James Carafano, Heritage Foundation

James Carafano

Heritage Foundation

Washington, DC, United States

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • Heritage Foundation
  • The Daily Signal
  • Fox News
  • National Interest
  • Washington Examiner
  • RealClearDefense
  • The Stream
  • PJ Media
  • Forbes

Past articles by James:

Responding to Tragedy in Turkey: How to Aid Earthquake Disaster-Relief Efforts

Media reports on the aftermath of a massive earthquake in Turkey (which now has the official name of Türkiye) look and sound as devastating as that of any war. The 7.8 magnitude quake of Feb. 6 was so powerful that it ripped a 190-mile chasm across the country. Reuters reported Monday a death toll of well over 31,000 in Turkey, and 5,700 more in neighboring Syria. Many thousands more are… → Read More

Biden Bungles China Spy Balloon Challenge

In the wake of the Chinese spy balloon over the U.S., Biden appears about as competent securing our airspace as he does securing our border. → Read More

Watch Out, China: 7 Great Sci-Fi Movies for Battling Evil Empires

For years the American debate over “whither China?” volleyed between the “Panda huggers” and the “Panda haters.” The huggers said not to worry about China’s rise; as the country grew in wealth, power, and global interconnectedness, it would become a responsible international actor. But the haters warned that a rising China would empower the Chinese Communist Party to become an ever more… → Read More

Countering China’s Drive for Global Dominance

Beijing tries to undermine our freedoms, security, and prosperity in many ways. There are the overt dangers, of course: China's rising military power, its aggressive "wolf warrior" diplomacy, its cyberwarfare and transnational criminal activity, environmental pollution, intellectual theft, espionage, and more. There are others as well, some so subtle as to be nearly invisible, that have become… → Read More

Rogue Superpower: China Is a Global Pariah and Shows No Remorse

China is being wracked by popular protests on a scale not seen since Tiananmen Square. But how much have the demonstrations made the regime rethink its autocratic ways? So far, the answer seems to be: Not much. → Read More

Biden To Meet Putin? President Shows He’s Observer-in-Chief, Not a Leader

After chatting up French President Emmanuel Macron during his pitstop in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden expressed a willingness to meet with Vladimir Putin to talk about Ukraine. Really? To accomplish what, Mr. President? What's the plan? → Read More

Five Big Foreign Policy Changes GOP Might Push Now That Election Is Over

Once the ballots are counted, lawmakers will settle down to doing the people’s business. If Republicans can retake the House and Senate, here’s how America’s approach to foreign policy may change. 1. The China Jihad → Read More

“Is There a U.S.-China Cold War” Is the Wrong Question

Let’s not call the U.S.-China competition a “cold war.” This ongoing conflict ought to have a name all its own. Using the term “Cold War” encourages oldthink. It suggests that we’ve been here before and therefore can manage this challenge in the same way we managed—and won—the decadeslong standoff with the Soviet Union. That is a dangerous idea. Today’s standoff with Beijing is as different as… → Read More

Is America AWOL in North Africa?

There are several reasons why it is worth examining Washington’s lackluster engagement in the nations of North Africa. While this region is not the most important to the United States, there are concerns and developments that affect America’s vital interests. → Read More

Iran Regime on Borrowed Time

Despite weeks of brutal repression, ordinary Iranians of all ages and all sections of society, and from all regions, continue their mass protests, calling for an end to the Islamic Republic’s rule. Their message is unmistakable. The Iranian Revolution has failed. The regime it spawned is doomed. The only question left for history to answer is: When will it fall? → Read More

Three Foreign Policy Issues That Matter More Than Midterm Elections

Next month’s national elections won’t deliver any foreign policy mandate. Voters will go to the polls to call balls and strikes on domestic issues: inflation, crime, immigration, energy prices, and so forth. But while the election won’t hinge on foreign policy, those who are elected will have to deal with it. China, Iran, Russia and North Korea are not going to stop trying to exploit American… → Read More

Biden Should Ask a Mirror Whom To Blame for His Energy Policy Failure

President Joe Biden and his congressional allies were very shocked when OPEC+ countries announced they would cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day, starting this November. Some lawmakers even propose punishing OPEC by pulling all U.S. → Read More

Understanding Russia’s Threat to Employ Nuclear Weapons in Its War Against Ukraine

The Issue The aim of U.S. policy ought to be to support to Ukraine and limit the scope of the conflict. In a national address, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the West was using the threat of nuclear weapons to blackmail Russia and that “those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.” He declared, reinforcing his… → Read More

Factors Affecting Ukraine’s Accession to NATO Membership

THE ISSUE The U.S. should work to ensure that NATO is prepared to face the challenges of this century effectively. It is in America’s interest to maintain an open door for nations that are qualified and can contribute to the political and military strength of the alliance. → Read More

Meloni and Italy’s Conservatives Will Strengthen Transatlantic Relations

Grumpy leftists in the European Union and the American press promptly deplored Giorgia Meloni’s landslide victory in the latest Italian elections. But here’s betting the new center-right coalition government will be good news for Transatlantic relations. → Read More

The West Should Welcome the Middle Corridor

Russian president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine sent Europeans scrambling to find alternative suppliers of natural gas and severely disrupted commodity supply chains between Europe and Asia. To reduce their dependence on Russia and China and the increasing likelihood of disruptions from confrontations with one or the other, Europeans must now think outside the box and seek new ways to… → Read More

A Partnership Approach to America’s International Economic Relations

Here is the hardest hard lesson from the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Brutal geopolitics has not gone out of style; revisionist powers still strive to take land with a bloody fist. The United States and the free world must take inventory of all the tools in the arsenal of democracy—hard and soft power, alike—and rethink how to use them for greater effect. A key element of soft power is economic… → Read More

Responding to the China Challenge: Blueprint 2.0

The Communist regime in China—its global ambition, growing power, and values that are diametrically opposed to America’s own—is the greatest international danger facing the United States. Not just in its own right: It compounds other threats to the U.S. like those posed by Russia and Iran. The U.S. must have robust, practical solutions that vouchsafe Americans against the threats posed by China… → Read More

Winning the Peace in Ukraine

Ukraine has a future. And the West has a crucial role to play in what that future looks like. Recently, I joined a group of Western security experts on a trip to Ukraine organized by the Warsaw-based Polish Institute of International Affairs. We met with the Ukrainian president. We visited Bucha, the high-water mark of the Russian incursion toward Kyiv, where the invaders massacred hundreds of… → Read More

Biden at United Nations Is Just Another Clown Show

What to make of the annual international gabfest that is the U.N. General Assembly? No longer a stately assemblage of heads of state, the get-together has devolved into a daytime talk show, rife with drama over who shows up, who doesn’t and who bashes whom. And when the next day rolls around, we’ve all forgotten what we watched the day before. When the United Nations was chartered into being at… → Read More