The Rationale and Contours of an Amicable Transatlantic Security Divorce
Founded 70 years ago, NATO may be nearing its end. Increasing numbers of Europeans question the existence of the military alliance, while US and European perspectives on strategic issues continue to drift apart. Cato scholar Ted Galen Carpenter argues that the notion of transatlantic solidarity, already a weak idea even when faced with the mutual threat of the Soviet Union, is now an absurd fiction today largely confined to out of touch political elites. Washington needs to start thinking about how to restructure this relationship, including dropping opposition to an independent European security entity and withdrawing US forces from Europe.
- "The Rationale and Contours of an Amicable Transatlantic Security Divorce," by Ted Galen Carpenter
- NATO: The Dangerous Dinosaur, by Ted Galen Carpenter
Fuel to the Fire: How Trump Made America’s Broken Foreign Policy Even Worse (and How We Can Recover)
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump broke not only from the Republican Party but also from the bipartisan consensus on U.S. foreign policy. Trump’s “America First” vision called for a reassertion of American nationalism on the economic front as well as in foreign affairs. Since Trump took office, it has become clear that “America First” was more of a campaign slogan than a coherent vision of American grand strategy. Fuel to the Fire, a new book from Cato scholars Christopher A. Preble, John Glaser, and A. Trevor Thrall, characterizes and explains Trump’s foreign policy doctrine and the effect that he likely will have on U.S. foreign policy during his tenure.
- "Fuel to the Fire: How Trump Made America’s Broken Foreign Policy Even Worse (and How We Can Recover)," Book Feature from Christopher A. Preble, John Glaser, and A. Trevor Thrall
- More about the book
- Purchase the book: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Apple Books
The 2019 Arms Sales Risk Index
The United States has long been the world’s leading arms exporter. Between 2002 and 2018 the United States notified Congress of over $560 billion in sales of major conventional weapons to 167 different nations. Though arms sales can play an important role in American foreign policy, the risks involved with sending billions of dollars of deadly weapons to all sorts of places are significant.To help improve decision making around arms sales, scholars A. Trevor Thrall and Caroline Dorminey created the Arms Sales Risk Index. By identifying the factors linked to negative outcomes like dispersion, diversion, and the misuse of weapons by recipients, the index provides a way to measure the risk involved with arms sales to every nation. We invite scholars and policy makers to read the report and to download the data for further analysis.
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