Every few decades, Washington rediscovers something that most Americans already know: drug cartels are violent, wealthy, and deeply embedded in international networks that are extremely difficult to dismantle. The rediscovery is usually followed by a familiar sequence of events: stern speeches, bold promises, and a new policy initiative with a name designed to sound decisive.…
Russia Helping Iran Target U.S. Forces
Russia has reportedly shared intelligence with Iran that could help Tehran locate and potentially target U.S. military assets in the Middle East. According to reporting by the Associated Press, U.S. officials believe Russia has passed along information that could improve Iran’s ability to track American ships, aircraft, and other military infrastructure in the region. Even…
War with Iran: Necessary Show of Strength or Reckless Gamble?
The question of war with Iran is not theoretical anymore. The United States is engaged in active hostilities: coordinated strikes, retaliatory missile fire, and the possible drift toward broader conflict. The debate is fierce and deeply divided. Supporters argue that decisive action was long overdue. Critics warn that we’re stumbling into another Middle Eastern quagmire…
Immigration Limbo and the Cost of Indefinite Delay
The growing population of migrants trapped in legal limbo is not merely the result of bureaucratic overload or political disagreement. It’s the predictable outcome of a system that has substituted delay for decision, hesitation for responsibility, and indefinite suspension for principled governance. The result is not neutrality but harm that’s borne most heavily by those…
War Powers, Warning, and the Weight of Authority
The renewed debate over presidential war powers, sparked by Vice President J.D. Vance’s dismissal of the War Powers Resolution as “fake” and unconstitutional, exposes more than a technical disagreement about statutes. It reveals a deeper conflict over authority, restraint, and accountability in the exercise of force. At stake is not merely how wars are authorized,…
Power Without Righteousness Is Not Strength
Yesterday’s closed-door briefing to lawmakers on U.S. actions in Venezuela did little to resolve the most troubling questions raised by the operation. If anything, it exposed a widening gap between executive power and moral clarity. Members of Congress emerged divided not merely over tactics or outcomes, but over first principles: who authorizes force, what limits…
Power, Precedent, and the Perils of Unilateral Force: The High-Risk Gamble of Capturing Maduro
The U.S. military strike on Venezuela and the announced capture of Nicolás Maduro mark one of the most dramatic assertions of American power in the Western Hemisphere in decades. The operation will likely stand alongside the most consequential unilateral interventions of the modern era, not only because of its immediate tactical audacity but because of…
Credibility, Authority, and the Cost of Confusing Power with Truth
The controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s response to Russia’s claim that Ukraine attempted a drone attack near a residence associated with Vladimir Putin is not merely about diplomatic tone. It’s about something more foundational: how authority is exercised, how truth is discerned, and how public power either restrains or amplifies deception in moments of global consequence.…
When Government Authority Slips from Law into Moral Theater
The recent actions by Republican leadership in Texas and Florida aimed at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) deserve more than reflexive applause or predictable outrage. They require sober analysis. Whatever one thinks of CAIR’s activism, rhetoric, or policy positions, the mechanism being used against it should trouble anyone who takes constitutional limits seriously. These…
Deterrence, Covenant, and the Cost of Power
One of the dangers of modern geopolitics is that we talk about power almost exclusively in terms of capacity—how many missiles, how much money, how quickly we can move hardware—while forgetting that power, untethered from order and responsibility, has a long track record of going sideways. President Trump’s decision to move forward with a massive…
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