Brexit Is Not A British Revolution; It’s Part Of A Global Revolt
I’m not much of an expert on Great Britain; when I took my doctoral exams at the University of Wisconsin in Western European History, the Brits weren’t included. We...
Michael Ledeen
Another Eulogy
Odds are you’ve never heard of Marco Pannella, the longtime leader of the Italian Radical Party, who died last week in Rome. He was 86, quite surprising for one of the country’s...
Op-eds
Nobody Knows Anything About Fascism
As I wrote in this space a few weeks ago, Donald Trump is no fascist, but there...
Op-eds
Trump’s Secret? Religion
I’ve just finished correcting the first set of galleys from St. Martin’s Press for The Field of Fight, the soon-to-be-released book I had the pleasure of co-authoring with Lt. General...
Op-eds
The Death Of Dewey Clarridge
In the summer of 1981, I was Special Advisor to Secretary of State Alexander Haig, and he asked me to try to find out what the CIA was up to in Salvador and Nicaragua. “I’m afra...
Op-eds
Terrible Things Are Happening
Americans just can’t take the Iranian tyrants seriously. If you ask us what Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei means when he leads his weekend crowds in a chant of “Death to America,...
Op-eds
The Whole World Is In Turmoil Not Just Us
The fierce conflicts we are witnessing in the primaries are not just an American phenomenon, indeed it’s hard to find a country that isn’t fighting internally as we are. M...
Op-eds
Giving Hope To Evil
As President Barack Obama was expressing his gratitude for Cuban criticism of the United States, terrorists were killing innocents at the Brussels airport and at subway stations, including one ve...
Op-eds
Guilt and the Immigrants
Angela Merkel took a shellacking in German regional elections a week ago, but she’s not about to get tougher on immigration, which is what provoked her bad results. She’s sticking wit...
Op-eds
What’s Putin Up To in Syria?
Why are the Russians flying many of their warplanes out of Syria? Are they short of cash? Do they need the planes for some other nefarious scheme, or is this some sort of deception? After all, th...
Op-eds
Who’s A Fascist? Not Donald Trump
No, Donald Trump isn’t a fascist. And the efforts of a considerable number of columnists, reporters, and even university professors to make him out to be a second Hitler or Mussolini testif...
Op-eds
Can Iran Change For The Better
We are apparently unwilling to listen to the plain meaning of Iranian words. I invariably get an uncomfortable silence when I ask listeners “what do you think the Iranians mean when they ch...
Op-eds
What Makes A Great President?
We moved to Washington from Rome early in 1977, and I worked at CSIS, then home to many luminaries of the Republican Establishment. There was a lot of talk about Ronald Reagan, running for the Re...
Op-eds
Hostages, Hostages, and Other Deals
Ransoming hostages is nothing new, indeed it’s routine for most countries and happens with increasing frequency for the U.S. government and American corporations. The current minifuror over...
Op-eds
RIP Tom O’Connell
Tom O’Connell, Col. Tom O’Connell that is, died last night of a “massive heart attack” in his bed. He was my best friend and my personal hero. He did so many incredibly br...
Op-eds
DEFCON 3
FDD Freedom Scholar Dr. Michael Ledeen discusses relations between US and Iran with KT McFarland. Watch the latest video at...
Op-eds
The Iranians “Arrest” Our Sailors, “13 Hours” Gives You Dots To Connect
Last night, we went to see a preview of the new documentary movie about Benghazi, “13 hours.” The audience was one of those Washington groups that contained real expertise, including...
Op-eds
Is Iran Retreating From Syria?
My friend and terrific reporter, Eli Lake, has reported that American and other Western defense experts believe that Iran is withdrawing troops from Syria. The Saudis’ London outlet says th...
Op-eds
What if the Jihad Fails?
Napoleon famously preferred lucky generals to the most brilliant ones, and there is no doubt that luck plays an enormous role in life, whether through our own individual efforts or from earth-sha...
Op-eds
The Iran Deal’s Slow Death
Back when the negotiations were still under way for The Deal between Iran and the P5+1, I accurately forecast the outcome would be a “No Deal Deal.” I described it this way:...