Donald Trump took office as president of the United States one year ago this week. It is a good time to evaluate what his leadership has meant for US foreign policy. Has Trump moved US foreign policy toward noninterventionism as some people had hoped he would due to some of Trump’s comments in the presidential campaign? Or has Trump as president continued or even expanded the interventionist foreign policy he inherited? read on...
The rise of Trump has dredged up old and bitter debates surrounding the concept of "America First," a position Trump frequently advocates almost unconsciously and using his own peculiar terms. Consider this tweet, from 2013, as an example of Trump expressing a populist, America First sentiment regarding both domestic and foreign policy in a few short words... read on...
Continuing from my OpEd of the 11th January entitled "Libya Update: Power Struggles Continue - Will the UN Get its Way?", dramatic further evidence of my assessment came in the form of reports of intense fighting that started over the weekend and dramatically escalated this Monday, in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, leaving over twenty dead and over 60 wounded and the airport closed in flames.
However those reports by mainstream media still fail to mention the most significant casualty of all: The United Nations peace process, called the LPA.
For two years UN diplomats have struggled to make something of the government they created -- the Government of National Accord (GNA) -- a creature that was supposed to unite Libya and bring peace to a shattered nation. read on...
“On Sunday, the US-led coalition said it was working with its Syrian militia allies, the mainly Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to set up a new 30,000-strong border force. The force would operate along the borders with Turkey and Iraq, as well as within Syria along the Euphrates River, which separates most SDF territory from that held by the government.”
For further specific details, see this article. The American-led coalition is described here. See also here for history of the latest US intervention in Syria. read on...
A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues is out. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud. read on...
On Wednesday a former distinguished US State Department official who has now switched jobs to work for the UN, Jeffery Feltman, as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, arrived in Tripoli. His visit came as the UN’s efforts to implement the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) continue to face political deadlock with justifiable fears from the UN that their efforts look lightly to fall apart.
Given the decades Feltman spent as part of the US State Department, he will no doubt be perceived by the Libyans to be speaking for America as well as the UN.
It first must be said that Libya is a prime example of the failure of US and Western interventionist foreign policy. The US, EU, and UN would be doing everyone a favor if it kept its noses out of Libyan business. read on...
This week, Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Andrew Napolitano presented a keen recommendation for President Donald Trump in regard to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) potentially talking with Trump as part of the so-called Russiagate investigation. read on...
Recently on the Liberty Report, Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams discussed the horrific Executive Order signed by President Trump that would allow the US government to freeze the US assets of individuals or corporations worldwide who have allegedly (without trial) violated "human rights" or have engaged in corruption. read on...
Former Democratic US House of Representatives member from Ohio and two-time presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is reported to be planning to announce next week his campaign for Ohio governor following his submitting paperwork with the state government on Monday to establish a campaign committee. read on...
Libertarian communicator Ron Paul strongly criticized the United States government’s war on drugs in a Saturday interview with host Michael Smerconish at CNN. The interview concerned the Thursday memorandum from US Attorney General Jeff Sessions that rescinded some prior US Department of Justice memoranda providing guidance for US prosecutors to refrain from certain prosecutions of individuals complying with liberalized state marijuana laws. read on...
