America’s Unconditional Support for Israel: A Flawed Policy
There hardly seems to be any compelling moral rationale for what has become an uncritical and uncompromising rapport with Israelis, more so under the present Netanyahu government.
From Neocon to Antiwar
The neocon narrative is crumbling, as more and more conservatives have rejected its empire-building foreign interventionism. What caused the growing rejection of neocon foreign policy, and why should Catholics also oppose the neocon narrative?
Is China Really a Threat?
Too often conservatives conflate the internal policies of the CCP with a threat to the United States, so they support a belligerent attitude when it comes to China.
The Influence of Interventionism on Foreign and Domestic Policy
So far, at least, it could have been worse. President Trump chose the least aggressive of three military options presented to him when the U.S., U.K., and France bombed suspected chemical plants in Syria last week, according to news accounts. And the Wall Street Journal says the U.S. is seeking an Arab force made up … Read more
Ali in Wonderland
Here’s a recent news item that caught my eye: Ayaan Hirsi Ali was scheduled to present a paper on radical Islamic terror at the National Security Council before being blocked by H.R. Mc Master and his recently appointed Senior Director of Counter-Terrorism, Mustafa Javed Ali. Mustafa Javed Ali is now the senior director of counter-terrorism? … Read more
President Trump’s Warsaw Speech
In the mid-nineteenth century, the poet and playwright Adam Mickiewicz dramatized the theme of his suffering Poland as the “Christ of Nations” and, deprived of its national identity for two centuries, the agony worsened when, in an image borrowed by many, Poland was crucified between the two thieves of Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. It … Read more
When President Trump Met Pope Francis
It was 35 years ago this coming week that a pope and a president met together at the Vatican—and went on to change the world. It was Pope John Paul II and Ronald Reagan. They met one-on-one at the Vatican Library. To this day, no formal transcript of their conversation has been released. The Reagan … Read more
“Warrior Monk” Mattis on Knowing Our Enemy
The choice of retired Marine General James Mattis as defense secretary in the incoming Trump Administration deepens the debate of how we should define and understand our enemies in the war on terror. It also moves us forward in the right direction. Mattis, a “warrior monk” who reads deeply and collects books, has been a … Read more
Faith-Based Negotiations with Faith-Based Fanatics
When Church leaders comment on international events they show a remarkable propensity for explaining those events in more or less the same way that secular liberals do. The flip side of this penchant is a tendency to ignore what their own theological training might tell them about important issues. Take the recent Vatican endorsement of … Read more
Blindfolded America
If you’ve ever noticed that U.S. policy in regard to the war on terror is confused, you’ll appreciate Stephen Coughlin’s just released book, Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad. The confusion is no accident, says Coughlin, but is the result of a deliberate Muslim Brotherhood plan to influence decision-making at the highest … Read more
Assuming the Worst
Sometimes it pays to assume the worst. Jews who assumed the worst about the Nazis in the early days of Hitler’s rule fled Germany to safe havens and survived. Most of those who assumed that the situation couldn’t get any worse stayed put and did not survive. The disposition to assume the worst goes against … Read more
Middle Eastern Christians Face Calamity
The Middle East is embroiled in chaos and what little remains of the ancient Christian communities there are being destroyed with the latest tragic turn of events in Iraq. The barbarism of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that began a military and terror campaign from Syria swept into Iraq to capture numerous … Read more
The Obama Doctrine
George W. Bush had a doctrine. His dad didn’t but Ronald Reagan had one. So did Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. Also Lyndon Johnson, and John Kennedy. Gerald Ford did not last long enough to have one. Eisenhower had one. So did Truman. No doubt Barack Obama wants one. Some say he has one but … Read more
St. John Paul II and the Future of Ukraine
With Divine Providence, nothing is left to chance. On the Sunday of Divine Mercy, the Universal Church recognized what God had already ordained—solemnly declaring Pope John Paul II a saint. Almost twenty-four years earlier, this nascent saint made it possible for my future wife and I to meet in the Eternal City. It was to … Read more
Christians Suffer as U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East Flounders
President Obama these days looks like a homeowner paralyzed in shock as he sees his house ablaze from across the street. The White House is fine, but the president’s foreign policy in the Middle East is going up in smoke. As Egypt implodes with escalating violence and the Syrian civil war rages into a second … Read more
Cultural Imperialism on the March: Obama Promotes Gay Pride Worldwide
As June approaches, get ready for the official celebration of “Gay Pride Month” by US embassies abroad. If sodomy and same-sex marriage are constitutional rights, what is their relationship to American foreign policy? Despite the tremendous controversy regarding these issues within the United States, the Obama administration has gone ahead and placed them at the … Read more
Christian Realism in Foreign Policy: Kenneth Thompson Remembered
Ethical or normative reasoning in the study of politics has gone the way of the dinosaur. The endless—and seemingly fruitless—quest to place the study of politics onto a more “socially scientific” footing has led to an arid literature of little to no relevance for those engaged in foreign policy. What we need today is a … Read more
Obama Ignores the Fears of Middle Eastern Christians
President Obama loudly proclaims his enthusiasm for democracy in the Middle East as he did in his second inaugural address: “We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom.” But those … Read more