Columns by Clifford D. May
Altruism is a virtue. But altruism is not a serious basis for foreign policy. So, if you support Ukraine's resistance to Russian conquest only because it's a David-vs.-Goliath struggle you're a good person. But you're not thinking seriously about foreign policy.
Published
July 5, 2022
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Foreign policy and national security are arcane disciplines, but with experience comes expertise. Or not.
Published
June 28, 2022
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Vladimir Putin's Russia. Xi Jinping's China. Ali Khamenei's Iran. Al-Qaida. The Islamic State. These and other actors are waging a war on the West, a war against Western power and values.
Published
June 21, 2022
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"Do you think that the time of international law has passed?" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked that of the United Nations Security Council last month. It's a serious question.
Published
June 14, 2022
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Though I'm no monarchist, I can't help but admire Queen Elizabeth II. The old girl had a job to do, and she's been doing it -- with discipline and dignity -- for 70 years.
Published
June 7, 2022
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Turkey is a long way from the North Atlantic, yet it is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Published
May 24, 2022
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Credit where credit is due: Russian President Vladimir Putin is revitalizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an alliance that has never been obsolete but had become obsolescent.
Published
May 17, 2022
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Congratulations on winning the Ohio Senate GOP primary! What an amazing American journey you're having!
Published
May 10, 2022
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For months, the smart money has been betting that a nuclear deal between President Biden and Iran's rulers was a sure thing.
Published
May 3, 2022
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Dear President Biden, you're a busy guy, so I'll get straight to the point. You've now been in office for over a year, and you still don't have a National Security Strategy?
Published
April 26, 2022
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Let's acknowledge that we're treading on dangerous ground. Russia is ruled by a thug who has launched a war intended to extinguish Ukraine as an independent nation.
Published
April 19, 2022
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With oceans to our east and west, and weak neighbors to our north and south, we Americans sometimes have a hard time understanding the plight of nations threatened by big, bad neighbors.
Published
April 12, 2022
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These are confusing times, and President Biden is not helping to bring clarity. Last week, for example, he told the Business Roundtable that "there's going to be a new world order." What could he possibly have meant?
Published
March 29, 2022
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Central to America's Cold War strategy was the principle of MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction.
Published
March 22, 2022
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McDonald's is closing its restaurants in Russia, which means no more Happy Meals in Gorky Park. But there's also a McNugget of geostrategic significance in this development.
Published
March 15, 2022
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We all have our patterns of behavior.
Published
March 8, 2022
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is waging a war of imperial conquest. That's despicable but, from a historical perspective, hardly novel.
Published
March 1, 2022
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In my column on Feb. 1, I offered a prediction that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "not start a war during the Olympics, which take place in the People's Republic of China.
Published
February 22, 2022
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In 1982, President Ronald Reagan addressed the British Parliament, expressing optimism about the "global campaign for democracy now gathering force."
Published
February 15, 2022
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Antisemitism is an easily transmissible virus. Mutations are not necessarily less lethal.
Published
February 8, 2022
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