UN and other international organizations

The Moment Israel Was Born

Israel is the world’s only Jewish-majority state and the only surviving and thriving Jewish community that remains in the Middle East. Despite that — or, maybe, because of that — Israel has many enemies.  You may think you know how this unique nation-state was born, but history, like science, is never settled.  Jeffrey Herf, a Distinguished University Professor of Modern European History at the University of Maryland, has cast a fresh and scholarly eye on Israel’s origins, and turned his research into a new book: “Israel’s Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State, 1945 – 1949.”   Today, he joins host Cliff May in FDD’s studio along with Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s senior vice president who reviewed Professor Herf’s book for the Jerusalem Post.

Bank Shot

The Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB, says its mission is to “improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean,” support countries “working to reduce poverty and inequality,” and “achieve development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way.” For the past two years, for the first time in its 62-year history, the IDB has had an American president: Mauricio Claver-Carone. His goals have included implementing policies beneficial to the United States and countering Beijing’s push for influence and privileges at the bank. He also ended the practice of Latin American governments using the IDB for patronage jobs – a place to park cronies and politically connected but mediocre economists including those from the region’s socialist and anti-American countries. His reward: He’s been fired — by the Biden administration. China’s rulers and the leftist regimes of Latin America are undoubtedly celebrating. Mr. Claver-Carone joins host Cliff May to tell his story and discuss what he thinks is happening at the IDB. More on FDD.org: https://www.fdd.org/podcasts/2022/10/07/bank-shot/ 

Connecting the Dots from Tehran to Gaza

Israel’s latest armed conflict was with a group that calls itself Islamic Jihad, or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or PIJ. It’s supported, armed, and trained by the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To learn more about this American-designated terrorist organization, how badly it was set back by the missiles of August, and what Iran’s rulers might do to build it back better, host Cliff May is joined by FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz, who was in Israel during the three-day battle, and by FDD Senior Vice President for Research Jonathan Schanzer. Jon, who is also the author of Gaza Conflict 2021: Israel, Hamas, and Eleven Days of War, closely followed reporting on the fighting in English, Hebrew, and Arabic.

Ukraine, Turkey, and NATO: U.S. Interests in Europe

The United States has vital economic and national security interests in deterring aggression and maintaining peace and security in Europe. But almost six months ago on February 24, a clearly undeterred Vladimir Putin launched the largest invasion on the European continent since WWII. As the Ukrainian people continue the fight to defend their country, the war grinds on with no end in sight. Meanwhile, Putin's disregard for the sovereignty of Russia's neighbors prompted Finland and Sweden to seek admission into NATO — even as NATO member Turkey fluctuates between cooperation and competition with Russia. How are Russian and Ukrainian forces currently performing on the battlefield? What role has Turkey played in the conflict, and will this impact the future of U.S.-Turkey relations? Are recent changes to NATO's military posture sufficient? How should we view the likely addition of Finland and Sweden to the NATO alliance? Bradley Bowman — senior director of FDD's Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), filling in for host Cliff May — poses these and related questions to two experts. LTG (Ret.) Ben Hodges previously served as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army in Europe and is now the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis. Amb. Eric S. Edelman previously served as U.S. Ambassador to both Turkey and Finland and at the Pentagon as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. He's now a senior advisor at FDD where he also serves on the Board of Advisors for FDD's CMPP.

The Midway Measures Trap

Decades ago, Richard Bernstein opened Time magazine’s first bureau in Beijing. He was later New York Times bureau chief at the UN, in Paris, and in Berlin. He spent a few years as the Times’ National Cultural Correspondent and as a Times book critic. He’s also the author of a list of incisive books including on China and France. He recently wrote a provocative op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. It’s about what he calls the “Midway Measures Trap.” That’s when the U.S. is caught between two contradictory imperatives: to respond to a threat, but also to limit the response so as to contain costs and limit risks. The result is often mission failure – and that has consequences. He joins host Cliff May to discuss not going the distance, not sticking to our guns, being in for a penny but not a pound, and other related topics.

Nonproliferation, Biodefense, and National Security

Jackie Wolcott previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna and as U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Anthony Ruggiero is the former White House National Security Council Senior Director for Counterproliferation and Biodefense. Together, they are behind the wheel of FDD’s newly launched Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program — serving as Chair and Senior Director, respectively — where they’ll lead the Program’s efforts to prevent America’s adversaries from possessing and developing weapons of mass destruction (perhaps chief among the most pressing national security issues that we face). Both join FDD Senior Advisor and former White House National Security Council Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction Richard Goldberg — filling in for host Cliff May — to discuss the Program’s timely objectives and the very hard work they’re going to tackle.

NATO and Its Discontents

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, better known by its acronym, NATO, was founded in 1949 to contain Soviet expansionism. President Truman told a joint session of Congress: “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” This was the essence of the Truman Doctrine. Adopted on a bipartisan basis – with Sen. Arthur Vandenberg playing the most significant role on the Republican side – it encapsulated core American values and interests. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of its empire raised a question: Was NATO’s mission accomplished? President Trump at one point called the defensive alliance “obsolete.” He later walked back that description – though he was adamant that all members should be pulling the wagon, not riding on it (hard to argue with him on that point). Vladimir Putin, Russia’s ruler, has long wanted to divide and, if possible, destroy NATO. But the brutal, imperialist war he’s launched against neighboring Ukraine has instead revived NATO – at least, so far. This raises lots of questions. Foreign Podicy host Clifford D. May poses these and additional questions to Frederick Kagan, Senior Fellow and Director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. Fred was one of the architects of the successful “surge” strategy in Iraq – whose significance FDD understood and energetically supported – and he’s a former professor of military history at West Point. His books include Lessons for a Long War and End of the Old Order: Napoleon and Europe, 1801 – 1805. Also on hand to both ask and answer questions: Bradley Bowman, a West Point graduate who served for more than 15 years on active duty as a U.S. Army officer, helicopter pilot, staff officer in Afghanistan, assistant professor at West Point, and top defense advisor in the U.S. Senate. He’s now Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP).

Deal or No Deal: Confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran the Reagan Way

FDD experts have worked for more than a decade on the threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. As part of a multi-pronged strategy, FDD has shared nonpartisan research and analyses with policymakers, lawmakers, and the business community. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is slated to hold its first public hearing on the theocratic regime in more than two years with administration officials and top experts, and they have invited FDD’s Mark Dubowitz – who founded our Iran program – to testify as an expert witness. He joins Foreign Podicy host Cliff May — along with FDD’s Rich Goldberg, who recently served on the National Security Council as the Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction; and FDD’s Toby Dershowitz who has played a significant role in shaping and messaging policies to counter the threats from Tehran — to discuss the impending Iran nuclear deal.

Why They Fight

Russia's war in Ukraine underscores, among other things, the urgency of boosting Taiwan's military readiness. Meanwhile, many Americans remain bitterly divided on what role of the U.S. should be in the world, and, therefore, on how strong America's military power ought to be. To discuss these and other pressing issues facing the U.S. and broader free world, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by experts from FDD's Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) — LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster and Bradley Bowman. LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster formerly served as the U.S. National Security Advisor and was a commissioned officer in the United States Army for 34 years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. He's a historian, an author, and a pundit. He now serves as the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution — and he also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Advisors at FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). Bradley Bowman is a West Point Graduate, who served as an active-duty U.S. Army officer, Black Hawk pilot, and top advisor to two U.S. Senators. He is also now with FDD's Center on Military and Political Power where he serves as the Center's Senior Director.

The Fog of War and Diplomacy

Russia’s brutal war continues, and President Zelensky is asking for more assistance as the people of Ukraine attempt to exercise their right to defend themselves from an imperialist aggressor seeking to end their existence as an independent nation. The Biden administration’s efforts to revive Barack Obama’s fatally flawed deal with Iran’s rulers — in an even weaker form — may be close to completion. Once that happens, Iran’s theocrats will be enriched. They will have more to spend on terrorism, missile development, and proxy wars. Their path to a nuclear weapons capability will be clear — even if they abide by the agreement which, based on past performance, seems highly unlikely. It’s probable that, as a provision of that agreement, Biden will grant Russia’s demand for substantial opportunities to evade sanctions. It’s possible that China’s rulers will take over Russia’s role as a caretaker of Tehran’s highly enriched uranium, which should not inspire confidence. It’s also likely that the three strongest revisionist and revanchist regimes — those ruling China, Russia, and Iran — will begin working even more closely to diminish the power and influence of the United States. One might call them an Axis of Authoritarians or, more pointedly, an Axis of Tyranny. Foreign Podicy host Cliff May discusses all this and more with FDD Senior Fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former specialist at the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, and FDD Senior Fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu.

A War in Ukraine, A Battle in Vienna, and Israel on the Edge

As Vladimir Putin’s troops ravage Ukraine, his envoy in Vienna is steering the U.S. nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Israelis, who know all too well what it means to have bigger neighbors determined to erase your nation from the map, are trying to bring an end to the war and help those suffering as a result of the war — but they can’t forget that Putin has military forces stationed just over their northern border in Syria. To discuss these and related issues, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by FDD Senior Vice President Jonathan Schanzer, recently returned from a week of meetings with senior officials in Israel, and FDD Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg, who served for many years as a key staffer in both the House and Senate and, most recently, on the White House National Security Council as Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The Unruly and Not-So-Orderly Rules-based International Order

John Bolton has had quite a few challenging jobs. Among them: presidential national security advisor, ambassador to the United Nations, and several senior positions in the State Department. He has an original and provocative new essay in National Review on the so-called “rules-based international order.” He discusses that and other current issues, crises, and conflicts with Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at FDD, formerly a case officer at the CIA, and Foreign Podicy host Cliff May.

Biden’s Moment of Truth in Iran

Negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran have not gone well. President Biden may soon have to choose between two unappealing options: allowing the theocratic regime to become a nuclear-weapons power or using military force to prevent that outcome. Mark Dubowitz, FDD’s chief executive, and Matthew Kroenig, a former senior policy advisor at the Pentagon, now a professor of government at Georgetown University, and director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Strategy Initiative, recently published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal arguing that one of those options is decidedly worse than that other. They join Foreign Podicy host Cliff May to discuss.

Biden’s Democracy Summitry

On December 9th and 10th, President Biden hosted what he called the Summit for Democracy – a virtual conference to which he invited 110 governments. Three principal items on the agenda: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and advancing human rights. Did this “summit” make any progress or at least chart a way forward? What’s been the reaction from authoritarians, corrupt politicians, and human rights abusers? Based on what criteria were invitations issued – or not issued? What, if anything, comes next? To discuss such riddles, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by Brian Katulis, Vice President for Policy at the Middle East Institute, non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and co-editor of the Liberal Patriot; and Reuel Marc Gerecht, formerly a Middle East specialist in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, now a senior fellow at FDD.

The U.S. Rejoins the UN’s Human Rights Violators Club

If the United Nations Human Rights Council were a figment of George Orwell’s imagination, you’d probably say: “Okay, very entertaining but, even accounting for dramatic license, this is a bit over the top.” The UNHRC is a club for many of the world’s worst and most chronic violators of human rights (read FDD’s assessment here). Among the privileges of membership: virtual immunity to criticism. The U.S., by contrast, is fair game for criticism. And Israel has long been the council’s whipping boy. President Trump and his ambassador the UN, Nikki Haley, withdrew from the UNHRC three years ago. President Biden has reversed that policy. The U.S. has just won election to that body again – with the Biden administration promising that re-engagement will lead to reform. Joining host Cliff May to discuss the UN and human rights are Rich Goldberg, senior advisor to FDD, who has held senior positions in the House, Senate, and National Security Council; Orde Kittrie,  a senior fellow at FDD and a tenured professor of law at Arizona State University;  and Morgan Viña, who served as Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, and is now Vice President for Government Affairs at JINSA, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

The UN’s Strange Obsession with Israel

An extraordinary number of organizations within the UN system spend most of their time, money, and energy demonizing and attempting to de-legitimize Israel — and claiming to defend Palestinians.  Joining Foreign Podicy host Cliff May to talk about UNIFIL, UNRWA, the UNHRC, and several other organizations specifically committed to what is commonly – though perhaps not accurately – called the “Palestinian cause” are FDD research fellow Tony Badran; FDD research analyst David May; and Richard Goldberg senior advisor at FDD, and editor of a recently published FDD monograph, “A Better Blueprint for International Organizations,” to which all three contributed and which Rich edited.

Nuclear and Chemical Watchdogs or Lapdogs?

Back in 1957, the same year the Soviets put Sputnik — the world’s first artificial satellite — into orbit, and Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up” hit the top of the Billboard charts, the UN established the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The goal was to promote peaceful uses of atomic energy, provide assistance on nuclear safety, and prevent nuclear materials from getting into the wrong hands. How has that worked out? FDD Research Fellow Andrea Stricker has taken a hard look at the IAEA and written a chapter about it for FDD’s recently published monograph: “A Better Blueprint for International Organizations.” Andrea also has been keeping track of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), another UN offspring. She joins Foreign Podicy host Cliff May — as does FDD Senior Fellow Anthony Ruggiero, who has served on the National Security Council advising the White House on a range of issues including weapons of mass destruction. Participating in the conversation, too: Richard Goldberg, senior advisor to FDD, who has served in the National Security Council and in both houses of Congress. A senior advisor to FDD, he’s the editor of the monograph on international organizations.

The U.N. Record on Health, Human Rights, Trade, and Communications is Worse Than You Think

There are dozens of international organizations affiliated with the United Nations. Some do useful work. Those that do not are under no pressure to improve. As for those that do harm: They pretty much enjoy impunity. Republican and Democratic administrations alike have preferred to leave not-well-enough alone. FDD scholars recently published a monograph, “A Better Blueprint for International Organizations,” examining what has gone wrong, and what could be done – if there is the will – to reform the flawed and deteriorating U.N. system (a system generously funded by American taxpayers). Foreign Podicy host Cliff May discusses some of the organizations within the U.N. system with Emily de La Bruyere, a senior fellow at FDD who focuses on China; Craig Singleton, an adjunct fellow at FDD who spent more than a decade serving in a series of sensitive national security roles with the United States government overseas; and Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at FDD, who has served on the National Security Council, in both houses of Congress, and as the editor of the FDD monograph.

The Predators Threatening Africa

Africa is a large and diverse continent. Many different peoples, ethnic groups, tribes — these terms overlap but are not synonymous — speaking more than a thousand languages, organized into more than 50 nation-states. Most of those nation-states achieved independence in the aftermath of World War II, as European imperialism and colonialism died out. In few African lands has political stability and prosperity followed. And today, Africa is threatened by new predators. Violent and vicious jihadists are kidnapping, killing, and committing a long list of other crimes. Africa also is threatened by what I’m going to call neo-imperialism — not the European variety. Joining host Cliff May to discuss these issues is Dr. J. Peter Pham, who was the first-ever United States Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa. Before that, Ambassador Pham served as U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa. He’s also been a denizen of think tanks. Currently he is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, but his first DC think tank affiliation was an Adjunct Senior Fellow at FDD. In addition, he was a tenured Associate Professor of justice studies, political science, and Africana studies at James Madison University, and Director of the school’s Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Ambassador Pham is the author of more than 300 essays and reviews and the author, editor, or translator of over a dozen books, primarily on African history, politics, and economics.

The UN System: What Went Wrong and What Should Be Done

The U.N. and other international organizations were designed to give structure to what we like to call the “international community” – establishing and expressing what we like to call “international laws” and “international norms.” Over recent years, however, authoritarian regimes have been increasingly dominating these entities, and utilizing them for their own, decidedly illiberal ends. FDD scholars have just published “A Better Blueprint for International Organizations,” a monograph with a foreword by former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, and contributions from a dozen FDD scholars. They make clear what went wrong and what can – and should – be done to fix this broken, indeed, increasingly corrupt, international system. To discuss these issues, host Cliff May is joined by Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor to FDD and the monograph’s editor, and Morgan Viña, who served as chief of staff and senior policy advisor to Ambassador Haley and is now an adjunct fellow at FDD.