By: Sheina Vojoudi, Associate Fellow
When we talk about the IRGC, we should separate its activities inside and outside the borders of Iran, or in other words, domestic and international terrorism, as it was intended when it was established by Ruhollah Khomeini's direct order after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
By: Adinda Khaerani Epstein, Adjunct Fellow
The ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup, maritime disputes with China in the South China Sea, and larger US–China contestation are pressing issues the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN") needs to address.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
The Trump-Harris debate—with 67 million viewers, the most watched in 16 years—was a 3-on-1 travesty. Megyn Kelly’s take (4:34) on the moderators shows extreme moderator anti-Republican bias, so ingrained that drastic measures must be taken.
Evolving security dynamics in the South China Sea reveal a dangerous and highly volatile mix of aggressive posturing, legal defiance, and strategic manipulation.
By J. Lawrence Cunningham, Senior Fellow
The country and the rest of the world are still incredulous—how could a 20-year-old lone gunman manage to defeat the nation’s elite protectors and fire 8 rounds from an AK that nearly inflicted a fatal skull injury on a Presidential nominee?
By: Adinda Khaerani Epstein, Adjunct Fellow
Southeast Asia is known as a region prone to territorial disputes, which present a serious challenge to regional stability. The experience of colonial rule was one of the contributing factors due to arbitrary demarcation. One security challenge of note in the region derived from complex territorial disputes centers around the South China Sea (SCS).
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
On July 13, Butler, Pennsylvania eerily replayed a long-ago classic 1954 film, Suddenly, via an attempted presidential assassination, but with grim reality rather than Hollywood magic.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
July 13 joins a list of American dates that will be remembered without reference to the year—think December 7, November 22, September 11.
By Mr. Kurd , Rahim Rashidi
Hayman Homer is bridging the cultural gaps in entertainment with his captivating work in the film industry.
By: Neil W. McCabe, Media Fellow
The retired Army general officer who led Kurdish Peshmerga guerilla troops in Iraq and who now serves as a senior staffer for a Florida congressman told RedState, as a military man, the Secret Service must look at what went wrong before the July 13 assassination attempt on President Donald J. Trump.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
The importance of settling remaining issues pertaining to presidential succession can hardly be overstated. Of 45 prior presidents, nine failed to complete their term: four were assassinated; four died of natural causes; and one resigned.
By: John C Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
NRO Senior editor Charles C.W. Cooke informs us that according to polls taken in 1996, 2008, and 2024 there has been a striking increase in voters concerned about elderly presidential candidates. In 1996, 27 percent thought that Bob Dole at 73 was too old to run.
By: Eli M. Gold, President
Critically, President Saied has until July 25, 2024 to schedule the next presidential election, the constitutional deadline. It is imperative that he upholds the rule of law and respects the international order that expects Tunisia to hold this election by this legally mandated date. Tunisians have had two fair and transparent presidential elections in the past decade - this upcoming vote will be the third and must proceed as required.
By Neil W. McCabe | 7:32 PM on May 17, 2024
The founder and president of the Washington-based Gold Institute for International Strategies told RedState he is skeptical about whether the Pentagon's maritime corridor for Gazan humanitarian aid will improve the conditions for the civilians living there.
On 27 April, Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Gold Institute Distinguished Fellow, Former British Army Brigadier-General, and leader of the British Conservatives in the European Parliament (before the United Kingdom left the EU in 2020), delivered a speech in Bucharest, Romania.
Just returned from the Raisina Dialogue, Delhi’s premier international affairs platform, Gold Distinguished Fellow Geoffrey Van Orden reports on the reset in India’s strategic outlook.
By: Ahmed Zawitey, Director General of Kurdistan 24 Media Foundation
Kurdistan’s Territory and Population
I am not merely referring to Greater Kurdistan, which extends between more than four countries in the Middle Eastern region: Turkey in the southeast, Iran in the northwest, Iraq in the north, and Syria in the northeast. It also extends, accordingly, into parts of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
By: John Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) now warns that Iran has enough nuclear material to make several atomic bombs. Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to near full weapons-grade levels. Iran continues to deny inspectors
By: Shana Forta, Senior Fellow
Listen to this sentence. See how odd it might sound to anyone but an American.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”
By: Eli M. Gold
The strategic significance of the Red Sea, a crucial conduit for global commerce and connectivity, cannot be overstated. The disruptive impact of Houthi attacks on shipping in this area not only poses a direct threat to regional security but also has ripple effects on international trade and commerce.
As the year draws to a close, we at the Gold Institute continue to pause and reflect on our significant accomplishments of 2023. This year has been marked by our deep involvement in various influential activities and initiatives.
By: Maria Maalouf, Media Fellow
What are the predictions for the performance of the US economy in the year 2024? Will it be a year of economic growth or recession? And how will the status of the US economy next year affect the outcome of the presidential elections in November?
The Gold Institute for International Strategy is unlike most think tanks based in Washington. While most think tanks are based on the academic knowledge of their scholars, our Institute is based on the practical understanding of our practitioners. We understand that there is often a gap between academic and practical, implementable solutions. Over the past year, the Gold Institute has seen significant growth, and our fellows continue to see an ever-increasing request for insight.
By: Eli M. Gold, President
The alarming surge of antisemitism has cast a dark shadow over societies, echoing a historical trend that has persisted since time immemorial. In February 2020, the Gold Institute for Policy Research convened a crucial briefing in the U.S. Senate, shedding light on the disturbing idea that antisemitism might be the prevailing terrorism of our time.
By: John Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
On Friday, the first 24 of a promised 50-hostage release by Hamas — 13 Israelis and 11 foreign nationals, none American — were delivered to the International Red Cross. In exchange for the 50, Israel will release 150 Palestinian terrorist prisoners. Israel has said that it will add one day of humanitarian pause for every 10 hostages released; this would add 19 days to the initial 4-day pause.
By: Eli M. Gold, President
On the 34th anniversary of this grievous incident, I had the privilege of hosting President Reagan’s National Security Advisor, Bud McFarlane, in my office. During our discussion, he detailed the happenings in the White House on that historic day.
![motie van het lid eppink over de eu-betalingen aan de palestijnse autoriteit opschorten zodra de palestijnse autoriteit steun uitspreekt voor hamas[1].jpg](https://cdn.b12.io/client_media/3TqJD92K/473bdcda-71b9-11ee-ac57-0242ac110002-jpg-regular_image.jpeg)
Resolution Introducted by Hon. Distinguished Fellow Derk Jan Eppink MP
Requests the government to advocate in the EU to suspend all payments to the Palestinian Authority, as soon as the Palestinian Authority expresses support for Hamas;
Requests the government to commit these funds thereafter through other channels to directly support humanitarian purposes in the Palestinian areas;
By: John C. Wohlstetter and Travis Korson
Betting on multi-level technology innovations is a crapshoot.
By: John C. Wohlstetter
In assessing the impact of any war on Israel, it is essential to keep in mind two huge differences between the two countries: America’s vastly greater population and geographic area. Consider:
POPULATION: The current U.S. population of 340 million is 37 times greater than Israel's current 9.2 million population.
AREA: Israel today is almost exactly the size of of New Jersey.
Let’s take a look at not only the current conflict, but the prospective conflict between Israel and Iran.
(Washington, DC) – (https://amzn.to/3tig4Va) Renowned author Maria Maalouf has released a groundbreaking book titled "Iran’s Terrorism Machine," shedding light on the covert activities and the true nature of the Iranian regime. This compelling work exposes the extent of Iran's malign influence and presents a roadmap for change. With glowing recommendations from Ambassador John Bolton and Senator Joseph Lieberman and many others, this book promises to be an essential read for those seeking to understand and address the challenges posed by Iran.
This essay focuses on the interlinked topics of Israel’s relations with the U.S., and the challenge posed by Iran’s nuclear program. Part One focuses on the Suez Crisis of 1956. Its outcome was to reshape the Mideast, and influence U.S. relations with key powers from then to the present, albeit in changing ways. Part Two will cover U.S-Israel relations from the 1967 Six Day War through the 2007 Israeli bombing of the Syrian nuclear reactor. Parts Three and Four will cover U.S. and Israeli relations with Iran, focusing on Iran’s nuclear program.
“A conviction would not necessarily sideline any nuclear deal,” said analyst Matthew Brodsky. “But it would provide a basis for more congressional oversight.”
Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident in Germany, termed Germany’s conduct toward admitting Iranian regime officials accused of grave human rights violations a “double standard.”
She said, “How can Germany express its concern about human rights violations in Iran, yet let the human rights abusers who are responsible for thousands of innocent lives be hospitalized in Germany while there is no way for the persecuted Christians or political activists to apply for a German visa.”
By: Isabella DeLuca, Media Associate
In recent years, China's assertive actions and growing influence on the global stage have raised serious concerns about its hostility towards the United States. As China's geopolitical influence begins to expand, so do our circumstances.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said, "The greatest long-term threat to our nation's information and intellectual property, and our economic vitality, is the counterintelligence and economic espionage threat from China."
By: John C. Wohlstetter
On the evening of Sunday, September, 5, 1999, two pairs of Arab terrorists planned to plant bombs on a pair of intercity buses filled with passengers, destination Jerusalem. One car headed for the Haifa terminal and the other for the terminal in Tiberias. Prior observation had revealed that these buses were not routinely searched by Israeli security. One team member of each pair would board a bus, and place a luggage bomb with 15 kilos (33 lbs.) of explosive in the baggage compartment.
By: Shana Forta, Senior Fellow
In case you did not receive the memo, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has announced on Twitter that a nationwide extremist “Day of Hate” is scheduled for Saturday, February 25th.
This is highly malapropos in the current woke era of cancel culture and Black Lives Matter, snowflakes, and safe spaces, where everyone has an opinion, and no one dares offend. However, it doesn’t seem to apply to Jewish people who have seen an alarming uptick in antisemitism on college campuses, social media, and from celebrities and politicians alike. Why should this matter to everyone?
The history surrounding the April 15, 1912 peacetime sinking of the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic has been exhaustively documented. The primary historical takeaway has been that the ship’s builders, and its boosters in government and industry, had fallen prey to technology hubris: ships could be built to withstand the worst natural hazards and calamities that Mother Nature could throw at them. A massive iceberg in the North Atlantic put paid to such conceits, with over 1,500 on board sent to their deaths in the briny deep. In the wake of last fall’s catastrophic mid-terms, the GOP may be discovering that the electorate—at least, those that went to the polls, inhabit political worlds different than imagined, different than polls suggested, and, above all, different than standard diagnoses indicated.
By: John C Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
President Biden’s swap of a basketball celebrity who refused to come out of the locker room for the playing of the national anthem—whom, risibly, he called “the best of America”—for the world’s most notorious, brutal arms dealer, who openly declared in 2008 to the informants who were to turn him in, that he was “very eager and anxious to carry out this arms deal to kill Americans,” has given the “Merchant of Death” a chance to resume operations, this time working hand in glove with the Russians.
Women are an essential pillar in building societies and a pillar for balance. The Emirati leadership has experienced these facts. They have worked since the establishment of the Emirates to achieve that role and empower Emirati women to play the role assigned to them
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
The normally astute New York Post columnist Miranda Devine recently reported that House Republicans are considering appointing Lee Zeldin for a number of positions, including that of speaker of the House. Zeldin’s term as a representative ends with this Congress. Having run for governor of New York and lost, he will not sit in the new House come January 2023.
By: BG Ernie Audino (USA-Ret), Senior Military Fellow
Bullets snapping across a battlefield are equal opportunity employers. That’s because bullets don’t discriminate based on skin color, and soldiers don’t shoot more or less accurately because of their skin color.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
The chance that Russia will go nuclear in Ukraine is as close to zero as it can get.
By: Maria Maalouf, Guest Contributor*
The UAE’s President, Sheik Muhammad Bin Zayed, met in Moscow with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin amid much turmoil in international politics. There is American anger at the OPEC decision to cut oil production by 2 million barrels daily.
There is also a war going on between Russia and Ukraine. The Biden Administration should positively view the active diplomatic role of the United Arab Emirates and the wise statesmanship of Muhammad Bin Zayed.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
How very deeply saddened we all are at the death of Her Majesty the Queen this afternoon at Balmoral. She has been the monarch and enduring and constant symbol of our nation, respected throughout the world, over much of the lives of so many of us.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
Recently TAS published my article, Mach Miracles: The Joy of Commercial Supersonic Flight. Therein I speculated as to when such service might return. A new announcement by Boom Supersonic, as reported by CNN, may advance the date for regular supersonic service. The article noted:
Nearly two years after rolling out its prototype supersonic demonstrator . . . Boom has unveiled a major new design (1:24) for its much anticipated “Overture” airliner, which will fly at twice the speed of today's subsonic commercial jets and is expected to carry its first passengers in 2029.
Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, GIIS Distinguished Fellows and former leader of the Conservatives in the European parliament, writes: Over dinner in Brussels in January 2002, I put it to David Trimble (obituary, July 25) that one of the greatest strategic errors of the Northern Ireland Unionists and British government was to make little effort to rally those of Scots-Irish background in America to speak out against the Irish Republican caucus (those who support the Irish Republican cause - Sinn Fein/IRA for short) in Congress.
Dr. Nahro Zagros: Joe Biden went to the Middle East after 18 months in power, do you think his visit was successful?
Bolton: I don't think the trip was successful. I don't I don't think he demonstrated the kind of leadership, the kind of grasp of the many issues that face the region. You know, there's a theory in the United States that says that China is the big threat of the 21st century and we can forget about the Middle East, forget about Europe, and only concentrate on China. It's a big mistake.
(Washington, DC) – The Kurdistan Region in Iraq is currently faced with several challenges that put at risk its stability and energy sector, but the risks go beyond the borders of Kurdistan and Iraq, and are a national security imperative for the United States and Europe.
Join the Gold Institute for International Strategy for a press briefing to discuss these concerns and the path forward.
أكد البروفيسور إيلى جولد رئيس مركز أبحاث "جولد" بواشنطن، والباحث فى العلاقات العربية الأمريكية، فى تصريحات خاصة لـ"اليوم السابع"، أن مصر تلعب دورًا قياديًا مهمًا ومشاركة الرئيس السيسى الفاعلة فى المحافل الإقليمية والدولية التى نلحظها خلال 9 سنوات رسخت مكانة مصر المحورية ودورها القيادى، لذا فإن مشاركة الرئيس عبد الفتاح السيسى ضرورية فى أى اجتماع أو مبادرة تمس الأمن العالمى أو الإقليمى، فهى أكبر وأقدم دولة فى المنطقة، ومشاركتها الفاعلة منحت الرئيس السيسى مكانة رجل دولة فى هذا السياق، وقد شاركت مصر منذ فترة طويلة فى تدريبات دفاع جوى وأمن، وتدربت مع الولايات المتحدة وغيرها.
By: John Wohlstetter
The Main Roadblock: Politics. Put simply, the Left’s ultimate goal on guns is not merely making schools safe. Rather, it is evisceration of the Second Amendment, by subjecting gun rights to the proverbial “death of a thousand cuts.” As straightforward amending the federal Constitution to eliminate the Second Amendment is a political non-starter, there being too many Red states to allow this to pass, death by oppressive regulation is a logical fallback play for the diehards.
Kurdistan24.net
Issued “under the influence of Iran,” the ruling made it impossible for the Oct. 10, 2021, election winners to elect a president by themselves, Palani noted.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
Over a year ago, in its “most radical assessment of the UK’s place in the world since the end of the Cold War”, the British government set out its Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. It advocated for an “Indo-Pacific tilt” as a critical element in what was a fresh “Global Britain” strategy.
By: John Wohlstetter
After the 2018 Parkland massacre, I published the article “Mass Shootings: Lessons Since Columbine.” For those keeping score, we recently passed the 23rd anniversary of that April 20, 1999 horror show, which catapulted school safety into a top-echelon issue.
Disturbing questions remain as to what happened in Uvalde. Several involve the conduct, or failure to act, of law enforcement personnel.
By: Eli M. Gold, President
As we prepare to observe this Memorial Day let us take a moment to remember all the members of our military who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we hold dear.
By: Neil W. McCabe
The director of the southern section of the Texas Department of Public Safety cut short his Thursday press conference as reporters shouted questions at him about why local law enforcement was ineffective for the hour after Tuesday’s spree shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School as gunshot victims languished inside. The crisis ended when Border Patrol Tactical officers arrived, engaged shooter Salvador Ramos, and killed him.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
The idea of a European Army without American involvement has been a French obsession since the 1950s. To provide some additional justification, President Macron developed the terms “European sovereignty” and “EU strategic autonomy”- two essentially meaningless but inevitably divisive concepts that can only please Moscow.
By: Derk Jan Eppink MEP, Distinguished Fellow
Seth Cropsey, a former U.S. top military officer, published his vision on the war in Ukraine in The Wall Street Journal on 27 April, writing: “The U.S. should show it can win a nuclear war.” However, what does “winning” mean in case of a conflict with a nuclear power s prepared to deploy nuclear weapons? The war in Ukraine is increasingly turning into a war between Russia and the United States, albeit on Ukrainian soil. A war by proxy.
By Emily Havener, Charleston Mercury
The first thing John Wohlstetter and I talk about is pizza. He’s originally from New York City, and he’s picked up a slice or two at New York City Pizza before our interview. He tells me about his childhood pizza spot growing up in the Carnegie Hill district, Hav-a-Pizza on 86th Street, which sold slices for 20 cents.
"Europeans are searching for new potentials to supply gas to Europe," said Nahro Zagros, a non-resident senior fellow at the Washington-based Gold Institute for International Strategy.
"The KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) can be one of these potentials. Having said that the KRG cannot fill the whole vacuum that Russians will leave in Europe, but it can help in some ways, and this cannot be achieved without Turkish support," he added.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
Recently, scholar Mark Galeotti published Peace, Partition or Stalemate, assessing prospective scenarios for how the war started by Vladimir Putin might end. The peace outcome will almost certainly entail that Russia keep some of its gains in the east, and possibly the southeast as well. Partition would give Russia formal sovereignty over those areas under its sway. A stalemate would translate into a protracted low-intensity counterinsurgency locked in a long, twilight struggle, either alongside the current Ukraine government, or its successor. Conversely, if Russia extends its gains to Kyiv, the insurgents would fight allied with a Ukrainian government-in-exile (based in western Ukraine or Poland) against a pro-Russian government puppet installed in Kyiv by its Moscow masters.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
Recently, Yale Law School professor E. Donald Elliott, a first-rate lawyer and regulatory expert, wrote in TAS that a little-known provision in the 25th Amendment can be used to swiftly toss the sitting president and vice-president, and replace them with competent, trusted leadership for the remainder of the Biden-Harris term.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
The Ukraine crisis could be the greatest boost to restoration of Western unity and the reinvigoration of NATO or it could deepen the transatlantic divide and further weaken the West’s standing in the world.
By: John C. Wohlstetter
Start with a simple empirical proposition: It is rare that one has all the evidence at hand one would like to have when facing important decisions. This holds true for countless big personal choices—marriage, divorce, buying/selling a home, moving to a new location, choosing the best school, embarking on a career, etc. Such decisions involve the uncertainty endemic to life on our planet.
By Geoffrey Van Orden, Distinguished Fellow
Distracted by Omicron and Christmas, only a few can now recall US President Joe Biden's video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 7 December, when Biden voiced deep concerns of both the United States and its European allies about the threat of Russian troop movements to Ukraine.
Putin’s dismissive response has been to intensify cyberattacks on Ukrainian government agencies, including the national police and electricity infrastructure.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
Time to take a break during the holidays—impossible during last year’s kerfuffle after the 2020 election—and hence the delay in publishing this piece on a legend who left us on Halloween 2020; and quite a bio he had--before and after his cinematic alter ego.
The Gold Institute for International Strategy is pleased to welcome Honorable William A Chatfield as a distinguished Fellow.
William A. Chatfield became the 11th Director of Selective Service in November 2004, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was directly responsible to the President for the management of the Selective Service System.
John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
Today’s generals fail upward, having stood by while the Afghan catastrophe they were certain would come to pass did just that; our Veep sails on, seemingly oblivious to nearly everything; and a Democrat Congress fulfills the legislative design of the 1974 budget pseudo-reform law, piling up trillions in debt without even the semblance of fiscal or budgetary restraint. A look at this trifecta of crises offers nothing to cheer.
John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
If our educational institutions are to survive, rescuing them must begin now
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
The divisive speech given by President Biden last Thursday — seeking to shift focus from his cowardly bug-out from Afghanistan to COVID, and to make Republicans — to Biden, a/k/a “the dark forces” — the issue rather than his horrendous first eight months in office, came on the anniversary date — 9/9/2001 — when Al-Qaeda assassinated the Northern Alliance’s greatest warrior-leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud; his son continues the resistance today.
By: Simone Ledeene, Senior Fellow and Victoria Coates
Last week, a laconic statement from the Department of Defense marked a tectonic shift in Middle East security cooperation, as the United States formally designated that Israel would now be part of the U.S Central Command (CENTCOM). President Donald Trump announced the proposed change on January 15, 2021, and while the escalation of violence in Gaza this spring seemed to put the designation in some jeopardy, it went into effect on September 1, 2021. The initiative to move Israel into CENTCOM is a direct result of the Trump administration-led Abraham Accords normalization agreements between the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed one year ago today on the South Lawn of the White House.
By: Simone Ledeen, Senior Fellow
The Biden administration and leftist congressional allies have perpetuated a tired charade of prioritizing human rights over other security-focused considerations with regard to relations with several key partners, including Egypt. One of the loudest Democratic voices in opposition to continued security assistance for Egypt is Sen. Christopher Murphy (Conn.), who questions a number of established partnerships supporting U.S. objectives across the Middle East.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden, Distinguished Fellow
Sir, Further to Nathalie Loiseau’s Thunderer (“Britain and the EU must forge strong foreign policy bond”, Sep 2), it is France that determines the EU’s foreign policy. There cannot now be a call for a new and strong EU-UK partnership on foreign, security and defence policy when we cannot trust France as a friend.
By: Neil W. McCabe
The Founder of the Blackwater private security firm and the author of a comprehensive plan to save Afghanistan by shifting the country’s security to private contractors and away from the American military told The Star News Network on Sunday he warned U.S. diplomats the government of President Ashraf Ghani would fall before Labor Day.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
My series on the 25th Amendment — Part I, historical antecedents; Part II, 25th Amendment genesis; Part III, 25th Amendment implementation today; and Part IV, possible first-ever use of the 25th Amendment’s involuntary presidential disability provision — focused almost exclusively on the Constitutional issues, dipping down into legislative enactment (in legal shorthand parlance, “statutory”) issues only when necessary.
As noted in my series, presidential succession, as enacted as part of the landmark 1947 National Security Act, created the potential for serious conflict at a time when stability is most needed; the updated presidential succession statute is set forth below.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
The earlier installments in my series on the 25th Amendment were: Part I, historical antecedents; Part II, 25th Amendment genesis; and Part III, 25th Amendment implementation since 1967. Part IV covers possible first-ever use of the 25th Amendment’s involuntary presidential disability provision.
By: John C Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
In Part I, I covered the historical precedents (1789-1960) up to JFK’s tragically short presidency; Part II covered the years 1961-67, featuring the reaction to 1963’s assassination horror, which led to the 1967 ratification of the 25th Amendment. Part III carries the story through Trump. It begins with the serial vice-presidential and presidential vacancy crises of 1973-74. The years following saw several assassination attempts (two in 1975 and one in 1981) and multiple instances since of temporary presidential disability, with at first a reluctance to invoke the 25th Amendment formally, and later a better practice of using the 25th to cover temporary instances of disability.
By: John C Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
In Part I, I covered historical precedents from the Republic’s 1789 birth to the end of President Eisenhower’s tenure. Part II covers the Kennedy-Johnson years, when events pushed the president and Congress towards adopting the 25th Amendment to stabilize presidential succession.
By: John Wohlstetter
It appears increasingly unlikely that President Joe Biden can finish this year, let alone his term, in the Oval Office. One need not be a physician to see the substantial cognitive decline that’s occurred even since Biden was a candidate. Sooner or later, Biden may either be persuaded to voluntarily resign or face a first-ever formal challenge to a president’s continuance in office, per the 25th Amendment.
To date, we have managed reasonably well in the face of presidential disability, with the signal exception of the Lincoln assassination.
By: BG Ernie Audino, Senior Fellow
A terrorist can really express himself with 5,000 metric tons of explosives. That’s precisely why specialized teams of U.S. troops and contractors in Afghanistan helped account for and secure huge stockpiles of munitions stored at eight key sites across the country.
But not anymore. Those Americans have already headed home, and any remaining folks capable of assuming the mission are withdrawing along with all the other Americans ordered out by President Joe Biden.
By: Robert Roos MEP, Honorary Distinguished Fellow
For decades now our Western society has made a success out of democracy and an economy based on free market forces. It is no coincidence that the two go hand in hand, because in an environment where people have the freedom to think and act, innovation and progress arise. Another key component of this success was affordable and reliable energy. The prosperity that these three components have brought us has also ensured that we have made great strides in improving the environment and living standards especially in the Western part of Europe.
But the economic freedom that has brought us so much may well be over. Today, 'Fit for 55' is presented as part of Frans Timmermans' Green Deal, a mega package of legislation from the European Commission to 'green' the economy.
By: John C. Wohlstetter
In a previous American Spectator article, “Dems to Supremes: Shape Up or Pack Up!,” I examined the lessons to be drawn from Franklin Roosevelt’s failed 1937 effort to pack the Supreme Court by raising the number of justices from nine to 15.
Roosevelt proposed that a new justice should be added for each sitting justice who is age 70 or older. Had Roosevelt been successful with his plan, the aging justices who blocked his New Deal programs would be nullified and the Court’s ideological balance would have shifted to the left.
By: John C Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
President Joe Biden’s tirade against a Supreme Court decision that didn’t go his way elevates the future of the Court to a new level of intensity and, hence, political priority.
Let’s begin with the president’s July 1 tweet reacting to the Court’s Arizona election law ruling:
By: Eli M. Gold, President
I have long said that foreign policy is a non-partisan issue. While domestic issues (i.e. taxes, education, healthcare etc) often are, foreign policy is not. That is no longer. Over the last 5 months the Biden administration has implemented a highly partisan global strategy that turned international sentiment toward the notion that the U.S. can no longer be counted on to support our allies.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
In a March 2020 article for The American Spectator, “Event Tectonics: Quake, Shake, Bake & Fake,” I assessed the prospective impact — large — of COVID-19 and compared it in salience to prior events. Those events I divided into four categories:
By: Adelle Nazarian, Media Fellow and Dr. Seyed Hossein Lotfizadeh
An impressive array of congressional letters have been pulling the Biden administration in opposite directions regarding the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“Iran deal" for short) negotiated under former President Barack Obama over a span of days. While the heated atmosphere is a clear indication of the perils of whatever path the Biden administration opts to pursue, one would hope that cooler heads prevail at end of the day given the stakes.
By: Robert Roos MEP, Honorary Distinguished Fellow
Brussels (Brussels Morning) ‘Sofagate’ now seems a distant memory. A few weeks later, however, now that the dust has settled, it is very important to reflect long and hard on the issues raised and on the many lessons to be learned in parliament from this diplomatic spat.
Ms von der Leyen indicated that, during her visit to Ankara, she had felt ‘hurt’ and ‘abandoned’ and accused Turkish President Erdoğan of subjecting her to sexist treatment by failing to provide a chair for her as he had for Charles Michel.
By: Adelle Nazarian, Media Fellow
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s (IRI) gruesome and likely intentional shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner with Canadian passengers on board on January 8, 2020, was recently condemned by Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice as a “shameful” act of terrorism.
Now, it is time for the Biden administration to do the same.
A D-Day remembrance by Senior Fellow John C. Wohlstetter as told to him by his ancestor, William Friedman, plus his own pilgrimage to the beaches of Normandy. (This article first appeared in the American Spectator magazine May 28, 2018)
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
For decades, terrorists have relied on three weapons to fight the West: our technology, our media, and our laws and associated values.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden
Since 1948, Israel has had to fight for its existence in at least four major conventional wars, defending its small and vulnerable territory, half the size of Denmark, while surrounded by hostile neighbours. In living memory of the horrors of the Holocaust, suffering years of terrorism, Israelis have every right to feel under threat and defend themselves. Above all, Israel seeks recognition by Palestinians of its right to exist as an essentially Jewish state if progress is to be made in the creation of a viable and internationally acceptable Palestinian state. The Hamas leaders that in June 2007 seized from the Palestine Authority de facto control of Gaza, vacated by Israel in 2005, fundamentally oppose this.
By: Matthew R.J. Brodsky, Senior Fellow
America’s foreign-policy establishment and peace-process industry are having a field day: The latest round of fighting between Israel and the terror group Hamas, they insist, has sounded the death knell for the Abraham Accords, the Trump-brokered peace treaties between the Jewish state and several Muslim nations.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
In international relations, and in politics more widely, perception is often more significant than reality. In many overseas countries, Donald Trump was widely seen as an unsuitable, even dangerous, President - unpredictable and narcissistic, acting on instinct and unnerving friend and foe alike. Yet nearly half of Americans continued to vote for Donald Trump.
In a Newsweek essay published Thursday, Matthew Brodsky, former adviser to the Trump administration’s Middle East peace team, blasted the left, claiming it seeks to banish all dissent, and specifically criticized recent calls for the canceling of Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
By: Matthew R.J. Brodsky, Senior Fellow
Progressives today demand a profound remaking of the country. In their regressive Orwellian worldview, anti-Americanism is the new patriotism. In their version of American democracy, big tech thought police substitute for the real police now being defunded in communities across America. A free corporate media, presenting multiple sides of an issue and allowing for an open exchange of ideas on opinion pages, has given way to mob- and media-approved narratives and calls to silence and banish all dissent to the outer rim.
By: John C. Wohlstetter, Senior Fellow
A “fundamental transformation” of America is taking place before our very eyes.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
By providing a more coherent, consistent, active, and reliable approach, stability can be fostered in the region, writes former MEP Geoffrey Van Orden.
By: Matthew R.J. Brodsky, Senior Fellow
America's genuine adversaries will likely view the Biden administration's national security 'guidance' with a mixture of relief, laughter, and incredulity.
By: Neil W. McCabe, Media Fellow
The founder and president of the Washington-based Gold Institute for International Strategies told the Star News Network that President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s foreign policy is doomed to fail, because unlike President Donald J. Trump, Biden treats the world as an extension of Washington’s Swamp.
By: John Milton Peterson, Contributing Analyst
An initial analysis of the massive explosion in downtown Nashville, provided by a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and government analyst who specialized in terrorist attacks and IEDs - Improvised Explosive Devices.
By: Eli M. Gold, President
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a seminar in South Korea for future leaders regarding the role and importance of soft power, and the influence that it provides a country globally. No longer are soldiers, tanks and guns needed to fight a war, but other forms of influence known as soft power can have a greater impact with less physical destruction.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden, CBE, Distinguished Fellow
Changes in our strategic environment are taking place faster than anticipated and require an urgent response and a shift in approach. As a consequence, defence strategy and spending is being reviewed across many of the democracies after years of complacency.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
Changes in our strategic environment are taking place faster than anticipated and require urgent response and a shift in approach. As a consequence, defence strategy and spending is being reviewed across many of the democracies after years of complacency.
By: Nahro Zagros, Senior Fellow
Israel-UAE agreement to normalize their relations is a historical peace accord in the region.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
By: Derk Jan Eppink, Honorary Distinguished Fellow
The policy of Iran is bringing Sunni countries together with Israel. KSA has relations though not a diplomatic status, as far as I know. The developments with UAE, followed by Oman and Bahrein broaden the network. Qatar will be more reflectant, given its Shia majority, if I am right.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
The Indians, fast emerging as a bulwark against Chinese aggression, offer enormous opportunities in a deeper partnership.
If China has been trying to push its advantage during the Covid-19 pandemic, maybe it should be more modest as it now faces a backlash from Western countries seeking to unravel Chinese involvement in their economies, infrastructure and communications. And more attention should be paid to India, a friendly democracy and leading Commonwealth nation whose population is at least as big as China’s and which is projected to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030.
By: Shana Forta, VP of Operations
What is intrinsically wrong with some people that want to throw away their heritage, history, the good and the bad, their rights and their privileges? What is it about their dignity, their moral servitude, and the courage to stand up for their convictions, that causes a person to try and fade into obscurity, a population to fade away from the spotlight and countries to downplay their greatness?
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, before the European Union was invented, the United States was keen on European integration to hasten economic recovery, provide a market for its goods and better defend against the growing Soviet threat.
By: Susan Yoshihara, Senior Fellow
The purpose of appointing inspectors general is to ensure no one is above the law. Instead of guarding this public trust, State Department IG Steve Linick weaponized it.
By: Neil W. McCabe, Senior Fellow
The Cambridge University academic portrayed in the mainstream media as retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn’s Russian mistress and spy recruiter caught in the web of fake news and the Russian Collusion Hoax.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
In early April, the imagination of the British people was captured by the efforts of a 99-year old British Armyveteranwho had set out to walk around his house 100 times before his 100thBirthday on 30 April. His aim wasto raise £1,000($1200)for the BritishNational Health Service. Donations poured in, he became a national celebrity, and by1 May he had raised the astonishing amount of £33 million ($41 million)!
By: Adelle Nazarian, Media Fellow
Fourteen Republicans in the House Oversight and Reform Committee sent a warning letter to World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressing grave concerns about his questionable reaction to what they called the Chinese government’s role in exacerbating the COVID-19 pandemic, including its large-scale propaganda campaign...
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
The security and defence policies of Britain and the other Western democracies are approaching a strategic crossroad. NATO has launched a “reflection process” to strengthen its political dimension...
By: Yvonne Marie Antonoglou, Senior Fellow
Recently, the World Health Organization and other sensitive souls have instructed the media (and the West in general) to stop referring to the new strain of coronavirus as the “Wuhan” or “Chinese” flu because of the racist connotations that this may entail.
By: Shana Forta, VP of Operation
Everyone has their own favorite part of the Superbowl.
By: Ehud Elam, Senior Fellow
The Iranian regime is at a low point. This evil empire of the Middle East is in trouble due to several reasons, both political and economic.
By: Geoffrey Van Orden CBE, Distinguished Fellow
If we reject the idea of a state called Europe, it is right that we should discourage the construction of its military arm.
By: Saul Montes-Bradley II, VP of Communications
How an Islamist Organization Set Up a Top Member of the Trump Administration With The Complicity of a Venal Press and Corrupt Politicians.
By: Eli M. Gold, President
With our Mid-East policy in disarray, China and Russia have not missed a beat and are stepping in to fill the gaps. It is clear the intention of their advances in technological research and development (R&D), military and otherwise, is to surpass the U.S.’s global distribution and ultimately become the dominant player in this area.
By: Yvonne Marie Antonoglou, Senior Fellow
Looking back on the past 15 years, there is little doubt that the 9/11 attacks profoundly altered the landscape of international security.
