Be sure to listen to this week’s Heritage Libertad Radio Show. Click here for the first 30 minutes in Spanish. Click here for the second 30 minutes in English. We kicked off the Spanish side with a look at the Super Committee, followed by an interview with Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, who discussed Occupy Wall Street and the riots in Europe. The Spanish segment closed with a discussion of the presidential debate Heritage recently co-hosted. The English side starts with a brief segment on the Super Committee, followed by discussions with two …
In recent weeks, representatives of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have complained of America’s “Cold War mentality.” The rhetoric is in reaction to President Obama’s recent swing through the Pacific and particularly his announcement in Australia of a sustained rotation of aircraft and up to 2,500 Marines through northern Australia. This rhetoric is nothing new. The Chinese often dismiss America’s system of alliances in Asia as “relics” of the Cold War. They have apparently found it a handy talking point in a region that is as dynamic as East …
As the Arctic ice cap is decreasing in size, the international race for Arctic resources is heating up. The High North countries—including Russia, Denmark, Norway, and Canada—are scrambling to lay claims on previously inaccessible giant oil reserves and begin their development. Richard Weitz, Ph.D., senior fellow at Hudson Institute, recently published a report on the subject that comes to an unpalatable conclusion: “U.S. is dead last in committing resources to the Arctic mission.” There are a number of reasons for that strategic blunder. First is the lack of public and …
When the U.N. General Assembly voted on resolution A/RES/66/12 in late November, it passed easily with 106 votes. What was unusual about the otherwise routine vote was that several notable countries voted against it. The resolution, which was introduced by Saudi Arabia and co-sponsored by more than 50 nations including the U.S., was intended to condemn terrorism, specifically criticizing Iran’s alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. The text “encouraged Member States to take additional steps to prevent, on their territories, the planning, financing, …
Russia is trying to exploit U.S. vulnerability in Afghanistan by squeezing concessions on European missile defense. This is a disturbing development, potentially threatening security of the U.S. logistical operations. The campaign of anti-Americanism led by Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s Ambassador to NATO, culminated in his remarks before the Duma that Russia may link its opposition to the NATO missile defense in Europe to the future of the NATO supply line to Afghanistan. This complex logistics operation, known as the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), is responsible for 40 percent of NATO supplies, …
Talk of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack at the Republican National Security Debate, hosted on CNN by The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, sparked CNN to interview Heritage’s James Carafano last week to discuss the devastating impacts of an EMP. Unfortunately, the United States remains unprotected from the effects of an EMP. As the video explains, an EMP is a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused by a rapid acceleration of charged particles. An EMP can disrupt all electronic devices within its zone of impact by burning circuits …
Exactly 10 years ago today, the Enron Corporation filed for bankruptcy after it was revealed that it had blatantly falsified its earnings statements for many years. Although most of the accounting irregularities that caused its collapse were already illegal, Congress overreacted and passed Sarbanes–Oxley, a massive and deeply flawed accounting reform law. A decade later, it is time for cooler heads to prevail, and to consider repealing Section 404. This onerous provision is supposed to ensure that the financial reports of publicly traded corporations meet certain standards, but in reality …
How’s this for a waste of taxpayer money? According to Energy& Environment News, the Department of Energy is paying $230,000 for a website to promote career paths in the green energy sector–and it has, ironically, prohibited the listing of actual jobs in the industry. Here’s the report: The Department of Energy has awarded a $230,000 contract to the Association of Energy Services Professionals to develop a website on energy efficiency jobs — but the agency has prohibited the listing of actual position openings. Instead, the website will include information on what …
On December 3, 2009, American citizen and contractor for the United States Agency for International Development Alan Gross of Maryland was arrested as he attempted to exit the airport in Havana. He had just finished delivering Internet equipment to isolated Jewish communities in eastern Cuba. In March of 2011, Gross was found guilty by a Cuban court on the ludicrous charge of “acts against the independence or territorial integrity” of Cuba and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Gross was and is no spy or agent of subversion. The purpose …
Liberals stumping for tax cuts are as rare as three-dollar bills and hardcover digital books, and for good reason. Devoid of any other organizing principle, the only job of progressivism today is to grow government, and taxation is the blood stream of government. It is thus with the same healthy does of skepticism that we would greet a talking turtle that we should approach claims by the Obama White House that it really, really wants to cut taxes, dang it, but conservatives won’t let them. The issue at hand is, …
