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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opinion
Troubled Waters Ahead for US and China in the Asia-Pacific Region
This summer promises to be a turbulent one for the Asia-Pacific region. As the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore made clear, the United States and China are each promoting a distinctly different view of the regional situation. The United States continues to reiterate the need for regional stability, while China fundamentally perceives the South China Sea as… -
opinion
Modi’s US Trip Highlights Improved Relations With India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the U.S. this week for the fourth time in two years. While in Washington, he will hold summit-level meetings with President Barack Obama, address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, and meet with the heads of several think tanks. The visit is an opportunity to showcase the… -
opinion
72nd D-Day Anniversary: All Who Serve Are a Part of the Greatest Generation
Stop your average American on the street and ask them, “What happened on June 6?” Surprisingly, a few might recall that on a dreary morning while the low tide lapped lazily on the rocky coast of Normandy, France, brave men in battle armor no thicker than an olive drab shirt grimly headed toward Hitler’s Atlantic Wall…. -
opinion
Venezuela’s Crisis Is the Latest Example of Why Socialism Doesn’t Work
It seems the “Socialism of the 21th Century” is really no different from socialism from the past. Venezuela’s current tragedy, simultaneously culminating in food shortages, a crime epidemic, and an energy collapse, is the latest example of why centralized planning economy does not work—and how it is indistinguishable from tyranny. In the South American country,… -
opinion
6 Men Who Disguised Themselves as Women to Access Bathrooms
With the departments of Justice and Education’s new announcement on transgender access to showers, locker rooms, bathrooms, and other sex-specific facilities in schools, there is reason for concern. The Obama administration has unlawfully rewritten law, meddling in state and local matters, and imposing bad policy on the entire nation. Americans agree that while we should… -
opinion
Study Shows Those Who Claimed ‘Climate Debate Over’ Were Wrong
Last summer, the editor of Science wrote a commentary on climate change where she said, “The time for debate has ended.” After appealing to policies based on economic knowledge she doesn’t have, she finished with speculation as to which ring of Dante’s Inferno would God designate for climate skeptics. All in all, it was an… -
opinion
Remembering Those Who Never Came Home
During the mid-2000s, I attended my son’s graduation from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, in a ceremony where the commencement address was given by then-Secretary of Defense Bob Gates. Like many who attend graduations, I have no recall of what Gates said to the collective students, faculty, and families that day. I do… -
opinion
Don’t Let the 42 Republicans Who Voted for Obama’s Transgender Agenda Spin Their Vote
On Wednesday, 42 Republican members of Congress joined the Democrats to vote for President Barack Obama’s transgender agenda. Now they’re trying to spin their vote. These 42 Republicans voted for the Maloney amendment, which ratified Obama’s 2014 executive order barring private businesses who do contract work for the government from engaging in what the government… -
opinion
Europe Rolls Over on Greek Debt (Again), With No Reforms
European Union checklist for May 2016: 1) Greek Loans Rolled Over (again!)—Check! 2) Crisis Averted (again!)—Check! 3) Structural Problems in Greece Left Unsolved (again!)—Check! To an outsider, at least, that seems to be a good summary of how the European Union handled the most recent chapter in the Greek debt crisis. After the latest round… -
opinion
Chinese Ballistic Missile Submarines Should Definitely Cause Concern
As the United States continues to struggle with adequately funding its armed forces, other nations around the world are developing impressive military capabilities. Case in point: In a recent article published by The Guardian, China is set to deploy nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines, or what many in the naval community affectionately call “boomers,” armed… -
news
Russia Releases Jailed Ukrainian Pilot
KYIV, Ukraine—As part of a prisoner swap, Russia has released jailed Ukrainian army helicopter pilot and Member of Parliament Nadia Savchenko, who became a national symbol of Ukrainian resistance to Russia since her capture nearly two years ago. “This is good news for Ukraine,” said Alexander, a 21-year-old student who was out celebrating Savchenko’s release… -
news
Maryland Farmer Who Had $41K Seized by IRS Continues to Fight for Money
Maryland farmer Calvin Taylor has lived his life always trying to do the right thing. Taylor and his wife Debora operate C.W. Taylor Farms in Preston, Maryland, where they grow sweet corn and raise chickens, and run several farm stands, called Taylor’s Produce, across Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Through their business, the couple employs a number… -
opinion
Despite Rising Tensions in Southeast Asia, US Still Projecting Uncertainty
There is a lot going on in Southeast Asia. The United States has conducted another freedom of navigation operation in the area of several disputed islands. The American Aegis destroyer USS William P. Lawrence sailed within 12 nautical miles of the artificial Chinese island built atop Fiery Cross Reef. Because Fiery Cross Reef began as a… -
opinion
Tensions Rising With China After Near Collision
To say the bilateral relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China is ‘complex’ might just be the ultimate of understatements. Consider the facts: Beijing and Washington enjoy rich historic and cultural ties that date back generations. Over 300,000 Chinese students today attend American universities, only adding to the richness and cultural… -
opinion
Meet the Kurdish Female Warrior Who Battles ISIS
Lt. Colonel Nahida Ahmad Rashid is a top ranking female commander in the peshmerga, the army of the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Peshmerga (meaning “those who face death”) are proving to be the most effective force in the Middle East fighting the Islamic State, or ISIS. Having fought bravely alongside other (all male) regiments… -
news
Meet the Woman Who Oversaw Maine’s Welfare Reform
For Mary Mayhew, reforming the state’s welfare system hasn’t been easy. But the impact those reforms have had on Maine residents makes it all worth it. Since joining Gov. Paul LePage’s administration in 2011, Mayhew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and LePage, a Republican, have implemented changes to Temporary Assistance… -
opinion
The Cynical Spinmeister Who Helped Sell Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal
Now that the Obama administration is spiraling down to a sputtering end, the misguided architects of its disastrous Middle East policies are clamoring to defend what they see as Obama’s positive legacy in the Iran nuclear deal. The latest case in point is the disturbing article published last week in The New York Times Magazine… -
opinion
Anthrax Terror Plot Shows ISIS’ Reach Into East Africa
Kenyan police announced this week that they had arrested a man interning at a Kenyan hospital who was planning a major anthrax attack on the country. Police in neighboring Uganda arrested two alleged accomplices, and Kenyan police are still searching for two others they claim were involved in the plot. Authorities believe the man, Mohammed… -
opinion
Our Next President Must Stand Up to Putin
Whoever takes over the White House in 2017 will face an aggressive, revanchist Russia that is a threat to the United States and our allies. No amount of wishful thinking can obscure this fact. Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas region of Ukraine is just one example in a long list… -
opinion
How Russia Is Lying to Us About Syria
What seemed like an encouraging headline a few weeks ago was really all smoke and mirrors—far from pulling out of Syria, Russia has been rolling in even more troops and equipment. Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again proven that he cannot be trusted. On March 14, Putin began ordering troops to return home from…