Category Foreign Policy
Red Fever Pitch – a China reset
Fear sells. Fear is selling on both sides of the partisan divide and both sides of the Pacific. U.S. national security officials seeking enhanced weapons systems, media outlets seeking ratings and elected officials seeking popularity are all in on the hustle. While this is standard operating procedure in the nation’s capital, the U.S. may be […]
Russian neocolonialism, propaganda, Florida and the US
DOJ Indictments in Russian scheme to use US citizens (in Florida) as agents I get that people will question my motivation for using a photo of two gentlemen at a Trump rally from 2016 to illustrate a piece about Russian imperialism/colonialism. It’s not the gentlemen, it’s the message. I’d go back to the debate between […]
Remember Bob Graham’s Iraq War views? They were positively enlightened…
This past few weeks, the media has spent a lot of time discussing the Iraq War, which began 20 years ago this month. While the war was very popular at the time, it’s become an issue since that first defined Democrats in the 2007 to 2012 period and since 2015 or so the GOP, who […]
DeSantis declares Ukraine’s “territorial dispute” is not in the “vital interest” of the US – It is beyond dangerous rhetoric
Despite World War I and World War II both starting in Eastern Europe (The Balkans for WWI, Poland for WW II), Governor Ron DeSantis declared on Monday night via Tucker Carlson, that Ukraine is not in the “vital interest” of the US, as he described it. The Florida Governor has also described the ongoing war […]
DeSantis Ukraine “flip-flop” highlights what he really is – transactional and desperate to be liked
Many culture warriors think that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a true-believer. But reality is in my 30 years of being involved in Florida politics I have never seen a more “Pay-to-Play” politician. Yes, politics is a dirty game and transactionalism is increasingly the name of the game on both sides of the aisle, but […]
The Express Lane: Foreign policy needs to be elevated in this election – Ukraine, Russia and the UK
Hi it’s Kartik, I’m taking over the Express Lane column today to discuss foreign affairs a bit and the importance of understanding what is at stake in November. I want to thank my colleagues especially Joe Dye for such a great job with this column – normal service will resume tomorrow! Despite a summer bump […]
Goodbye Gorbachev
For decades a nuclear sword of Damocles hung over the head of the world. This was the essence of the Cold War. During those decades there were periods of relative peace and times when a Third World War seemed unavoidable. In the 1980s things heated up considerably. Ronald Reagan became the President and promised a […]
India at 75: Kashmir, Pakistan and China
The Kashmir crisis has consumed India and Pakistan since independence. It is the defining aspect of politics in South Asia and it should not be. To understand Kashmir, you have to understand partition. Partition cost approximately a 1,000,000 lives as the departing British much like they did in Ireland partitioned India based on religion. I […]
India at 75 – The perils of Democracy
India’s democracy has been consistent as we discussed yesterday- a remarkable achievement for a developing nation. But it hasn’t been all sweetness and light. I’ll preface this piece by saying, this is a highly simplified version of how things have gone, but done as a sort of an “India for Dummies” narrative. India has since […]
India at 75 – The wonders of democracy
I am taking a short break from Florida-oriented posts the next few days to focus on the 75th Anniversary of India becoming independent on August 15, 1947. The Republic of India marks 75 years of independence from the United Kingdom on Monday (3 years as a Dominion within the British Commonwealth and 72 years as […]
The Florida Squeeze 