AP File Photo / Carolyn Kaster As 2015 comes to a close, our president is improbably reborn. Although he has advocated moral and political relativism by elevating adversaries, demoting democracies, ignoring human rights, downplaying American principles, and questioning American exceptionalism, he appears to have had a change of heart. Formerly reticent and skeptical about such…

The cataclysmic war in Syria, and the catastrophic refugee crisis, are underlain by the moral and strategic deficits of American foreign policy. Of course, the brutal and bloodthirsty Assad regime and brutal and bloodthirsty terrorists bear the primary blame. But, the American response has enabled bad actors, and made the situation worse. Ruinous violence and…

When do peace plans make war more likely? When does respect for adversaries increase their disrespect for us? When does “non-proliferation” lead to a build-up of arms? When does compromise become capitulation? When does diplomacy for the sake of peace enable aggressors, human rights violators and sponsors of terror instead of rein them in? When…

Despite talk of a possible breakthrough, the latest news on Iran nuclear negotiations rings an ominous, familiar bell. Dangerous compromises have been added to dangerous compromises. New “deadlines” have surpassed old deadlines, rendering the word meaningless. Extensions of deadlines have been extended further. And Iran, not the United States and its allies, has benefited and…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently met for extensive discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Among other things, they discussed how to restart almost certainly futile talks between the Syrian regime and Syrian rebels. This latest American-Russian engagement must be seen not only in light of the failure…

Ideas matter. They matter so much that they cause seismic shifts in history. Extremist ideas foster revolutionary fanatics so beholden to ideology that attempting to contain them can be like placing a Band-Aid on an open wound. Sept. 11 upended previous notions of deterrence; you can’t simply deter someone who intentionally dies for a cause….

It’s as if they’re trying to outdo each other and set new historic records for cruelty. It’s as if the horrors that “total war” and totalitarianism produced in the twentieth century were not enough. The regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and the Islamic State have been devising ever more brutal and extreme means to…

Iran is taking full advantage of the opportunities created by US appeasement and retrenchment. Indeed, many of Iran’s foremost strategic and ideological goals have already been achieved. Among them: the (2011) withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and the end of the US “freedom agenda;” the repression of the Green Movement and the subsequent successful…

In asking Congress to authorize the use of military force against Islamic State militants, President Obama stressed the importance of showing the world “we are united in our resolve.” Demonstration of united resolve against blood-thirsty terrorists whose ranks, ambitions and territory have grown exponentially is important. But forging strategy to battle ISIS without also forging…