Ted Galen Carpenter

From the October 2013 issue of Chronicles.

One striking feature of the U.S. Constitution is the number of procedural rights guaranteed to individuals accused of criminal behavior before they can be deprived of life, liberty, or property.  The overall guarantee

Reports that North Korea tested a hydrogen bomb in early January caused consternation bordering on panic in both Washington and the East Asian capitals.  That reaction appears to have been a bit excessive.  The available evidence indicates that the explosion

A basic requirement of a wise and effective foreign policy is the ability to establish priorities and make tough choices.  Unfortunately, U.S. officials seem increasingly incapable of accomplishing such a task.  That grim reality is all too evident as the

Attacks on constitutional liberties, including the erosion of due-process protections for the rights to life, liberty, and property, tend to soar in wartime.  The most egregious assaults have occurred during the Civil War, the two world wars, and, most recently,

One striking feature of the U.S. Constitution is the number of procedural rights guaranteed to individuals accused of criminal behavior before they can be deprived of life, liberty, or property.  The overall guarantee of due process of law contained in

During the late winter and early spring of 2013, yet another crisis involving North Korea occupied the attention of U.S. officials and much of the news media.  Not only did Pyongyang conduct a nuclear test, but the government of Kim

One long-standing hallmark of Western conservative thought is the emphasis on the rule of law.  Earlier generations of conservatives understood that, without such constraints, liberty would be imperiled and a free society would ultimately descend into tyranny.  As Lord Acton

When NATO marks its 60th birthday on April 4, there will be much celebration.  Proponents will hail not only the alliance’s longevity and past successes but its goals in the coming decades.  Their optimism is based, in part, on statements

The central theme of Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency has been his call for “change”—albeit often with few details about the nature of that change.  There is certainly a pressing need for change in U.S. foreign policy.  During

In recent months, supporters of the mission in Iraq have been in high spirits.  They insist that the “Surge”—the strategy of deploying an additional 30,000 U.S. troops, which President Bush announced in December 2007—has turned around the dire security situation. 

When examining American or European views on the use of force and the role of international institutions, it is necessary to speak only of general tendencies.  There are, of course, many exceptions to the overall trend on both sides of

President Bush’s decision to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq is a desperate attempt to salvage a mission that has gone terribly wrong.  Instead of persisting in a strategy that will have U.S. forces trying to referee a multisided civil

In marked contrast to the optimism that the Bush administration and its supporters expressed about developments in Iraq as late as the spring of 2006, only a few diehards now deny that the security environment there is dire.  When Sen.

The United States faces twin crises involving nuclear proliferation, as both North Korea and Iran seem poised to barge into the global nuclear-weapons club.  (There are indications that North Korea may have already done so, since she has processed enough

Americans are understandably concerned about the grave security situation in Iraq.  The United States has suffered more than 2,500 fatalities in that conflict and has yet to defeat the insurgency.  Indeed, the level of violence in Iraq is increasing, and

While the United States is preoccupied with Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, a far more dangerous crisis is brewing: the prospect of an armed confrontation between Taiwan and mainland China.  Unfortunately, Washington’s current policy places us in the middle of

Since the North Korean nuclear crisis began in October 2002, Washington has believed that China is the key to solving the problem. The Bush administration has indicated repeatedly that it expects the PRC to exert whatever diplomatic and economic pressure

Iran’s agreement to “suspend” her nuclear program in exchange for economic benefits from the European Union has dampened that crisis for the moment.  The Bush administration’s vocal skepticism about the agreement, however, suggests that the crisis has not been defused. 

Critics have castigated the Bush administration’s nation-building venture in Iraq as a manifestation of U.S. imperialism.  That is an apt description of the Iraq mission, as well as the ongoing missions in Bosnia and Kosovo.  America’s nation-building bureaucrats are not