Ted Galen Carpenter

Ted Galen Carpenter, senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, is the author of eight books on international affairs, including Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington's Futile War on Drugs in Latin America. He is also a contributing editor to The National Interest.


Essays

Security

Drug Mayhem Moves South

| 01.04.12

Mexico’s drug violence is spreading into Central American countries that lack the resources to cope with such dire challenges. The region is in danger of reverting back to turmoil.

Staying Alive

| 02.29.08

Is a state by any other name still a state? Nations’ risky operations to maintain de facto status.

Security

A View to a Coup?

| 03.01.07

Advocates of toppling the mullahs in Iran need a stiff dose of reality.

Security

Future War: Taiwan

| 06.01.06

A plausible scenario for a Sino-American clash in the Taiwan Strait.

Security

Rethinking Non-Proliferation

| 06.01.05

Some states are more equal than others. America's non-proliferation strategy should reflect this reality.

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Reviews

Security

The Hagiography of Mr. Holbrooke

| 04.25.12

Richard “The Bulldozer” Holbrooke left a deep mark on U.S. foreign policy. Yet this collection of essays by his friends and admirers, which gushes with praise, leaves out significant elements of the story.

Commentary

Politics

Obama Behind the Curve on Drug War

| 05.04.12

Despite pressure from Mexican officials and disenchanted American citizens, the president refuses to change his drug-prohibition policies.

Politics

Mexico: The Rot Deepens

| 03.05.12

As the drug cartels steadily gain power, Mexico inches closer to failed-state status.

Politics

The End of the U.S-Turkey Alliance?

| 01.20.12

Rick Perry's exaggerations aside, the U.S. must take a long, hard look at its once-erstwhile allies in Ankara.

Economics

U.S. Mistakes Cause More Mexican Drug Murders

| 12.16.11

From damaging prohibitionary policies to botched law-enforcement schemes, America must take responsibility for its role in Mexico's drug violence.

Security

Mexico Sours on Drug War

| 11.16.11

Calderón is on his way out. Drug war supporters are defecting left and right. Washington needs a wake-up call.

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Blog Posts

Politics

535 Secretaries of State

| 05.23.12

Congress running foreign policy. The president usurping war powers. This is not what the Founding Fathers intended.

Economics

The U.S. Drug War Comes to Honduras

| 05.14.12

Without congressional approval or public debate, Obama is dragging the U.S. military into another quagmire.

Economics

An Agenda for Negotiating with North Korea

| 04.23.12

Washington should focus on getting the Kim regime to stop short of actually deploying an arsenal.

Economics

Washington’s Dead Policies Toward Pyongyang and Tehran

| 04.09.12

It is past time to bury the rotting carcasses of Washington’s ineffectual policies toward North Korea and Iran.

Society

More Signs of Trouble in Iraq

| 04.03.12

A corrupt, divided, hostile Baghdad is not much of a reward for nearly a trillion U.S. tax dollars and 4,400 dead American soldiers.

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May 26, 2012