Provide a Safe Haven: The Case for Admitting Syrian Refugees

The United States’ plans to admit 10,000 refugees from the Syrian civil war into the country has become the center of a major political controversy. The controversy began in the aftermath of the November 13 attacks in Paris by operatives of the Syria-based terrorist group ISIS that killed 130 people. The possibility that one of … Continue reading Provide a Safe Haven: The Case for Admitting Syrian Refugees →

Distorted Ethics: A Review of The China Mirage

The United States imposed an oil embargo in mid-1941 on Japan, which was then engaged in the military conquest of China and parts of Southeast Asia. As the United States was Japan’s leading oil supplier, this embargo threatened the future of Japan’s expansion, and the Japanese ultimately compensated for the loss by embarking on a … Continue reading Distorted Ethics: A Review of The China Mirage →

Resolving the Ukraine Crisis: A Proposal

Relations between the United States and Russia have deteriorated dramatically this past winter and spring as the result of the unfolding civil strife in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich accepted and then rejected a trade agreement with the European Union, resulting in popular unrest that led to Yanukovich’s overthrow. Russia then initiated a military occupation … Continue reading Resolving the Ukraine Crisis: A Proposal →

Why the Campaign against ISIS Must End: A Just War Analysis

The myriad atrocities committed by the organization known variously as the Islamic State, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have filled the news for over a year now. ISIS’ activities have prompted a military response by the United States, which has bombed ISIS forces … Continue reading Why the Campaign against ISIS Must End: A Just War Analysis →

War on Marriage: Why Social Conservatives Should Oppose a Hawkish Foreign Policy

Americans who favor traditional marriage and family life—sometimes referred to as “social conservatives”—tend to be lumped together politically with those who favor hawkish foreign policies. In many cases, this categorization is no doubt accurate: many social conservatives do favor American military interventions. The association between concern for marriage and the family and a hawkish foreign … Continue reading War on Marriage: Why Social Conservatives Should Oppose a Hawkish Foreign Policy →

A Globe-Trotting Detective Story: A Review of Dirty Wars

Dirty Wars, the documentary film counterpart to the book of the same name, begins its investigation of the secretive world of US counterterrorism operations with a disturbing episode set in Afghanistan. The book’s author, Jeremy Scahill, was working as a war correspondent in Afghanistan when he looked beyond the limited flow of information provided by … Continue reading A Globe-Trotting Detective Story: A Review of Dirty Wars →

The Ongoing Struggle over Guantanamo Bay

Detainees at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been on hunger strike since early this year. The strike began in February 2013, with perhaps as few as 14 men participating; the number of participants grew over the following months and, as of July 2013, 106 detainees out of the total prison population … Continue reading The Ongoing Struggle over Guantanamo Bay →

Three Questions on US Targeted Killings

The US government policy of killing suspected terrorists, whether by means of pilotless drones or Special Forces strikes, is now at least 10 years old. Estimates of how many have died because of this policy vary, but a conservative estimate is that roughly 2,000 people have been killed to date. Most of these targeted killings … Continue reading Three Questions on US Targeted Killings →

The Obama Administration’s Broadly Defined Lethal Powers

Two documents have been made public this year that provide more information about the Obama administration’s targeted killing policy. The first is a Justice Department paper that describes the administration’s justification for killing American citizens who are living overseas and are thought to be terrorist leaders. The second is a letter from Attorney General Eric … Continue reading The Obama Administration’s Broadly Defined Lethal Powers →

The “Light Footprint”: Economy and Secrecy in Obama’s Military Policies

Barack Obama is now more than three-and-a-half years into his presidency and at least a preliminary assessment of his approach to foreign policy is possible. Three journalists have each written such analyses, all of them published this year: Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency, by Daniel Klaidman; The Obamians: … Continue reading The “Light Footprint”: Economy and Secrecy in Obama’s Military Policies →