Clifford D. May
Columns by Clifford D. May
Charting Natan Sharansky’s journeys: From prison to politics to an exodus from Africa
Natan Sharansky was born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky in 1948 in Stalino, a grimy Ukrainian coal town renamed Donetsk following the death of the second Soviet dictator in 1953. Published November 3, 2020
Chinese Communist Party seeks nothing less than global domination
Mr. Xi is pursuing not global leadership but global domination. His intention is to build a new illiberal international order, one with rules made in China, for China and enforced by China. Published October 20, 2020
How Russia and China weaponize technology to manipulate the masses
Tyrants have learned to use high technology to spread disinformation while, in totalitarian countries, censors have become adept at repressing truthful information they find inconvenient. Published October 13, 2020
Gen. H.R. McMaster on the urgent need for ‘strategic competence’
There was a simplicity to the Cold War. Free peoples, and those who aspired to that status, were threatened by communism, a totalitarian ideology aggressively propagated by the Soviet Union, an expansionist empire. Published October 6, 2020
After Abraham Accords, time to look at Palestinian-Israeli conflict with fresh eyes
Before there was a Palestinian-Israeli conflict, there was an Arab-Israeli conflict. Last week, on the White House lawn, that older conflict was put to rest. Published September 22, 2020
At 75, the U.N. General Assembly in need of reform
The 75th session of the U.N. General Assembly is underway. Publicists are calling it "historic." I suspect you're thinking: Is this exciting or what? Published September 15, 2020
Stopping jihadists is a mission worth discussing during presidential election
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington were a wakeup call. They led a low-intensity armed conflict that, 19 years later, remains inconclusive. Published September 8, 2020
Battle for Belarus: Former Soviet republic struggles to become a real republic
It was once thought probable, if not inevitable, that from the ashes of the U.S.S.R. would arise liberal democracies. But few Soviet republics have become real republics. Published September 1, 2020
Lebanon may be broken beyond repair
Long before the blast, Lebanon had begun shattering, politically and economically. Its elites bear the blame, and street protests against them have raged for almost two years. Published August 25, 2020
America’s key European allies side with Tehran, Moscow and Beijing
Iran's rulers characterized what happened at the U.N. Security Council last week as a "heavy defeat for Washington," and I can't say they're wrong. Published August 18, 2020
Tyrants, including rulers of Iran, China and North Korea, threaten free speech in all countries
The rulers of North Korea and China have found nefarious ways to limit speech critical of them, intimidating and manipulating what we might otherwise consider powerful and independent individuals in Hollywood, professional sports, and the news media. Published August 11, 2020
News from ‘Londongrad’: Putin’s agents and cronies run amok in Britain
"The dissolution of the USSR was a time of hope in the West. Western thinking was, if not to integrate Russia fully, at least to ensure that it became a partner. By the mid-2000s, it was clear that this had not been successful." Published July 28, 2020
Mike Pompeo’s fight for unalienable rights
Mr. Pompeo's naming of a bipartisan Commission on Unalienable Rights, chaired by Harvard legal scholar Mary Ann Glendon, author of a book about Eleanor Roosevelt, provoked outrage, anger and intolerance. Published July 21, 2020
Peter Beinart’s one-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians
Peter Beinart is at it again. If you don't know to whom I'm referring you might count yourself lucky, not bother to read the paragraphs that follow and pick up a summer novel instead. Published July 14, 2020
Learning lessons from World War II and the Cold War
What we should be debating now is not whether to continue defending America, but how best to sustain the mission, learning lessons from the wars America has successfully fought in the past. Published July 7, 2020
Meet the global leadership restrainers: Making America second-rate again
Will the terrorist groups around the world pose more or less of a threat if we "rein in" our efforts to foil their plots? Can you think of an example of diplomats who have been more effective by talking softly and not carrying a big stick? Published June 30, 2020
Iran’s rulers (still) seek nuclear weapons
We now have overwhelming evidence that the nuclear weapons development program whose existence Iran's rulers have consistently denied continues to progress. Published June 23, 2020
Trump administration finally begins to stand up to the ICC, a hostile international organization
NATO members and Japan depend on American troops to defend them. Yet they both support and fund the International Criminal Court even as it unlawfully targets the American troops putting their lives on the line for them. Published June 16, 2020
Did Chinese Communist Party intend for COVID-19 to destabilize a disunited United States?
How different the current situation might have been had China's rulers said early on: "A virus that came from a bat has gotten loose in Wuhan. We're sorry. Published June 2, 2020
Communist China’s imperialist dreams of dividing the world with Belt and Road Initiative
A century ago, Vladimir Lenin wrote a book titled "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism." I doubt it occurred to him that imperialism might one day become the highest stage of communism. Yet that day is here. Published May 26, 2020
