Kim R. Holmes

HOLMES: Massive debt to drive U.S. decline

America is a great nation. It enjoys unprecedented wealth. Its people are among the freest in the world. And, with the world's most powerful armed forces, the United States is largely the master of its own destiny.

October 29, 2009

HOLMES: Obama defines success downward in Afghanistan

In March, President Obama thought that defeating al Qaeda and the Taliban was critical to national security. "[I]f the Afghan government falls to the Taliban — or allows al Qaeda to go unchallenged," he warned, "that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can."

October 15, 2009

HOLMES: Obama’s foreign policy vision not so new age

President Obama's speeches often claim "the time has come" for something, or "the days" of this or that "are over." It's as if his presidency has introduced a new epoch.

October 1, 2009

HOLMES: National defense as first principle

Ever wonder why "provide for the common defence" appears right in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, signed 222 years ago Thursday?

September 17, 2009

HOLMES: The end of an era in Japan?

Sixty-four years ago this week, the Japanese formally surrendered to Allied forces on the USS Missouri, ending World War II. Thus began a long era in U.S.-Japanese relations characterized by a shared strategic vision and broad cooperation on security.

September 3, 2009

HOLMES: Afghanistan’s war, election challenge Obama

President Obama this week called the war in Afghanistan one of "necessity," not choice. It is, he proclaimed, the "central front in the war on terrorism ... where the Taliban is gaining strength. ..." He solemnly concluded, "This is a war that we have to win."

August 20, 2009

HOLMES: Defense games and arms races

It's an alluring idea: If the United States disarms or restrains its military forces, other countries would do the same. The notion is gaining ground in the Obama administration; it needs very careful scrutiny.

August 6, 2009

HOLMES: Missing the mark on economic talks with China

Some Americans seem to think that China's rebuff of President Obama's economic and climate-change strategy at the recent Group of Eight summit was bad news. They were disappointed that Beijing refused to commit to clear ceilings for its carbon emissions and alarmed at its calls for a new international reserve currency to replace the dollar.

July 23, 2009

HOLMES: Deja vu on dictators, double standards

Thirty years ago, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick charged the Carter administration with hypocrisy and doublethink. Why, she asked in "Dictatorships and Double Standards," did President Carter always seem to find fault with the human rights records of friendly powers while letting unfriendly states off the hook? Why, she wondered, was the triumph of unfriendly states considered beneficial to America's "true interests?"

July 9, 2009

HOLMES: How U.S. should handle Iran’s election results

Today, Barack Obama is behaving like Richard Nixon, and may yet suffer like Jimmy Carter, in his attempts to deal with Iran in 2009.

June 28, 2009

HOLMES: The importance of hard power

It was not Prime Minister Gordon Brown's finest hour. In his D-Day speech earlier this week, the beleaguered British leader solemnly announced: "Next to Obama Beach, we join President Obama in paying particular tribute to the spectacular bravery of American soldiers who gave their lives."

June 11, 2009

HOLMES: What Obama should tell Muslim world in Egypt

Next week, President Obama travels to Egypt to make a major address to the Muslim world. If past experience is any guide, he will continue apologizing for America's "mistakes" and bend over backward trying to explain that the United States is not a threat to Islam.

May 28, 2009

HOLMES: Free trade as a stimulus strategy

Most people agree that, when it comes to economic recovery, more economic activity is better than less. When companies buy and sell more goods and services, we get more jobs and growth.

May 14, 2009

HOLMES: Moment of truth in Pakistan

Next week, President Obama will meet the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the White House. He'll have his work cut out for him. Increasingly, Pakistan holds the key not only to success in Afghanistan, but to peace in the entire South Asia region.

April 30, 2009

HOLMES: Why cut missile defense now?

An enemy tests a weapon that could kill millions of your countrymen in the near future. Having worked diligently on a defense against such attacks, your government has one within reach. Then, suddenly, it pulls back on this effort.

April 16, 2009

HOLMES: Starting arms talks all over

President Obama has started planning a new round of nuclear arms negotiations with the Russians. He apparently hopes to rid the world of nuclear weapons. This indeed could be an opportune time to rethink arms control. And who doesn't want a world safe from nuclear Armageddon?

April 2, 2009

HOLMES: New liberalism in foreign policy

Once upon a time, American liberals loved to hate foreign-policy realists. No more.

March 19, 2009

HOLMES: India should be policy linchpin

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama repeatedly charged that then-President Bush had "alienated" America from the rest of the world. He accused Mr. Bush of bullying allies and suggested that he would do a better job of reaching out to old friends and finding new ones.

March 5, 2009

HOLMES: U.S. backtracks on missile shield

A Turkish general once said: "The problem with having the Americans as your allies is you never know when they'll turn around and stab themselves in the back."

February 19, 2009

HOLMES: Debt, high taxes economy killers

The best way to pull out of the recession is to keep America competitive in the global marketplace. Competition, both domestically and from abroad, keeps prices low for American consumers and businesses. It also makes us attractive to foreign investors.

February 5, 2009