Foreign Policy

What is AUMF? The power to declare war is the most important Constitutional duty assigned to our Congress. Since the outset of the Global War on Terror, our elected officials have abdicated this responsibility, preferring to cede authority to multiple presidential administrations under the 2001 Authorization of Military Force (AUMF). Relinquishment of Congressional war powers […]

A recent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague regarding territorial claims in the South China Sea could adversely affect U.S. national interests, according to Ted Galen Carpenter in The National Interest. The ruling, which completely rejected China’s historical claims to the South China Sea, was a victory for the Philippines. However, […]

Writing for Defense One, Daniel DePetris addresses the problematic nature of the United States’ ongoing support for Saudi Arabia’s  intervention in Yemen. While he acknowledges that the Houthis in Yemen are not blameless in the war, DePetris points out that the Saudi-led coalition has been responsible for the vast majority of civilian deaths and destruction […]

Withdrawing U.S. troops from the Korean peninsula would offer a rare win-win situation by reducing the United States’ defense burden and giving North Korea fewer reasons to increase its militarization, according to a new piece by Doug Bandow. Writing for Cato at Liberty, Bandow notes that while it was once necessary, the United States’ presence […]

Writing about NATO’s recent meeting at the Warsaw Summit, Emma Ashford of Cato at Liberty, comments on the fundamental conflict between the goals of simultaneously reassuring NATO’s Eastern members and preventing further military buildup by Russia. In fact, Ashford observes, “The expected announcement of the deployment of four battalions of additional troops to the Baltics […]

In a recent article for The New York Times, Mark Mazzetti and Ali Younes write that Jordanian intelligence operatives have stolen millions of dollars’ worth of American and Saudi weapons, which the CIA  originally sent to arm Syrian rebels opposing President Bashar al-Assad. According to Mazzetti and Younes, the stolen weapons were resold on the […]

The possibility of Montenegro’s accession to NATO provokes further questions regarding why the alliance currently exists, Emma Ashford explains in War on the Rocks. Montenegro, a tiny nation, has little to add to any defensive alliance. For example, Montenegro currently contributes just 17 soldiers to NATO operations in Afghanistan. Despite this, Ashford writes, “there is […]

FreedomFest—the annual gathering of free minds—will take place July 13-16 in Las Vegas. This year’s slate of activities provides ample opportunities to champion the ideas of liberty. We highly recommend that you take advantage of the resources available at this year’s “Freedom Rising” festival, from panels and debates to the Anthem Film Festival. Whether you’re […]

In a recent piece for Business Insider, Doug Bandow writes about how the Obama administration has delayed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and now there are increasing calls to revive the war and for a more robust use of U.S. airpower against the Taliban. Furthermore, a group of retired diplomats and generals recently […]

In a recent piece for Cato at Liberty, Trevor Thrall writes that the topic of terrorism now dominates the news media like never before, a trend which may be harmful to American interests. His data shows that over the past three years, mentions of ISIS have infected virtually every foreign policy topic to the point […]