Editor's Note: This article was originally delivered as a speech at the West Suburban Peace Coalition Educational Forum on May 4, 2026. Within a few days at the end of March, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made two claims. He revealed that Russia had given him two months to withdraw all forces from areas still under its control in Donbas, or Russia would take it by force and change the terms of the settlement. Russia said that was not true. And he said that the United States had conditioned security guarantees on Ukraine withdrawing from Donbas. “That’s a lie,” U.S. Secretary of...

The war on Iran was neither inevitable nor necessary. As recently as March 3, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi said the IAEA “has found no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.” On March 18, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate Intelligence Committee that since the first round of bombing Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer, “[t]here has been no efforts…to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.” She testified only that Iran “could…begin to develop a militarily viable ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] before...

Not distracted by the war on Iran, on March 3, President Donald Trump, once again, warned that Cuba was in its “last moments.” The next day, he said, “It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they are down to, as they say, fumes” before admitting that the United States has caused a humanitarian disaster in Cuba. Trump’s rhetoric has continued to escalate. On March 17, Trump said,  “I do believe I will be having the honor of taking Cuba. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it. They’re a very...

Iran has an “inalienable right” to enrich uranium for civilian use, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told the U.S. delegation with frustration in the final round of talks before the bombs started to fall on Iran. And the United States has an “inalienable right” to stop you, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff answered with hubris. Araghchi is right; Witkoff is wrong. Though the U.S. and its partners have presented the public with a war that was caused by Iran’s refusal to compromise on its civilian nuclear program, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has “the...

“Tariffs,” President Donald Trump is fond of reminding us, “is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary.” It’s the most beautiful word “because tariffs are going to make us rich as hell. It's going to bring our countries businesses back that left us.” And that’s how it started. On “Liberation Day,” on April 2, Trump announced a 10% minimum tariff on goods from all countries with some countries being hit with higher “reciprocal tariffs.” “For decades,” he explained, “our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.” But...

There are many metrics by which U.S. President Donald Trump’s first year back in office can be measured. Some will measure it by tariffs and the economy, some by ICE and immigration, and some by civility and democracy. But, from a foreign policy perspective, the best metric by which to measure Trump’s first year is the one he set for himself. Trump promised to be the “president of peace” and stated in his inaugural address, “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end—and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy...

At 4:21 in the morning of January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump posted, “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.” No one had anticipated such a military operation prior to the announcement, and no one anticipated the comments Trump would make later that morning in his press conference. The press conference, and the comments that followed shortly after, contained several shocking statements. The first was the announcement...

A key reason that Russia went to war in Ukraine was to prevent Ukraine from ever joining NATO; a key reason that Ukraine went to war with Russia was to defend their right to join NATO. On December 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave up Ukraine’s right to join NATO. He presented the concession as a compromise. But it is not really a compromise. Zelensky may intend the non-compromise to leverage concessions from Russia, but it may not really change anything. That blocking Ukraine accession to NATO was Moscow’s primary motivation has been confirmed by NATO, by Ukraine and by the...