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Tag Archives: Ronald Reagan

Taiwan Turns Further Away from the Mainland

Taiwan Turns Further Away from the Mainland

Taiwanese recently celebrated a decision by a constitutional court granting same-sex marriage. On the more socially conservative mainland, the ruling drew criticism.

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Robert Lighthizer on Trade with China

Robert Lighthizer on Trade with China

The new pick for U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, recently signaled the new administration’s get-tough approach to China over trade issues.

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America’s Diplomats: Review by George F. Paik

America’s Diplomats: Review by George F. Paik

Visually and narratively attractive, packed with little-known facts and eye-catching clips, the film paints a faithful portrait of the U.S. Foreign Service while fair-mindedly probing a range of issues.

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America’s Diplomats: Review By Jim Quirk

America’s Diplomats: Review By Jim Quirk

While much of the media focuses on U.S. foreign policy failures, scandals, or intra-agency turf battles, this film reminds us that the career personnel are talented, dedicated people whose commitment to public service and American interests includes considerable sacrifice.

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America’s Diplomats: Film Review by Gary Sands

America’s Diplomats: Film Review by Gary Sands

“America’s Diplomats”, the Foreign Policy Association latest production is a must-see documentary for anyone interested in the history of American diplomacy or considering a career in the Foreign Service.

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Trump, Reagan, and American Foreign Policy

Trump, Reagan, and American Foreign Policy

The United States is preparing a new variable in its foreign policy: a new President. If Donald Trumps wins, what will his foreign policy look like?

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The U.S. Maintains a Mediocre Record of Promoting Democracy in Africa

The U.S. Maintains a Mediocre Record of Promoting Democracy in Africa

Last week the Foreign Policy Association released its annual National Opinion Ballot Report regarding several topics within the realm of U.S. foreign policy. One subject that received much attention surrounded the United States’ role and responsibility when it came to promoting democracy globally. When the participants were asked if “The United States should actively promote democracy around […]

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Latino (1985)

Latino (1985)

The production values are terrible. The acting is bad. But this is a movie worth watching. Set in the early 1980s, Latino follows a Chicano soldier recruited to train Nicaraguan counterrevolutionaries along the Honduras side of the border. They were called “contras.” Whether the contras were a home grown group or one created and funded […]

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Reflections on 30th Anniversary of June 12 Peace Rally

Reflections on 30th Anniversary of June 12 Peace Rally

How things have changed! Thirty years ago, on June 12, 1982, one million people gathered in New York City’s Central Park to rally in favor of nuclear disarmament and an end to the Cold War. As the largest peace demonstration in U.S. history, it was the culmination of a movement that had gathered improbably around […]

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Is Patrick Cunningham Obama’s Ollie North?

Is Patrick Cunningham Obama’s Ollie North?

Countdown to the February 2nd Issa-Grassley hearing into Operation Fast and Furious is underway, and one of the biggest questions still unanswered is whether Congress will offer former AUSA Patrick Cunningham immunity for his testimony, and if Cunningham, so immunized, will shed any light on the parentage of an ATF operation that allowed roughly 2000 military-grade weapons to walk across the US-Mexico border and disappear, without a trace, into cartel arsenals.

Nobody seems to be holding his or her breath, but if Congress does pull an ‘Ollie North’ with Cunningham, or any of the witnesses it seeks to depose on Fast and Furious, expect the narrative to change. The irony alone, in a case that so closely resembles Iran-Contra, may provide the MSM with a much-needed jolt: Cunningham reprises North’s role when Congress, challenged by his close hold on the 5th Amendment, compels him to testify by granting him use or (less likely) transactional immunity.

Don’t remember the way it worked with North? Consider the following, pulled from court documents…

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Reykjavik: What Almost Was

Reykjavik:  What Almost Was

This past Friday, October 7th, was the 25th anniversary of the summit meeting of then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland. It was a meeting that now-famously almost led to an agreement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to completely abolish nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass. […]

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Melson Out, Holder Digs In: 1700+ Violations of the Arms Export Control Act?

Melson Out, Holder Digs In: 1700+ Violations of the Arms Export Control Act?

Ok. Now we’re into it. Administration top dogs have thrown ATF Director Ken Melson and US Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke under the truck.In firefighting, they call it a ‘controlled burn,’ torching a perimeter of just enough man-made flame to meet and beat the advance of a wildfire impervious to less-drastic solutions.

Good luck, gentlemen.

The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the DOJ/ATF gun-running operation known as Fast and Furious is roaring through the halls of Congress, and despite DOJ’s efforts to spin the story every which way but up, Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) are on a trail insiders whisper may lead investigators all the way to the top.

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