The latest round of European Union (EU) sanctions against Syria, agreed today in Brussels, proves why the EU’s “common denominator” approach to foreign policy will never work. Although the EU adopted strong measures against the Syrian central bank, these same measures could easily have been taken much faster outside the …
Responding to record-high gas prices and a potential for further disruptions in supply, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Monday requested that the State Department pressure Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production. The senator’s concerns are twofold: “Schumer called on the State Department to press the Saudis to publicly commit …
As the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, the regime of Bashar al-Assad has found two steadfast allies: Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). While Russian interest in Syria may be rooted in the longstanding ties between Moscow and Damascus (and the substantial amount of arms that Syria …
One reason economists sometimes compare themselves to astrologers is that their forecasts are often equally accurate. But when it comes to analyzing government policy, economists have trouble even figuring out what happened in the past. Case in point: The most recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report of President Obama’s $831 …
According to Germany’s environment minister, Norbert Roettgen, “Solar is a success story made in Germany.” “Success” appears to mean having the world’s largest amount of ridiculously overpriced electricity. (The German subsidy for solar energy is up to five times the actual wholesale cost in the U.S.) But even Roettgen realizes …
Rose Gottemoeller, Acting Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security, has reiterated the Administration’s commitment to nuclear arms control at the Getting to Zero Conference at Yale University. In her view, nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity regardless of who wields them, and global disarmament is necessary for …
Democrats are urging President Obama to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to avert “potential danger to the economy” and improve “the [P]resident’s reelection chances,” Politico reports. Tapping the SPR, which exists for moments of national crisis, would constitute playing politics with a national security asset in addition to being …
In an editorial last month, The New York Times argued that the Senate should adopt President Obama’s plan requiring the Senate to vote on judicial nominees within 90 days—thus eliminating the filibuster as applied to those nominations. The Times notes that this is a “major change in position” from its …
