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Clifford D. May

Clifford D. May

Clifford D. May is the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a columnist for The Washington Times and host of the “Foreign Podicy” podcast.

In only one Middle Eastern country do Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Druze and others hold citizenship, vote on a regular basis, and enjoy freedoms. Irish politicians now want to single out that country for punishment
The neo-imperialists are intent on shaping a new world order, one that will be authoritarian, unfree and implacably hostile to American interests.
The American president has shuffled his national security team, but his key advisers have all understood that we cannot transform the states that vex us into Jeffersonian democracies.
In the Middle East, the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. But if he’s strong and doesn’t plan to wipe you off the map, it’s only sensible to sit down with him for coffee and a little baklava.
Let me state what ought to be obvious: To punish Saudi royals by rewarding Iranian ayatollahs makes no sense.
The U.S. president and his advisers are likely to impose sanctions, probably using the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which will allow them to target specific individual Saudis clearly implicated in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
In this topsy-turvy world, if you’d like to see Palestinians living in peace, gainfully employed, with access to quality medical care and reason to believe tomorrow will be brighter than today, you’re denounced as anti-Palestinian.
When America’s threat to use force is credible, its adversaries are less likely to test it.