Section: Cato Institute (USA)
What Trump Got Right about U.S. Allies
Doug Bandow Many of Donald Trump’s most disagreeable policy positions are also those that garner the most media attention. Occasionally, though, his opinions also reflect basic common sense. Consider his recent argument that Washington’s prosperous allies in Asia and Europe don’t pay enough in return for U.S. defense guarantees....
America Can’t Be the World’s Nuclear Police
Doug Bandow Donald Trump is once again causing consternation among world leaders. His remarks about South Korea and Japan developing nuclear weapons have set off a minor firestorm. “It would be catastrophic were the United States to shift its position and indicate that we support somehow the proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional...
The Unpredictable Trump Doctrine
Emma Ashford Donald Trump has finally given us greater insight into his approach to foreign policy. Last week, he not only conducted interviews with the Washington Post and New York Times, but revealed his long-promised list of foreign policy advisers, and addressed the annual AIPAC conference. His remarks led some to note that a restrained or...
Crimea Celebrates Its Second Anniversary as Part of Russia: Time to Drop Sanctions against Moscow
Doug Bandow Two years ago Russia detached Crimea from Ukraine. Since then the Western allies have huffed and puffed while imposing economic sanctions, but to little effect. Although Russia’s economy has suffered, Vladimir Putin remains popular. Most important, Crimea just celebrated the second anniversary of its switch, with construction...
Trump Versus Rubio? the Donald Is More Likely to Keep America at Peace
Doug Bandow With Super Tuesday almost upon us the Republican establishment is desperate to stop Donald Trump. It appears to have settled on Marco Rubio as the last great hope to save the Republican Party, or at least the elites which dominate the GOP. Republican voters face a bad choice. The Donald’s shortcomings are manifest. Marco Rubio...
Why on Earth Would Russia Attack the Baltics?
Doug Bandow When the Cold War closed many people believed that history had ended. Peace had descended upon the earth. The lion was about to lie down with the lamb. The Second Coming seemed on its way. Europe was certain to be free and undivided. Alas, it hasn’t worked out that way. But no worries. At least NATO officials are happy....
Obama Wants U.S. to Spend More on Europe’s Defense: Europeans Should Pay Instead
Doug Bandow The U.S. plans on filling Eastern Europe with thousands of troops along with vehicles and weapons to equip an armored combat brigade. That will require a special budget request of $3.4 billion for next year. Uncle Sam may be bankrupt, but nothing is too expensive for our pampered European allies, who enjoy greater wealth while...
Ending the Curse of Oil: Is It Possible?
Emma Ashford Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules that Run the World By Leif Wenar Oxford University Press, 2015, $27, 552 pages The oil magnate J. Paul Getty once described his formula for success: “Rise early, work hard, strike oil.” He could not have been more wrong when it comes to states with substantial endowments of natural...
Economic Headwinds: Big Players, Regime Uncertainty and the Misery Index
Steve H. Hanke Before we delve into the economic prospects for 2016, let’s take a look at the economies in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East/Africa to see how they fared in the 2014-15 period. A clear metric for doing this is the misery index. For any country, a misery index score is simply the sum of the unemployment,...
Poland Wants U.S. Troops as Part of EU Deal with Britain: America the Big Loser
Doug Bandow Immigration is a hot issue in Europe. But it really doesn’t concern the U.S. Whether British citizens should have to provide welfare benefits for Polish visitors isn’t something most Americans think about. Yet that question might determine whether U.S. troops end up stationed in Poland to face down the Russian menace, as...
