We Give Up

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

Americans — left, right, Democrats, and Republicans — are all sick of thankless nation-building in the Middle East. Yet democratization was not our first choice, but rather a last resort after other methods failed. Continue reading “We Give Up”

The Arab Winter Approaches

by Bruce S. Thornton

Defining Ideas

The revolutions against Arab autocracies — dubbed the “Arab Spring” — have been greeted in America with bipartisan celebration. Continue reading “The Arab Winter Approaches”

The Middle East Mess

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Libya, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the All the Same Old, Same Old Mess

Each country in the Middle East poses unique challenges. That said, gender apartheid, religious intolerance, tribalism, dictatorship, statism, and lack of transparency and free expression are widely shared in the region, and mean that any particular policy will almost immediately collide with some two millennia of habit and custom antithetical and often hostile to the values of the West. Continue reading “The Middle East Mess”

Liberating Libya for Jihadists

by Bruce S. Thornton

FrontPage Magazine

The fall of Muammar Gaddafi is making some in the West giddy with the usual “Arab Spring” wishful visions of democracy and freedom flourishing throughout the Muslim Middle East, even as the last binge of democratic intoxication, the fall of Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak, has left the hangover of a newly empowered Muslim Brotherhood, increasing assaults on Christian Copts, growing anti-Americanism, and terrorist attacks on Israel originating in Egypt and including Egyptian citizens among the attackers. Continue reading “Liberating Libya for Jihadists”

A Lovely Little NATO Intervention

by Bruce S. Thornton

FrontPage Magazine

World powers sometimes have to fight wars not for some material interest, but for bolstering a nation’s prestige in order to deter more dangerous aggressors. Continue reading “A Lovely Little NATO Intervention”

A Dumb and Dumber War in Libya

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

Almost daily over the last four months we were told that Muammar Gadhafi was about ready to throw in the towel and give up. Continue reading “A Dumb and Dumber War in Libya”

The Fog of Revolution

by Bruce S. Thornton

Advancing a Free Society

Apart from celebratory statements applauding what looks like to us democratic “people’s revolutions” against tyrannous autocrats, the uprisings sweeping across the Muslim Middle East have created great uncertainty for policy-makers as they try to calculate a response. Continue reading “The Fog of Revolution”

Tough Times for Radical Islam

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

Osama bin Laden is dead. The Middle East is in chaos. And radical Islam is floundering Continue reading “Tough Times for Radical Islam”

Rules for Killing Rogues

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

The welcome end of Osama bin Laden at the hands of helicopter-borne American military commandos raises a number of issues. Continue reading “Rules for Killing Rogues”

Did We Give Up on Libya?

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

President Obama has announced that America would stop attacking Col. Muammar Gadhafi’s forces in Libya. He instead hopes that others can force out Gadhafi — or that the dictator will leave through economic and diplomatic pressure. Continue reading “Did We Give Up on Libya?”