With his last-minute decision to back away from a military strike against Iran, President Donald Trump dodged a dangerous bullet for the United States and his own presidency. But despite the positive outcome, no one should be happy about the unorthodox...
Did you know that the U.S. Air Force is the smallest it has been since 1947 and that we have the smallest navy in almost a century? Do you care? You may recall a slogan that Bill Clinton’s campaign used during his 1992 run for the presidency: “It’s...
Now in the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency, we are still trying to figure out what to make of his foreign policy. Clearly, he is not a “liberal internationalist” like Jimmy Carter, of the sort who strongly values international law and...
By Jonathan S. Tobin, JNS.org
• Published June 1, 2017
In a seminal piece for The Atlantic last September, journalist Salena Zito explained a simple truth that most people hadn’t grasped about the man who was about to be elected the 45th president of the United States. Simply put, his numerous critics took...
In the words on the cover of the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, it is now “Trump Time.” What are we to make of Donald Trump’s foreign policy, beyond the early tumult over refugees and other issues? What might it look like over the next four years?It...
Jewish Light Editorial
• Published February 8, 2017
For anyone trying to evaluate President Donald Trump’s dizzying changes in U.S. foreign policy, it’s hard to separate the tweets from the chaff.Depending upon where one stands on the evolving Trump presidency, he is either deliberately attempting...
In June, the Jewish Light reported the startling news that Israel had just been elected to chair the United Nations Legal Committee, the first time Israel was selected to head a U.N. permanent committee. Perhaps it is time to take another look at an...
Traditionally, most American presidential elections are not determined by voter concerns about foreign policy and which candidate can better keep America safe. To the extent that voters cast their ballots based on candidate issue-positions, as opposed...
Despite leaving the world an unsafer place than when he found it, President Barack Obama isn’t shying away from busting those foreign policy taboos. The president who brought us a nuclear deal with the Iranian mullahs, and who gave Cuba’s fossilized...
The question of whether World War III will happen in our lifetimes may well turn on whether the worst of the bad guys, such as Iran and North Korea, are rational actors or not and, sadly, we don’t know the answer.This constant undercurrent percolated...
“Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.”— John F. Kennedy, news conference, April 21, 1961, after failure of Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba The foreign policy debate in this country often divides between those who advocate for greater...
