South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol recently raised eyebrows in Washington when he said his country might consider developing its own nuclear deterrent, rather than relying exclusively on America for nuclear protection. U.S. officials scrambled to assure Seoul officials there is no need to develop their own nuclear weapons since the U.S.-Republic of Korea Mutual Defense…
Author: Joseph Bosco, opinion contributor
Kissinger admits he was wrong on Ukraine — what about Taiwan?
At 99, Henry Kissinger is a living demonstration that you’re never too old to learn new things — or to unlearn wrong old things. The former secretary of state has implicitly acknowledged that he dramatically misjudged Russia, its war against Ukraine, and the qualities of Ukraine’s leaders and population. After Vladimir Putin described the dissolution…
Ukrainians die as America and Germany spar over who should go first in providing tanks
In his annual speech in 2005, Vladimir Putin declared that “the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century.” That was the liberation of dozens of countries that for three-quarters of a century had endured serfdom, persecution, and even liquidation under the yoke of Soviet communism. Putin’s worldview saw the…
US-China war game shows need for victory if deterrence fails
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) recently conducted a war game testing the scenarios and outcomes in a possible U.S.-China war over Taiwan. The reason for the exercise was that, “What was once unthinkable — direct conflict between the United States and China — has now become a commonplace discussion in the national…
Biden’s ‘stalemate strategy’ in Ukraine does not deter Russia and encourages China on Taiwan
At his news conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Biden was posed this question by a Ukrainian journalist: “When the full-scale invasion started, U.S. officials said that Ukraine cannot receive Patriots because, as you said, it might be unnecessary escalation. And now it is happening. … And now Ukraine desperately needs more capabilities, including long-range…
Kissinger’s ‘realism’ matches Biden’s policy, but not Putin’s reality
Henry KIssinger is returning to his intellectual and geostrategic roots. In a Spectator article last week, entitled “How to avoid another world war,” he recounts the origins of World War I, which was a key chapter in his early academic work at Harvard. He repeats a point that he and many others have made over…
US ‘strategic ambiguity’ creeps from Taiwan to Ukraine — and worries both
U.S. officials keep lowering the time frame for China to make its military move on Taiwan. In 2021, Adm. Philip Davidson estimated that China would try to invade Taiwan within the next six years. A short time later, his successor, Adm. John Aquilino, said it could happen sooner than anyone expected. Last month, Adm. Mike…
History is calling Biden. Will his action on democracy match his rhetoric?
In his news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, President Biden repeated a major theme of his presidency: “We stand at an inflection point in history.” In the first year of his administration, he convened a 110-nation virtual Summit for Democracy to address the titanic struggle between autocracy and democracy, “the defining challenge of our…
Biden should give Ukraine all it needs — and formally commit to defend Taiwan
If U.S. support for Ukraine against Russia’s aggression is a model for America’s role after a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the Taiwanese people are in for a rough ride. In 2008, at the urging of President George W. Bush, NATO issued a communique from its 26 members, stating, “We agreed that [Georgia and Ukraine] will…
The Nixon Foundation, Henry Kissinger and China: The ‘Grand Strategy disconnect’
The Richard Nixon Foundation, created to memorialize the achievements of the 37th president of the United States, recently commemorated the 50th anniversary of his historic opening to China. The program was entitled “Grand Strategy Summit Dedicated to Addressing America’s Geopolitical Challenges,” and began with a keynote address by Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s first national security adviser…