mullahs that the United States stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel, our staunchest ally in the Middle East. The...

There are still nearly two years left in Barack Obama's presidency, but historians looking back on his record in foreign policy will surely identify one costly error: his refusal to follow through on the implied threat in stating that the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons would be a "red line." That statement was made in a press conference on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. The president was not scheduled to appear; press secretary Jay Carney said, "Looks like there's a surprise guest here." After fielding questions on other topics (Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, Mitt Romney's attack ads and tax...