There is some confusion in Foggy Bottom as to how the United States ought to define Boko Haram, an Islamic militant group based in northern Nigeria. Last week, Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson testified in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, calling Boko Haram a “terrorist organization.” Yet he defended the Obama Administration’s […]
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s embattled regime is moving chemical munitions out of storage depots. It remains unclear whether the regime is deploying these weapons in the field or is trying to keep them from falling into the hands of rebels, who have gained considerable ground in recent […]
The bad news: This week the Dutch parliament voted to scrap Dutch participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The good news: Since the Dutch government dissolved back in April, and there will be a general election later in the year, the vote is non-binding. Nevertheless, this should serve as a wake-up call […]
Yesterday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the U.N.’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). As multiple experts—including The Heritage Foundation’s Steven Groves—testified, it is both unnecessary and unwise for the United States to become a party to the Disabilities Convention. The rights of Americans with disabilities are already […]
Instead of rallying together to fight the Obama Administration’s backdoor environmental regulations, which have exorbitant costs and minimal benefit, some conservative organizations are working with liberal groups to push costs higher by piling on a carbon tax. This would be nothing more than an enormously high, regressive energy tax that would needlessly destroy jobs and […]
The deeper meaning and implications of the Obamacare case for the Supreme Court’s reputation and constitutional law will be debated for years to come. In its annual Supreme Court review event at Heritage yesterday, an all-star cast of scholars, advocates (including Solicitor General Donald Verrilli), and journalists tackled those topics. The Court did rule that […]
Global-warming alarmists have reemerged with a vengeance following the recent heat wave featuring record temperatures across the nation and dozens of wildfires throughout the West. But how much has global warming contributed? At least two climate change scientists refused to identify any possible threshold, with one declaring, “I honestly don’t think you can really put […]
In an interview with a popular Miami TV station, President Obama was asked yesterday about the danger Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez poses to U.S. security. The President responded: “My sense is that what Mr. Chavez has done over the last several years has not had a serious national security impact on us.” The comment instantly […]
Tom Luna, Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, has implemented some transformational reforms in the state—to far less fanfare than those implemented in Wisconsin under Governor Scott Walker (R) over the same time period. But they may prove to be just as instrumental in improving student outcomes. Through Idaho’s Students Come First initiative, schools, notes Luna, […]
This week’s “Internet doomsday” experience should serve as a notice to each individual on the Web: Cyber criminals are out there, but with a little cyber awareness and cyber hygiene, most viruses can be avoided or mitigated. On Monday, the FBI shut down Internet servers that were used as a temporary fix to a worldwide […]
