Articles written by Patrick Lawrence and published under the bylines “Patrick L. Smith” for Salon.
Our Syria policy is still a mess: These are the dots the media refuses to connect
Russia’s foreign minister reveals a strange talk with John Kerry, and explains much about American foreign policy MOSCOW—Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s widely respected foreign minister, dropped a big one here last weekend. After an hour-long conversation with John Kerry, Lavrov asserted…
We can’t have more of the same: The very real dangers of Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy
Trump may well be dangerous. But know what you’re getting with Hillary: American hegemony that’s hated worldwide Just what we needed: another foreign policy speech from Candidate Clinton. This one arrived last Thursday in San Diego—well-chosen ground, given the Navy’s…
The Defense Department is ruining America: Big budgets, militarization and the real story behind our Asia pivot
“Our defense contractors await your business.” That was the message behind Obama and Carter’s visits to Asia You have to tip the cap to Defense Secretary Carter. People in Washington spin things as a matter of course, as Ben Rhodes,…
“This will stop only when the American people get fed up”: American exceptionalism, the New York Times, and our foreign policy after Barack Obama
Our smartest modern military historian explains to Salon what’s wrong about our adventures in the Middle East Part one of my interview with Andrew Bacevich, the soldier-turned-scholar who has just published “America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military…
“The scope of our failure”: The real story of our decades-long foreign policy disaster that set the Middle East on fire
The brilliant Andrew Bacevich tells Salon why our massive march to folly in Middle East has to be seen as one war I first interviewed Andrew Bacevich, the soldier turned scholar, after he spoke at the Hope Club, an old-line…
Did the New York Times just accidentally tell the truth about the Obama administration?
A startling piece pulls back the curtain on how our foreign policy is created — and sold to willing media dupes Historians so inclined will have a blast when their turn comes to dissect the Obama administration and its people….
We can’t vote for either one: On world stage, Clinton and Trump present different, but serious, dangers
It is pathetically impossible to determine which one would be worse, the only metric we have left. It’s OK to pass As of this past week Americans voters have their choices in November—all three of them. I do not see…
We are all just this screwed: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and our muddled, perverted democracy
Hillary will be the nominee this fall. Time to examine what Bernie achieved and how it might go different next time The consensus is not complete, but it will be soon enough. Bernie Sanders is not going to make it,…
Trump opposed Iraq. Hillary voted for war: Let’s take his foreign policy vision seriously
Trump gets some things very wrong. But today’s speech was still daring, spot on and important contrast with Hillary Donald Trump on foreign policy. You start out thinking this is going to be roughly akin to George W. discoursing on,…
She’ll make Iran, Syria worse: What the media won’t tell you about our foreign policy — and how hawkish Hillary will pour the kerosene
The truth about our foreign policy is on display, if we choose to look. If only we ever learned the right lessons What an unusual season—or seasons, I should say. The inner workings of American foreign policy are rarely as…
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