Category: Social Policy Issues

Now that President Donald Trump has won a second term, he has the opportunity to reorient U.S. Middle East policy from that of President Joe Biden. Out is Biden’s appeasement of Iran. In is “Maximum Pressure.” Out is demonization of Saudi Arabia. In is Trump’s partnership with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Out is the Biden administration’s passive-aggressiveness toward Israel; in are close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After the latest Iranian missile attack on Israel, a significant Israeli retaliation is a certainty. This situation is fraught with risks of escalation and widespread global impact. In the face of these dangers, Western policymakers should explore strategic approaches to drive change in the Islamic Republic.

We are surprisingly bloodthirsty people. We impose the longest prison sentences in the world. We are one of only seven countries that inflict more than ten death penalties a year, with the others hardly our demographic, developmental, or political peers (China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, and Singapore).

The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States 603 US _ (2024) is a landmark ruling with far-reaching implications for the doctrine of Separation of Powers and the scope of presidential immunity. The case centered on former President Donald Trump’s claim that he should be immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken during his presidency.

We have just celebrated the 4th of July, with its parades, speeches, and fireworks announcing our pride, even conceit, that America’s Independence Day is the greatest of all Independence Days, as America is the greatest of all nations, offering its citizens the greatest of all governments. The complexities of that claim – and putting aside its apparent inadequacies, inconsistencies, incoherence, and disappointments – necessarily include a shortlist of what is critical to a view of America’s ascendant greatness. Democracy, prosperity, opportunity, and liberty are on the shortlist, and so is the rule of law.