News – The Institute for a Secure America

Pay attention to Latin America and Africa before controversies erupt

January 02, 2018

Latin America and Africa have rarely rated as top U.S. foreign policy priorities in recent years, but 2018 may change that. Political instability and the collapse of national governments, international terrorism and its associated financing, and great power competition for natural resources and political influence could all threaten significant American national security interests next year. If several simmering controversies erupt simultaneously, Washington could find itself facing these crises with little or no strategic thinking to guide our responses.

Expect America’s tensions with China and Russia to rise in 2018

December 29, 2017

I examine the strategic threats posed by China and Russia and one of President Trump’s continuing priorities: preserving and enhancing American sovereignty.

Threats of 2017 – Mideast, terror, weapons – will linger in the new year

December 28, 2017

I review the administration’s 2017 record and 2018 prospects in three critical near-term areas: Middle East turmoil, international terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

How to Defund the U.N.

December 26, 2017

Despite decades of U.N. “reform” efforts, little or nothing in its culture or effectiveness has changed. Instead, despite providing the body with a disproportionate share of its funding, the U.S. is subjected to autos-da-fé on a regular basis. The only consolation, at least to date, is that this global virtue-signaling has not yet included burning the U.S. ambassador at the stake.

Trump’s Jerusalem declaration long overdue

December 11, 2017

Trump’s embassy decision helps bring into focus the real issues that now need to be addressed. The Middle East peace process has long needed clarity and an injection of reality, and Trump has provided it.

Russian media in the U.S.

November 28, 2017

I think that the Russians and the Chinese have been very bold and quite upfront about it and the fact that newspapers like the Washington Post allow them to buy advertising supplements, you can call it that, but when people are just turning the pages of the newspaper looking at their websites, it looks a lot like real content. So when you image that Russia is daring enough to do that, you can imagine what they are doing over the internet.

The Hague Aims for U.S. Soldiers

November 21, 2017

For the first time since it began operating in 2002, the International Criminal Court has put the U.S. in its sights. On Nov. 3, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda initiated an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan since mid-2003. This raises the alarming possibility that the court will seek to assert jurisdiction over American citizens.

America’s decision on North Korea hinges on Trump’s success in Asia

November 15, 2017

If North Korea achieves deliverable nuclear weapons, it will be able to extort and coerce the United States, Japan, South Korea and others, not to mention opening a vast emporium of nuclear technology for the likes of Iran, other aspiring nuclear weapons states, and even terrorist groups. Arguments that Pyongyang can be contained and deterred as the Soviet Union once was are frank invitations to a new system of international terror, under terms and conditions far different from the Cold War.

Lebanon’s fall would be Iran’s gain

November 14, 2017

The Trump administration cannot continue idly watching Iran advance without opposition. Washington and its regional allies need a comprehensive strategy to deal with Iran, not a series of ad hoc responses to regional developments. Time is fast running out.

Amb. John Bolton: America’s embassy in Israel should be moved to Jerusalem – NOW

November 08, 2017

Whether to move America’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has long been a subject of political debate in the U.S. and abroad. It’s time now to resolve the debate by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and relocating our embassy there on incontestably Israeli sovereign territory.