Clifford D. May
Columns by Clifford D. May
Peter Beinart’s one-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians
Peter Beinart is at it again. If you don't know to whom I'm referring you might count yourself lucky, not bother to read the paragraphs that follow and pick up a summer novel instead. Published July 14, 2020
Learning lessons from World War II and the Cold War
What we should be debating now is not whether to continue defending America, but how best to sustain the mission, learning lessons from the wars America has successfully fought in the past. Published July 7, 2020
Meet the global leadership restrainers: Making America second-rate again
Will the terrorist groups around the world pose more or less of a threat if we "rein in" our efforts to foil their plots? Can you think of an example of diplomats who have been more effective by talking softly and not carrying a big stick? Published June 30, 2020
Iran’s rulers (still) seek nuclear weapons
We now have overwhelming evidence that the nuclear weapons development program whose existence Iran's rulers have consistently denied continues to progress. Published June 23, 2020
Trump administration finally begins to stand up to the ICC, a hostile international organization
NATO members and Japan depend on American troops to defend them. Yet they both support and fund the International Criminal Court even as it unlawfully targets the American troops putting their lives on the line for them. Published June 16, 2020
Did Chinese Communist Party intend for COVID-19 to destabilize a disunited United States?
How different the current situation might have been had China's rulers said early on: "A virus that came from a bat has gotten loose in Wuhan. We're sorry. Published June 2, 2020
Communist China’s imperialist dreams of dividing the world with Belt and Road Initiative
A century ago, Vladimir Lenin wrote a book titled "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism." I doubt it occurred to him that imperialism might one day become the highest stage of communism. Yet that day is here. Published May 26, 2020
Israel’s daunting decision on drawing permanent borders
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new coalition government now face a daunting decision. The Trump administration has indicated that it would not object if Israelis were to extend sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. Published May 19, 2020
An American-led ‘economic prosperity network’ could be a good start to not relying on China
The current global health and economic crisis reveals -- to those with eyes that see -- the startling extent to which the weeds and wild critters have overrun the fruits and flowers. Published May 12, 2020
Terrorist organization Hezbollah permits Lebanon to be rescued by the IMF
The United States, Germany and other major contributors to the IMF ought to demand that before any checks are written, Hezbollah disarms -- that, from now on, it seeks power based on the ballots it can garner rather than the bullets it can fire. Published May 5, 2020
China, Iran and North Korea stay focused on hostile agendas during COVID-19 pandemic
Communists, revolutionary Islamists and other proponents of despotic ideologies consider life and death no big deal. After all, they kill people all the time -- civilians and their own subjects very much included. Published April 28, 2020
China’s Communist rulers made the world sick, with help from, you know, WHO
It now seems unlikely that the virus destroying lives and livelihoods around the world began in a wildlife-for-supper market in Wuhan. More plausible: That it began in a laboratory in that same Chinese city. Published April 21, 2020
Obama holdovers run U.S. global media, and they’re not giving it up
The White House website, www.whitehouse.gov, featured an odd article last Friday. Its headline: "Amid a Pandemic, Voice of America Spends Your Money to Promote Foreign Propaganda." Published April 14, 2020
Xi Jinping’s Wuhan virus has the power to change the course of history
Microbes are changing our lives, our economy, our culture. You should know -- though it will provide no consolation -- that it has ever been thus. Published April 7, 2020
Lifting U.S. sanctions against Iran’s regime won’t stop the terrorism or oppression
If Iran's rulers want support from the "international community," they ought to become members in good standing of that community -- or at least stop their most destructive activities. Published March 31, 2020
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda puts American soldiers in her crosshairs
In 2017, Fatou Bensouda announced her intention to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. This month, after drawn-out deliberations, the ICC announced that the investigation would go forward. Published March 24, 2020
Iran’s Hezbollah virus infects Lebanon while attacking the world
Terrorists, criminals, and their neo-imperialist patrons in Tehran have been bringing death and destruction to Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Gaza -- whomever and whatever they touch Published March 17, 2020
How the United States and our allies should deal with enemies
David Kilcullen devotes much of his book to exploring how the dragons (Moscow and Beijing) and the snakes (Tehran, Pyongyang and non-state jihadi groups) have learned from each other, and become more dangerous in the process. Published March 10, 2020
U.S. must demand that China release freedom fighter Jimmy Lai
Jimmy Lai was arrested last week. Conviction could mean five years in prison. Or more: "We have every reason to believe that the trial of traitors like Lai has only just begun," threatened an editorial in China's official Xinhua News Agency. Published March 3, 2020
The Trump plan for Afghanistan is an investment in America’s national security
The goal is to reach a "political settlement to end the war in Afghanistan, reduce United States and Allied Forces presence, and ensure that no terrorist group ever uses Afghan soil to threaten the United States or our allies." Published February 25, 2020
