Section: Cato Institute (USA)
The Case for a European Nuke
Doug Bandow Europe is feeling a bit abandoned these days. Used to regular reassurances from Washington on its commitment to transatlantic security, European leaders are now shifting their defense strategies in response to mixed signals from President Donald Trump on the United States’ role in NATO. Even Secretary of Defense James Mattis has...
Why Is Trump Abandoning the Foreign Policy That Brought Him Victory?
Doug Bandow Candidate Donald Trump offered a sharp break from his predecessors. He was particularly critical of neoconservatives, who seemed to back war at every turn. Indeed, he promised not to include in his administration “those who have perfect resumes but very little to brag about except responsibility for a long history of failed policies...
Montenegro Awaits Senate Verdict: President Donald Trump Should End NATO Expansion Charade
Doug Bandow The postage stamp country of Montenegro expected to be rushed into NATO during Washington’s lame duck period before the unpredictable Donald Trump became president. But Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee, to their credit more concerned about America than wannabe foreign dependents, blocked ratification of the ratification...
What Russian Threat? Americans Shouldn’t Be Running Scared of Moscow
Doug Bandow Listen to folks in Washington talk about the supposed Russian threat and you’d think America was a small, third-rate country—friendless, stuck in Moscow’s shadow, possessing a tiny, obsolete military. The paranoia seems strongest from Neoconservatives who otherwise demand that the U.S. dominate the globe, bombing,...
Is Germany Serious about Defending Itself, Europe, and the West? Time for Europeans to Run NATO
Doug Bandow In recent history no European nation has demonstrated greater military prowess then Germany. That competence had tragic consequences in World War II and colors Berlin’s approach to the world today. However, more than seven decades after that horrendous conflict’s end Germany should take on the defense responsibilities...
The U.S. NATO Alliance Has Been a One-Way Street for Too Long
Doug Bandow Defense Secretary James Mattis made a splash on his visit to Europe. He ratcheted up Washington’s traditional request for the Europeans to spend more on their defense. And his demand resonated across the continent, because his boss, President Donald Trump, has spent years denouncing Washington’s feckless allies for...
Misery Index: the World’s Saddest (and Happiest) Countries
Steve H. Hanke The human condition inhabits a vast continuum between “miserable” and “happy.” In the sphere of economics, misery tends to flow from high inflation, steep borrowing costs and unemployment. The most surefire way to mitigate that misery: economic growth. All else equal, happiness tends to blossom when growth is strong, inflation and...
U.S. Hypocrisy on Election Meddling
Ted Galen Carpenter Although Donald Trump has taken the oath of office as president, speculation continues to swirl about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections to his benefit. The evidence that Moscow’s actions were designed to help Donald Trump is anemic. Nevertheless, politicians, pundits, and mainstream journalists express...
Trump Can Fix the Defects in U.S. Foreign Policy
Ted Galen Carpenter In administration after administration over the decades, U.S. foreign policy has habitually exhibited several of the same deficiencies. Although those defects and blind spots were evident throughout the Cold War, they have become more noticeable and worrisome since the end of that struggle. Today, they are glaringly apparent...
Trump Should Copy Richard Nixon by Separating China and Russia
Doug Bandow Perhaps the greatest evidence of the hubris surrounding uberhawks of both neoconservative and liberal interventionist nature is their willingness, even determination, to make multiple enemies simultaneously around the globe. Hence their constant refrain that the world is dangerous and military spending must go up, ever up. Yet if the...
