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Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 7:41am

Conservative Critics of the Libya Campaign Aren’t Isolationist–They’re Realists

Posted by Tom Skypek in 2012 Elections, American Foreign Policy, Conservatism, Current Events

The continued military adventure in Libya, the House of Representatives’ ambiguous rebuke of the President, and the President’s recent speech on Afghanistan, has led to a number of thoughtful articles on the current trajectory of our foreign policy which I wanted to share.

Colin Dueck, GOP Isolationist? No, Just More Jacksonian, RealClearPolitics
Tony Blankley, McCain Is Wrong: GOP Not Isolationist, The Washington Times
George Will, John McCain’s Never-ending War, The Washington Post

Lastly, I wanted to share the piece I wrote for RealClearPolitics, Conservatism Does Not End at America’s Shorelines. Like the three authors above, I, too, was prompted by the misleading comments of Sens. McCain and Graham. What the conservative intellectual movement needs is a substantive, honest debate…

1 Comment Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Isolationism, John McCain, Libya, Lindsey Graham

Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 10:28am

Afghanistan Study Group Report

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan, American Foreign Policy

The Afghanistan Study Group issued this report last year. I received a copy at a meeting this week and read it cover-to-cover. It’s a succicnt report yet manages to address the key issues at hand. It certainly challenges the conventional wisdom and outlines a new strategy for what has become America’s longest war.

No Comments

Thursday, February 24th, 2011 at 9:10am

Obama’s Reticence on Libya Result of “Scheduling Issue”

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, Current Events

See for yourself.

No Comments Tags: Jay Carney, Libya

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at 8:39am

Libya Highlights Obama’s Foreign Policy Confusion

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, Current Events, Military History, The American Presidency

There are few things more important to a statesman than credibility and consistency when it comes to administering a nation’s foreign policy. The Obama administration’s response to recent events in Egypt and Libya underscore its foreign policy confusion. The White House has a peculiar habit of treating allied governments and adversarial governments as equals. This stems from President Barack Obama’s professed belief that all nations are indeed equal in Washington’s eyes. Of course, the reality of international politics is quite the opposite. More than two-thousand years of human history support this fact. Some states, whose national interests overlap and intersect, join together as allies. States whose national interests collide tend to have more adversarial relationships.

Understanding the role alliance systems play…

1 Comment Tags: Alliances, Barack Obama, Egypt, Foreign Policy, History of the Peloponnesian War, Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, Thucydides

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at 7:53pm

It’s the Oil, Stupid – Part II

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, American Politics, Conservatism, Current Events, Economy, National Debt, Tea Party

Oil prices jumped 8.5% today as the popular uprisings in Libya continued. This is exactly what I was talking about last week in my post, “It’s the Oil, Stupid.” Instability creates uncertainty and uncertainty drives up oil prices. Because we’re slaves to Middle Eastern crude oil, Washington has to cow-tow to two-bit dictators and the price-fixing cartel OPEC. This is a choice, though. When we get serious about energy independence we can fundamentally change this dynamic. Unfortunately, as I noted last week, “The Obama administration has declared war on the coal industry through its proposed cap-and-trade legislation (and likely forthcoming EPA regulations); the licensing process for building new nuclear power plants has not been accelerated and the administration refuses to grant additional offshore drilling…

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Thursday, February 17th, 2011 at 7:32pm

Conservatives Shouldn’t Fear Cuts to Defense Budget

Posted by Tom Skypek in Afghanistan, American Foreign Policy, Current Events, Economy, National Debt, The American Presidency

Social Security may be the third rail of American politics, but the defense budget is at least worthy of notable mention. In fact, the defense budget is arguably the most politically sensitive budget item after entitlement spending. Conservatives and Republicans, who have enjoyed an advantage over their liberal counterparts on national security issues since Vietnam, too often associate a “strong national defense” simply with increases in defense spending—without considering the expenditures in the context of broader U.S. grand strategy. Many conservatives and Republicans are reluctant to propose cuts to the defense budget out of fear for appearing weak. Many just lack any strategic sense and simply follow the big government internationalism crowd which includes both liberals and parts of the conservative movement.

Liberals and Democrats are split…

1 Comment Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Conservatives, Defense Budget, FY2012 Budget, Pentagon

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 3:15pm

It’s the Oil, Stupid

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, Current Events, Economy

To borrow a line from James Carville, it’s the oil, stupid. Much of the commentary on the Egyptian uprising has failed to address the underlying strategic issue for United States foreign policy: our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. It is our continued dependence on Middle Eastern crude oil that compels Washington to remain deeply engaged in a region which, according to poll after poll, is rabidly anti-American.

Relative to other states in the region, Egypt is not a major oil exporter. But Egypt has been a stable ally of the U.S. in a turbulent region for the last thirty years. Egypt fought alongside U.S. forces during the Gulf War and has honored its peace treaty with Israel, thus preventing another major…

No Comments Tags: Egypt, Energy Independence, EPA, Middle East, Nuclear Power, Oil, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Petroleum, U.S. Foreign Policy

Friday, February 11th, 2011 at 10:14am

Crisis in Egypt: Another U.S. Intelligence Failure

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, Intelligence

Consider all the money we spend annually on intelligence in the United States (around $80.1 in FY10); now consider the fact that Washington was caught flatfooted on Egypt. It should prompt you to question the efficacy of our intelligence apparatus–even after the massive post-September 11 re-organization. Last fall, Paul Pillar wrote an outstanding article in which he argued that the reorganization (and establishment of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)) was more of a knee-jerk political response than a value added restructuring of a bloated enterprise.

The real deficiency is a failure to communicate and share information. “Information sharing” is a buzz word these days among the various executive departments and agencies, but the reality is that genuine information sharing…

2 Comments Tags: Egypt, Intelligence Community, Paul Pillar

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 8:20pm

Victor Davis Hanson on “Obama’s 1979″

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy

Interesting article from Victor Davis Hanson on the parallels between the Carter and Obama administrations in the context of the situation in Egypt.

No Comments Tags: Egypt

Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 9:53pm

What the Situation in Egypt Tells Us: We’re Still Slaves to Middle East Oil

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, Economy

The situation in Egypt is a stark reminder of why energy independence ought to be a top policy objective of the United States. If it weren’t for our dependence on foreign sources of oil, we wouldn’t be slaves to the schizophrenic politics of the Middle East. The threat of $7-a-gallon gas compels our engagement in region dominated by anti-Americanism. Economic slavery is hardly what the Founding Fathers envisioned for this country. Solutions exist but this administration continues to stymie progress by opposing the expansion of offshore drilling and nuclear power.

No Comments Tags: Egypt, Energy Independence