One Down! Abolishing Dueling and Warmaking

According to an 1838 U.S.-published instruction manual for dueling, the practice of dueling was going to last “as long as a manly independence, and a lofty personal pride in all that dignifies and ennobles the human character, shall continue to exist.”[1] Be that as it may, dueling was soon gone as a practice in any way acceptable or routine, and most of the globe had never had it to begin with.

Many years ago, I wrote a book about the outlawrists of the 1920s, people (led by lawyers) who were read more

Trump’s Offer to Sell Weapons to China Is Wonderful

Wednesday morning I was speaking by Zoom to a college class about war and peace, and one of the students asked about the risk of the U.S. demilitarizing and other nations not. I gave a standard answer about how a reverse arms race could be done in stages. The U.S. could commit to not spending more than three times any other nation on its military and proceed downward from there. Of the couple of dozen nations that spend much of anything on their militaries, all but three are U.S. allies and weapons read more

How Donald Trump Has Lowered the Wages of American Workers

On June 6, 2025, Donald Trump’s White House staff issued an upbeat statement proclaiming that what it called the “Trump Effect” was creating “higher pay for American workers.”  The reality, though, is that Trump, during his second term in office, has deliberately reduced the wages of millions of workers and, despite substantial inflation, frozen the wages of millions more.

In March 2025, kicking off his assault on workers’ wages, Trump read more

Quiz: Are You a Foreign Policy and History Genius?

Grab paper and pencil. Write down the numbers 1 through 10 and get ready to mark down next to them either “True” or “False.” Think I can trick you? Ten items follow. Which are true and which false? See the answers at the end.

1. The grandfather of the current leader of North Korea, the guy who ruled over North Korea from 1945 to 1994, was more of a Presbyterian than a Communist. Kim Il Sung was raised in a Christian community created by U.S. missionaries, was a Sunday School teacher and church organist, and leader of a Christian youth group. Kim Il Sung did not turn against Christianity so much as choose to himself play the role of Jesus in the story. He changed his name to take the name of a mythical read more

It’s Possible to Salvage Canadian-American Friendship–and Much More

Canada and the United States have frequently maintained that they have a special relationship, characterized by the world’s longest undefended international border, peaceful interaction, common values, and a close defense partnership through NATO.

Nevertheless, the two nations are currently locked in an increasingly destructive battle.

In late 2024, shortly after his re-election as U.S. President, Donald Trump started provoking Canadians read more