US Opinion and Commentary

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Does NATO Need a Facelift?

Posted April 7th, 2016 at 1:00 pm (UTC-5)
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Republican front-runner Donald Trump would go farther, having described the 28-state alliance as “obsolete” more than once during his push for the GOP presidential ticket. Members don’t pay up their fair share, or at all, and the clunky security organization is ill-suited for the war on terror, according to Trump. After the deadly terrorist attacks on Brussels, which just happens to be NATO’s homebase, and moves by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine and elsewhere, others have also raised questions about the relevance of the alliance in a shifting world order.

But this week while hosting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House, President Barack Obama declared NATO “…a linchpin, a cornerstone of our collective defense and U.S. security policy.” Still, influential pundits and columnists have raised legitimate concerns about NATO’s lack of agility, bloated bureaucracy and lopsided financing that leaves the military bills largely in the hands of the United States.

There have been other public figures (former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for one) to voice dim views of NATO, originally created in 1949 after the Second World War—a time when the Soviet Union was fully intact and on a mission to expand. Which raises yet another set of questions: has NATO evolved along with the world? And is the alliance equipped to respond to modern threats?

Reality Check for Trump and Clinton

Posted April 6th, 2016 at 2:27 pm (UTC-5)
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Republican party front-runner Donald Trump’s Twitter feed went uncharacteristically quiet in the immediate aftermath of his double-digit loss in the Wisconsin primary to Sen. Ted Cruz. Later in the night, the Trump campaign reverted back to status quo by insulting, not congratulating, the winner. “Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet— he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump,” according to a statement from his campaign. As Trump pouted defiantly, pundits were dissecting Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sixth straight win against Democrat Hillary Clinton, who is far ahead in the delegate count. As one newspaper editorial put it:

“For a guy who can’t win, Bernie Sanders is certainly defeating Hillary Clinton a whole lot…. ”

Next primary stop is in New York, where we may learn if Cruz and Sanders’ campaign ‘mojo’ will continue.

Following the Money from ‘Panama’

Posted April 5th, 2016 at 4:32 pm (UTC-5)
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Tax shelters. Money laundering. Dodging sanctions. Shell companies. Tax havens. These are the loaded phrases associated with the findings of the so-called Panama Papers — documents that were leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca detailing how the rich and powerful park their assets to avoid scrutiny. Among those named in the year-long probe of millions of documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: 12 current or former heads of state, including Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who resigned today amid questions of a conflict of interest regarding his holdings. The documents also indicate $2-billion in transactions were secretly shuffled through banks and shadow companies by associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putting money in offshore banks is not necessarily illegal. And there are many legal tax shelters and legitimate reasons to establish a holding company in another country. But ordinary citizens become outraged when their politicians and their close associates are the ones involved.

Europe’s Migrants Face Struggles Anew With Deportations

Posted April 4th, 2016 at 2:55 pm (UTC-5)
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Just days before Greece began deporting migrants to Turkey under a deal to ease Europe’s migrant crisis, Amnesty International released a report alleging the forced return of Syrians in Turkey back to the very war zone they fled. Not all of the migrants stuck in temporary centers on the coast of Greece are Syrian, but they are migrants nonetheless — vulnerable, stateless and subject to abuse. Fears that terrorists (Syrian migrants are the most likely to be targeted as such) are among them have been stoked from Europe to the United States, while others are protesting what they say is an inhumane policy. Every single person who is now deemed a “migrant” has a story, a compelling reason for leaving their homes, often under dangerous circumstances that are hard to imagine. Migration is a fact of life, historically documented. More than 100 years ago, America was the destination point for those hoping for a better life. Now it’s Europe’s turn. After deadly terrorist attacks in the heart of Europe — Paris and Brussels — the basic human desire to create a better life is colliding head on with rising fears that terrorist groups like ISIS can attack at any time and in any place.

Burma Shifts to Civilian Rule

Posted April 1st, 2016 at 1:55 pm (UTC-5)
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Today, the first civilian government in 54 years assumed power in Myanmar, led by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. If hopes are high, expectations are even higher. It has been a long, painful road to this moment and much work is ahead. How the Burmese military behaves in the new era will be a key measure of how quickly democracy takes root. Although Suu Kyi does not hold the office of the presidency due to her late husband’s nationality, under the new government, power resides with her—if she is allowed to exercise it. The days ahead will reveal whether or not the same military structure that kept her under house arrest for much of the 1990s is ready to stand down.

Trump Trips and Stumbles, Possibly Alienating Female Voters

Posted March 31st, 2016 at 4:41 pm (UTC-5)
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In a matter of minutes, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump accomplished what no other politician has ever done: anger BOTH opponents and supporters of abortion rights in America. The “some kind of punishment” line about women who abort unborn fetuses he uttered on MSNBC Wednesday night was quickly reversed (or revised depending on where you stand) in a statement published on his website. Recent polls suggest Trump’s support among women voters is tenuous already. The abortion gaffe comes after a public fight with his nearest opponent Sen. Ted Cruz over their wives and his openly ugly comments aimed at FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly. Women, who make up more than half of the U.S. voting electorate, are a key voting block, one that political pundits say should not be alienated by either Republicans or Democrats.The next nominating contest takes place next week in Wisconsin, the results of which may indicate whether or not the often outrageous Trump has gone too far this time.

Thinking the Unthinkable

Posted March 30th, 2016 at 2:59 pm (UTC-5)
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In 1945, the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan. It was devastating, historic and, ultimately, ended the Second World War. Some 70 years later, the frightening prospect of nuclear weapons falling into hands of terrorist organizations (think ISIS or the Taliban), who have proven their appetite for brutality again and again. On Thursday, President Barack Obama will host his fourth—and final—Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, where more than 50 heads of state will entertain that very notion, and how to ensure it never happens. Two key world figures are not attending: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Iran’s absence appears more notable given the landmark nuclear deal with America and five other world powers. Experts say approaching such a terrifying possibility requires rethinking how we cope with the existence of nuclear arms. The Cold War mentality must make way for a far more fractured globe and the rise of ultra-fundamentalist Islam.

The Thin Line Between Privacy and Security

Posted March 29th, 2016 at 3:21 pm (UTC-5)
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After the horrific and deadly terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California at a work holiday party, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began its work: what drove the suspects – a Muslim couple with an infant – to kill 14 people? Were they acting at the behest of ISIS? Investigators found the iPhone of Syed Farook, but couldn’t get past the passcode to examine his contacts. Apple CEO Tim Cook refused an FBI order to create a coded “backdoor.” Critics called foul, accusing the FBI of looking for a case with which it could set a legal precedent. Cook held firm. Privacy protests erupted. This week, the FBI announced it used a third party to successfully hack the smartphone. Obvious questions were immediately raised: why did U.S. authorities try to legally compel Apple to create a backdoor? Who wins in such cases? Are we safer when officials can force digital companies to make hackable products? Or, must personal privacy always trump security?

The Right to Vote

Posted March 28th, 2016 at 3:21 pm (UTC-5)
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This November will be the first presidential election since a 2013 decision by the Supreme Court striking down a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a result, new voting restrictions are in place in 16 states across America. The impact of that ruling (a 5 to 4 decision and highly controversial) has already been felt. Recently, thousands stood in line for hours (after polls closed) waiting to cast their primary ballots in Utah, Arizona, and Idaho. Some experts warn this is a sign of what’s to come in the general election and beyond: roadblocks to voting that disproportionately affect minorities and the most vulnerable American voters. The anxiety around access and ease of casting a vote, a cornerstone issue of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, has grown palpably. And with this election season’s combustible atmosphere and unpredictable twists and turns, there are fears that holes are being poked in the historic 1965 affirmation of all Americans right to participate in the nation’s voting system.

Terrorism – Not Climate Change – Dominates Campaign Trail

Posted March 25th, 2016 at 5:35 pm (UTC-5)
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For the most part, the presidential hopefuls from both parties have skirted the threat of climate change – instead, lacing their stump speeches with biting criticism of the current U.S. strategy to defeat ISIS. Despite this week’s deadly reminder of the gravity of Islamic extremism in Brussels, scientists argue strongly that the effects of global warming far outweigh terrorist attacks. Science tells us that 2015 was the warmest year on record. On the same day that 31 people died in twin attacks in the Belgian capital, retired NASA scientist James E. Hansen published a paper stating that the catastrophic consequences of greenhouse gas emissions headed our way at a much faster rate than previously predicted. Both Republican candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump disregard the growing consensus that global warming is real. Even two Republican mayors in Florida urged both men to stop denying the disaster that awaits the Earth and start coming up with policies to address the crisis. Democrat Hillary Clinton is a believer, but it has been her opponent, Bernie Sanders, who has clearly articulated the dangers of global warming while on the stump.

Justice in the Balkans: Too Little, Too Late?

Posted March 24th, 2016 at 4:03 pm (UTC-5)
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Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, infamously known as “the butcher of the Balkans,” was served up justice Thursday at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. He will serve 40 years in prison for his crimes, most notoriously for overseeing the 1995 execution of an estimated 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica, a Bosnian enclave that, at the time, was being “protected” by Dutch peacekeepers.About a month later came the brutal bombing of civilians shopping at a market in Sarajevo— an atrocity that brought the severity of the Balkan wars into clear focus and jump-started a harder line with its perpetrators. More than 20 years after the fact, Karadzic has been held accountable. But like the trials for the Nazis, the genocidaires of Rwanda, Liberia’s war president Charles Taylor and Cambodia’s killing machine known as the Khmer Rouge, this moment took a long to happen. A very long time. Does it make up for the pain? Does it heal the traumas, the losses, the daily lives that have been forever shattered? Grief is such a personal experience that it is nearly impossible to know. What history tells us is that justice does come, evil acts are acknowledged—even if at a hopelessly slow pace and, oft times, in the most shallow way.

Brussels: Our New Normal?

Posted March 23rd, 2016 at 3:15 pm (UTC-5)
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“We have been through this two times last year,” a diplomatic official told a VOA reporter. “We have to get used to this.” The heinous attacks on two soft targets in the heart of the European Union shattered any delusion that acts of terrorism are one-offs. Amid the horror, came a torrent of criticism, targeting the Belgian government, the effectiveness of EU security apparatus and the Obama administration’s ISIS strategy.Perhaps the most pressing question right now is what can be done to stop the massacre of innocent people? In Europe, the French prime minister urged the EU to “invest massively” in security systems. In the United States, Obama called for unity and resolve. Trump once again called for a crackdown on Muslims. And Clinton called for reinforcing America’s alliances and doing away with what she termed “bluster.”

Cuba: Beyond Béisbol, Beyond Castro

Posted March 22nd, 2016 at 4:22 pm (UTC-5)
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As ping-pong diplomacy helped pave the way for a relationship with communist China, baseball may help ease the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba. The final score won’t matter in an exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National Team.

What will matter is the symbolism of the United States and Cuba sharing their national pastimes with a Cuban defector playing for the American team—and other Cuban-born major league players being cheered as returning heroes in Havana.

President Barack Obama said in Tuesday’s speech he came to Havana “to bury the last remnants of the Cold War.”

56 years of enmity cannot be erased in a two-and-a-half day presidential visit. Or a nine-inning baseball game. But it is a start.

Paul Ryan: Quietly Aiming for the Presidency?

Posted March 21st, 2016 at 2:36 pm (UTC-5)
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Paul Ryan seems to find power and stature without truly seeking it. In 2012, Mitt Romney chose Ryan as his presidential running-mate to help energize the Republican Party’s base who were drawn to Ryan’s fiscal conservative ideas. In 2015, House of Representatives Republicans turned to Ryan as a compromise candidate for Speaker after the Tea Party wing revolted against the establishment leadership. Ryan’s name is once again being floated, this time as a to bail out a Republican Party faced with the possibility of Donald Trump as its standard-bearer. Ryan has publicly said he is not interested in being drafted by a contested convention as a presidential nominee. But can the highest-elected Republican resist taking a shot at being the highest elected American?

Embracing Cuba

Posted March 18th, 2016 at 3:55 pm (UTC-5)
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In 1928, former President Calvin Coolidge visited Cuba. It would be 88 years until the next American presidential trip would take place, if nothing impedes President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit on March 21st. It’s hard to describe the historic nature of Obama’s move towards warmer relations with a country that was so strongly allied with the U.S.S.R. that former President John F. Kennedy and then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev came dangerously close to war over the Cuban Missile Crisis. Fast forward to 2014, when President Obama announced his vision to embrace Cuba, whose long-time dictator Fidel Castro had become so ill, he handed power to his brother, Raul. There are signs of change in Cuba, but it is slow. According to human rights activists, there is a disturbing crackdown on political dissidents. Much work remains to improve the lives of ordinary Cubans. For Obama, the effort is worth spending some of his dwindling political capital before he vacates the Oval Office.