International News
Coverage of international events and global policy shifts. The Daily Signal offers news reporting with opinion and commentary on world affairs.
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news
Ukraine’s Forever War
KYIV, Ukraine—On May 13, an artillery shell fired from within separatist-controlled territory landed in a residential neighborhood of Avdiivka, a front-line town in eastern Ukraine. Three women and a man were standing outside the home where the shell hit. Elena Aslanova, Olga Kurochkina, Maria Dikaya, and Oleg Borisenko. They all died. Two children became orphans… -
news
Trump Signals New US Approach to China With Tough Actions
Two developments in the past few weeks suggest that America’s China policy is on a cusp. The more publicly discussed event involves the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey, which conducted a freedom of navigation operation near Mischief Reef in the Spratlys island group. This is the first freedom of navigation action conducted by the Trump administration…. -
news
Trump’s Move to Deter Russian Aggression
KYIV, Ukraine—On Tuesday, President Donald Trump presented a budget request to Congress that would boost spending for an Obama-era buildup of U.S. military forces in Europe meant to deter Russia from military provocations and show NATO and its European partners that the U.S. is committed to their defense. “Such a request is more reassuring for… -
opinion
Trump Is Not Pro-Russia, Despite What the Media Says
Politically, no story is hotter than the one about President Donald Trump and the Russians. Last week’s appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the election keeps the story alive. But abroad, Trump hasn’t helped the Russians. In fact, he’s opposed them. Like many Americans, I completely rejected candidate Trump’s praise for… -
opinion
I Grew Up in Chavez’s Socialist Venezuela. Here’s What I Think About the Current Crisis.
Venezuela’s air is thick with tear gas and its streets are stained with the blood of its youth. The South American nation has been reduced to a battlefield as government forces brutally pummel protestors. For the past 50 days, Venezuelans throughout the country have taken to the streets in anti-government uprisings. With approval ratings in… -
opinion
Did the Chinese Government Influence Voice of America?
The U.S. has long used international broadcasting as a tool in public diplomacy. Yet the nation’s international broadcasting agency—the Broadcasting Board of Governors—has been a distinct, freestanding agency within the U.S. government since the International Broadcasting Act of 1994. The reason often given for this independence is a fear of political influence from either the… -
opinion
For Bigger Defense Commitments, Bring NATO Finance Ministers to the Table
NATO heads of state will gather Thursday in Brussels for a so-called mini-summit (officially a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the heads-of-state level). But if the alliance wants to attain real progress on increasing European defense spending, then NATO finance ministers should also make the trip to Belgium. The mini-summit will be the… -
news
Manchester Explosion: UK Has Been Targeted by Terrorists ‘Time and Time Again’
At least 19 people were killed and at least 50 injured in a suspected suicide bomb explosion Monday night at an arena in Manchester, England, where U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande was performing a concert. Police said they were treating the explosion just outside the arena as a terror incident until they “know otherwise.” Front… -
opinion
Iran Re-Elects Rouhani as President. Here’s Why It Doesn’t Matter Much Who the Iranian President Is.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani won a second term in office on Friday, securing about 57 percent of the votes cast in Iran’s carefully vetted and stage-managed presidential election. Rouhani, a pragmatic hardliner often mistakenly described as a “moderate” by Western media, outpolled a field of rival candidates that included Ebrahim Raisi, an ultra-hardline protégé of… -
opinion
What a Middle Eastern NATO Could Accomplish for Trump
With the Middle East experiencing renewed levels of tumult, it begs consideration: Does the region need its own version of NATO? This idea appeared in The Washington Post just this week. Josh Rogin reported that during the president’s stop in Saudi Arabia, he might lay out a proposal for a regional security alliance of Arab… -
opinion
Who Wins and Who Loses Under These 8 Big Government Policies
It’s clear that many big government policies are creating winners and losers in America. The story has been the same for decades. Government makes friends with a company or an industry, blocks out the competition with regulation, and in some cases gives the company subsidies. Such cronyism is bad for innovators and for consumers. But… -
opinion
Why North Korea’s Latest Missile Launch Should Worry Washington
Saturday marked another breakthrough in North Korea’s broad array of missile programs. Pyongyang successfully launched a new system that could target U.S. bases in Guam. It is now one step closer to an intercontinental ballistic missile that could eventually threaten the continental United States. Pyongyang announced that the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile flew 490 miles,… -
news
North Korea’s Missile Launch a ‘Litmus Test’ for Trump and South Korean Leader
President Donald Trump will speak again to the newly elected South Korean president—who during his campaign advocated more direct engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That was before North Korea’s ballistic missile test over the weekend. “There is no question that North Korea continues to threaten the United States,” @PressSec says. Trump talked… -
opinion
How Instability in the Taiwan Straits Strains the US Position in Asia
While the eyes of the world are focused on security developments on the Korean Peninsula, two recent events should resharpen attention on the Taiwan Straits. The Chinese launched a new aircraft carrier, and President Donald Trump indicated that he would check with Chinese President Xi Jinping before he would take another phone call from the… -
opinion
UN Policy Still Fails to Protect Whistleblowers
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres wrote a letter to all of the permanent representatives to the U.N. in New York earlier this month, updating them on his management and reform agenda. A number of these initiatives are still in development and awaiting conclusions of various advisory teams or issuing of final reports and, thus, are… -
news
Paris and Washington Send a Message to Moscow: No Sanctions Relief Until Russian Troops Leave Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine—The Kremlin’s gambit to secure sanctions relief by redrawing the political landscapes in Europe and the United States has, so far, been a failure. In 2014, the U.S. and the European Union levied punitive economic sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and subsequent proxy war in eastern Ukraine. New presidential… -
opinion
Fight Over Soros-Founded Hungarian University Shows US’ Power Vacuum in Europe
That nature abhors a vacuum is a cliché but also a postulate about the immutable laws of nature. And once again, we’re seeing the unchangeable rules of the physical world being replicated in human action—especially in foreign policy. Exhibit A is Europe east of the Fulda Gap, where Obama appointees are still dictating American policy… -
opinion
The US Is Right to Insist on Lower UN Peacekeeping Dues
A consistent theme from the earliest days of the Trump administration was the intent to lower the amount that America pays for United Nations peacekeeping. During her confirmation hearing, Ambassador Nikki Haley repeatedly said that the U.S. contribution to the peacekeeping budget was too high and should be lowered to 25 percent. The current U.S…. -
opinion
Liberal Moon Jae-in Has Won the South Korean Election. Here’s What It Means for US, North Korea.
As with most presidential elections, South Korean voters predominantly voted their pocketbooks in Tuesday’s national election. While the election featured the usual struggle between a conservative market-based growth strategy and liberal redistributionism, voters this time were driven in large part by a desire to end their nation’s endemic political corruption. After 10 years of conservative… -
opinion
Despite the Rhetoric, US Trade Deficit With China Is Not a Big Problem. Here’s Why.
When we discuss international trade and balance of payments, there are two types of accounts. There is the current account, which includes goods and services imported and exported and receives the most political attention. In 2016, the American people imported $479 billion worth of goods and services from Chinese producers, and we sold $170 billion…