Iran’s coronavirus response highlights authoritarianism’s dangers

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With the coronavirus forcing Iran to dig mass graves for its victims, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected U.S. aid offers of recent days and suggested that America “specifically built” the virus “for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians which they have obtained through different means.” “You cannot be trusted,” Khamenei told the United States …

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New York Times’ ‘1619 Project’ unjustly weakens America abroad

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The New York Times’ decision of recent days to make a “clarification” to one sentence in the lead essay of its “1619 Project” won’t do much to quell a growing fight over the meaning of America’s founding — a fight with profound implications for the nation’s continuing influence around the world. That’s because the project …

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West should echo Prague’s Nemtsov remembrance

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This week, the city of Prague will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the slaying of Russia’s freedom-promoting opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, by renaming for him the square where Russia’s embassy is located. It’s a timely gesture, for it comes as freedom and democracy continue their global decline of recent years, as China and Russia promote …

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Maduro acknowledges his socialist delusions

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Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s quiet move to restore elements of free enterprise to his nation’s economy should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone listening to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ siren song of socialism in the Democratic primaries or who is still tempted by promises of socialist bliss. Maduro’s move represents a desperate attempt to dampen …

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Washington needs to anticipate Iran’s next provocation

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Signs are mounting that in Tehran, which faces rising pressures at home and abroad, the country’s powerful hardline conservatives are circling the wagons, raising the odds of still more Iranian global provocations. The question is whether Washington — which continues to tighten the economic screws on Tehran — is ready for what might come next. …

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Trump must hang tough on North Korea

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With Pyongyang demanding that Washington reverse its policy toward North Korea before any resumption of nuclear talks, President Donald Trump needs to maintain a hardline U.S. posture toward the North’s growing nuclear weapons program and resist temptations to offer more unilateral concessions. Kim Jong Un’s disparaging response of recent days to Trump’s call for a …

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