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Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. In 2019-2021, he served as the Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, executive secretary of the department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, and senior adviser to the...
Obama's Middle East Gambit
Masters of the art teach that subtlety, indirection, and on occasion mis-direction are crucial to successful diplomacy...
A Usurpation of National Sovereignty
The controversy sparked by the Sept. 15, 2009, publication of the Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, otherwise known as the Goldstone Report, may appear to exclusively concern the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. . . .
Our Brave New World
Be careful when one uses the superlative case—best, most, -est, etc.—or evokes end-of-the-world imagery...
Bibi's Choice
Don't be misled by how little was said about Iran in the major speeches recently delivered by President Barack Obama at Cairo University and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Bar-Ilan University...
Teaching The Federalist
What happens when South Korean students take a close look at American democracy. By Peter Berkowitz.
Rally round the Constitution
What sustains the conservative agenda? What makes it distinctive and coherent? In a word, principle. By Peter Berkowitz.
The Roots of a Freedom Agenda
The Arab struggles may be new, but American goals are not. Three recent presidents laid the groundwork. By Peter Berkowitz.
Certified Madness
One of the more interesting sections of the war funding bill Congress will soon send President Bush is its provision for "readiness..."
Bring Back The Draft
Under President Nixon, in 1973 the United States abolished the draft, moving to an all-volunteer armed forces. Now some—most notably New York congressman Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee—have called for a reinstatement of the draft. Is this a good idea? What lessons from history can we call on to help answer this question? And what impact would the reinstatement of the draft have on society as a whole and the military in particular? Peter Robinson speaks with David Kennedy and Edwin Meese. (33:11) Video transcript
Schweizer discusses the air force jet fuel uproar on Fox News
Peter Schweizer, the William J. Casey Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and a former consultant to NBC News, discusses how Congress and the government, in giving sweetheart contracts to friends and big donors, cause a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars.
Reagan with Steven Hayward: Chapter 4 of 5
Steven Hayward discusses Reagan, Gorbachev, and the end of the Cold War...
Kissinger on War & More: Chapter 5 of 5
War and the media — the two have not partnered so well since Vietnam...
The U.S. & the Middle East with Fouad Ajami: Chapter 1 of 5
Fouad Ajami says history will be immensely kind to George W. Bush and his decision to go to war in Iraq...
Obama’s Bookshelf
Our president has been spotted carrying an assortment of books, from FDR biographies to the collected poems of David Walcott...
Charles Hill And General James Mattis On The Iran Deal, Democracy, And Freedom
Recorded on July 16, 2015 - Hoover fellows Charles Hill and James Mattis discuss the Iran deal and the state of the world on Uncommon Knowledge with Hoover fellow Peter Robinson. In their view the United States has handed over its leading role to Iran and provided a dowry along with it.
Jim Mattis On Call Sign Chaos: Learning To Lead
Call Sign Chaos is Jim Mattis’s memoir of his lifelong journey from marine recruit to four-star general and secretary of defense. It’s also the story of his quest to learn from every experience and pass on those lessons, so that future generations can plan better, lead better, and do and be better, thus creating a safer and more successful United States and world.
The Mud-Level Reason Our Nation-Building Fails
Our military leaders have just proclaimed a renewed, more-effective policy for Afghanistan, which they assure us will turn around the decaying situation.
We’ll see…
Generals And Politics
Following the recent appearances of retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and retired General John Allen at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, retired General Martin Dempsey, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, admonished retired senior leaders not to endorse political candidates. “As generals, they have an obligation to uphold our apolitical traditions,” Dempsey wrote. Through the broad sweep of American history, however, the “apolitical traditions” of the military are hardly clear-cut.
Preemptive Strike Or Preventive War?
With the troubles bubbling over on the Korean Peninsula, as the North Korean regime approaches possession of nuclear weapons and missiles capable of striking the United States, two words, preemptive and preventive, have gained increasing currency. While similar in meaning, their context is crucial in understanding their applicability to the current crisis. And here, as is so often the case, history is a useful tool in thinking through the possibilities.
May the Best Ideas Win
Eisenhower took office at a time of wars both cold and hot. One of his first actions was a complete rethinking of foreign policy. Our next president could learn from Ike’s example. By J. William DeMarco.