Afghanistan and the Endless War Caucus

From The American Conservative:Barbara Boland reported on the House Armed Services Committee’s vote to impede withdrawal of US from Afghanistan:The House Armed Services Committee voted Wednesday night to put roadblocks on President Donald Trump’s vow to...

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The Iran Obsession Has Isolated the US

From The American Conservative:Mike Pompeo delivered an embarrassing, clownish performance at the UN on Tuesday, and his attempt to gain support for an open-ended conventional arms embargo on Iran was rejected the rest of the old P5+1:Secretary of State Mike Pompeo...

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Recognizing the Limits of US Power

From The American Conservative:Jeremy Shapiro wrote an interesting review of Shields of the Republic, a new book by Mira Rapp-Hooper about U.S. alliances. Dan Drezner responds to Shapiro by changing the subject to talk about the recent clash between Indian and Chinese...

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Endless War Comes Home

Originally appeared at The American Conservative.The president ordered an attack on protesters to clear the way for a photo op last night, and he also threatened to deploy the military on American soil:When Trump had returned safely to the White House less than an...

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The Weakness of ‘Maximum Pressure’

Originally appeared at The American Conservative.An Iranian tanker delivered some gasoline to Venezuela this week, and this is how the report in The New York Times framed the event: Venezuela needs gasoline and has gold. Iran has oil but needs cash. Both Venezuela and...

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The ‘Cost-Effective’ Coup and Other Myths

Originally appeared at The American Conservative.Fresh off of his defense of the foreign policy “Blob,” Hal Brands suggests that the U.S. might get back into the business of covertly overthrowing foreign governments:Just as the US sought to undermine or...

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No One Should Be Missing Kissinger

Originally appeared at The American Conservative.Thomas Meaney debunks the myth of Henry Kissinger:Since leaving office, too, Kissinger has rarely challenged consensus, let alone offered the kind of inconvenient assessments that characterized the later career of...

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