RealClearWorld Articles

More than 100 prominent citizens from India and Pakistan including former diplomats, academics, political leaders and members of civil society have jointly appealed to Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif to restore dialogue, diplomatic engagement and people-to-people contact. Their open letter arrives at a particularly difficult moment. Relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours remain deeply strained following the 2025 military crisis, while diplomatic engagement, trade and public exchanges continue to operate at minimal levels. The appeal is significant not because it...

Today’s alliance politics, our assessments of the relationships between the U.S. and her allies, lacks cognitive empathy. And without empathy we retreat into caricature: the “Ugly American” on one side, the “sanctimonious free-riding ally” on the other. The Ugly American has long served as a moral cudgel, conjuring a loud, incurious hegemon, overconfident and underinformed, certain that power justifies preference. And yes, recent interventions by the United States have been poorly calibrated, its polarization has unnerved allies, and its leaders have lurched...

When people ask what Expo 2027 Belgrade is really about, I don’t reach for statistics first, though the numbers are compelling: 137 participating countries, more than four million expected visitors, 8,000 events across 93 days, all unfolding on 25 hectares beside the Sava River. What I offer is simpler than that. I tell them it is about the oldest truth in human experience: when people from every corner of the world come together to play, they connect. Our theme, “Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All,” was not chosen lightly. In a world that often feels...

As international attention remains fixed on the fallout from war, nuclear diplomacy, and regional instability, another crisis is unfolding in Iran largely beyond the headlines. The clerical regime is carrying out what may be its most extensive campaign of political executions and repression since the aftermath of the nationwide uprising that shook the country earlier this year.   Between March 19 and June 3, at least 33 individuals linked to political dissent were executed, including eight members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and at least 25 participants in...

Much to the relief of most Americans, President Donald Trump finally agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and begin negotiations over the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Trump made the right move here. This was an unnecessary war of choice for the United States. Polls show Americans don’t see Iran as much of a threat and opposed the war from day one. But the hardest part is yet to come. Trump claims the next round of negotiations toward a nuclear deal with Iran will be “easier” than the last, but not only are the...

On June 23, the United States Senate passed a war powers resolution directing the president to remove American forces from hostilities against Iran. The vote was 50 to 48. Four Republicans crossed. Every Democrat voted yes except one, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. It was the first time both chambers of Congress have passed a concurrent war powers resolution directing a sitting president to remove forces from a conflict since the War Powers Act passed in 1973. The same Democratic caucus that built the JCPOA on the explicit premise that Iranian nuclear ambitions required verifiable...

Congress has given the U.S. and African nations until December to decide what comes next for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). They should use that time to build a longer-term trade framework that offers more predictable, reciprocal commercial value to both sides. For the past three years, the Embassy of Tanzania in Washington has joined advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill seeking a 10-year extension of the program. Textile and apparel products account for 95 percent of U.S.-Tanzania trade under AGOA. That stake led Tanzania to join the T-5, a public-private coalition of leading...

The Iran War demonstrates once again the limitations of the War Powers Act. The War Powers Act of 1973 mandates that the President has 60 days to end hostilities if there has been no Congressional authorization – though he can seek a 30-day extension. The same law gives Congress the ability to end hostilities by voting on a resolution to end military action, subject to Presidential veto. This week the Senate voted in favor of a resolution invoking the War Powers Act to end the military campaign in Iran and requiring Congressional approval for any future conflict. The House passed a...

When the final ballots were counted in Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections, international observers breathed a familiar sigh of relief. The mechanical apparatus of democracy was held; votes were cast, tallies were processed, and initial reports suggested there was no foul play involved. But to view this election merely through the lens of technical compliance is to miss a far more sobering reality. Armenia’s latest vote was fundamentally hollowed out by competing pressures from Washington, Brussels, and Moscow, transforming domestic self-determination into a high-stakes proxy...

The United States and Iran confrontation has been among one of the most volatile and complex rivalry in international politics. Started from 1979, decades of mistrust which expanded to bilateral tension and eventually to a multi-layered strategic contest that involves nuclear issue, regional instability, economic sanctions, and the security of one of the most significant trading passage of the world, Strait of Hormuz. In such a challenging environment, a little miscalculation or escalation could involve multiple regional and global actors who are at stake. Pakistan’s role in mediating...

This week, my train from Warsaw to Kyiv arrived five hours late.   We had to pause because of the threat of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine’s railroads. For me, this meant inconvenience. For Ukrainians, it is part of something much larger: a war that reaches into the machinery of ordinary life: rail lines, power systems, schools, apartment buildings and bedrooms. The same Russian campaign that can stop a train in daylight can, after midnight, send families into the corridor because a drone with a 100 kg payload may cause the outside windows to shatter.  That is why Vadym...

Over the past year, many initiatives have been announced and carried out in Washington, D.C. in advance of the marking of America's first quarter-millennium. Among President Trump's projects are renovations to Lafayette Square, already underway; a proposed Memorial Circle arch across from the Lincoln Memorial, a proposed National Garden of American Heroes, and more. Other changes to the face of the capital include the renovation of the White House East Wing ballroom, the revamping of the Rose Garden, the painting of the Eisenhower office building and the relocation of FBI headquarters from...

Nearly six months after the United States removed Nicolás Maduro from power, the central question facing Venezuela is when and on what terms elections will happen, and whether they will be credible. History offers a clear warning. Move too quickly without necessary reforms, and elections lack credibility. Delay elections too long or insist on completing every possible reform before voting, and entrenched power structures regroup or public frustration turns into instability. The only reasonable path forward is to implement the most critical reforms needed to ensure a transparent,...

A political shift to the right in Latin America provides the first Hispanic U.S. Secretary of State and President Donald Trump a real chance not only to create alliances to break China’s foothold in Central and South America but it creates a new bloc to rollback radical policies at the UN and to break the European Union’s grip on international organizations. Latin American governments have been a reliable ally of the left at the United Nations for the better part of the last two decades. Democrats and the EU bureaucracy have used their networks in America’s backyard to...

There is a country absorbing missile strikes on its energy infrastructure while simultaneously negotiating a path away from the very conflict that produced them. That country is Qatar — and if you have not been paying attention, now would be a good time to start.  Qatar deserves far more credit than it typically receives in American strategic discourse. From its capital of Doha, the ruling family of Qatar, the Al Thani Emirate has dived into the region’s politics (and the conflict that the politics often brings) without a prejudice rooted in Islam, Sunnism, pan-Arab...

The memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran has drawn fierce criticism, some of it political and some of it overstated. It is, after all, only a framework document, not a final agreement. But the initial rounds of talks show that Tehran reads the MOU much differently than Washington. From Iran’s perspective, the MOU grants them leverage, legitimacy, money, time and veto points — while taking key American tools off the table. The pattern that emerges from a close reading of the fourteen points is striking. Nearly every provision can be interpreted in a way...

On June 19th, Cuba's National Assembly unanimously approved 176 measures that privatize a vast swath of its socialist economy, the single largest change to the Cuban model since Fidel Castro took power in 1959. Private real estate development, joint-stock companies, private banks, foreign ownership stakes in state enterprises, fast-food chains, all of it approved in a single session by a Communist Party that spent sixty-five years treating private capital as ideological poison. The coverage framed it as economic desperation, which is accurate but incomplete. Cuba did not privatize its economy...

Millions lining the streets of New York celebrating the Knicks’ first NBA world championship in 53 years. The President of the United States hosting an Ultimate Fighting Championship match at the White House that brought tens of thousands of fans and supporters to the nation’s capital. The U.S. soccer team singing  John Denver’s classic song “Country Roads” along with 67,000 fans at a World Cup match in Seattle. Americans have gone crazy for sports. So has the rest of the world.  In fact, it might be considered the newest religion with devotion to...

The importance of implementing ARC-ES – the Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Security Act – has been a frequent topic here because its enactment into law or policy – either by an act of Congress or executive order – would protect our most reliable and affordable resources and guarantee the energy security of Americans for generations to come. But another movement with the same “ARC” acronym is empowering citizens worldwide to ensure prosperity for families and entire nations. The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship “is drawing together a unique...