International News
Coverage of international events and global policy shifts. The Daily Signal offers news reporting with opinion and commentary on world affairs.
-
opinion
Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Belatedly Unites West
As of this writing, predictions of a Russian day-or-two romp through Ukraine, all the way to the point of threatening NATO countries, have proven wrong. Profoundly wrong. War is always unpredictable. But clearly much of the American news coverage underestimated both the totalitarian appetite of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the grit and determination of… -
opinion
The Right Way to Impose Energy Sanctions on Russia
In the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the idea of expanding sanctions on Russian energy is starting to gain bipartisan traction in Congress. This is a complicated issue. Although freedom-loving nations should be ready to use every tool available to push back against the authoritarian greed of Putin, energy sanctions… -
opinion
What Could Be Next in Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Moscow—and much of the rest of the world—expected Ukraine to fall quickly after Russia invaded it. Why hasn’t it? How are the Ukrainian people effectively fighting the Russians, and what could be next? Will Russia invade the Baltic States next, as some have predicted? And are American sanctions enough to weaken Russia? The Heritage Foundation’s… -
opinion
China, Russia, and Ukraine: It’s Folly to Think Beijing Will Work With West
As Europe slid into its first war of the 21st century, the Biden administration made a desperate play, hoping that China somehow would work with the West in dissuading Russia from invading Ukraine. According to reports in The New York Times, for months the Biden administration plied the Chinese with U.S. intelligence indicating that Russia… -
news
‘It’s Un-American’: DC Business Owners Suffer From 2 Years of Emergency Mandates
While hundreds of lawmakers gathered maskless on Tuesday for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, businesses in the D.C. area are still suffering from the COVID-19 mandates imposed on them for the past two years. The nation’s capital has been operating in a state of emergency since the onset of the pandemic, leaving… -
opinion
Estonia: America’s Unique, Valued NATO Ally That Stands for Freedom and Sovereignty
The small Baltic nation of Estonia—a once-communist republic—now stands as one of the freest economies in the world, a shining example and defender of freedom, and a tremendous ally of the West. As a former republic of the old Soviet Union, it has some advice for dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent aggressions. Estonia’s… -
opinion
How Does the Ukraine-Russia Conflict End?
Early in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, then-Maj. Gen. David Petraeus (later a four-star general and director of the Central Intelligence Agency) rhetorically asked author Rick Atkinson the question, “How does this end?” as they surveyed the battlefield together. The same question is being asked about the war in Ukraine. While we have no crystal… -
opinion
Answers to 6 Big Questions About Putin’s Nuclear Threats
After launching an invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked even more global concerns by putting his nuclear forces on high alert. The Daily Signal asked Patty-Jane Geller, policy analyst for nuclear deterrence and missile defense in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, what to make of Putin’s provocative rhetoric. Geller, who has… -
opinion
Putin Wakes up the Western Ostrich
After the end of the Cold War, foreign policy experts across the spectrum assured us that things had changed. Wars of pure border conquest were over. Wars over oil would soon be a thing of the past. Instead, the increasingly intertwined world would move toward peace. Thomas Friedman suggested in his massive 1999 bestseller “The… -
news
8 Things to Know About Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Who Will Give GOP Response to Biden’s State of Union Address
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the Republican response Tuesday night to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Reynolds has promised to deliver an alternative to what she regards as Biden’s “absent leadership” and far-left agenda. But who is Reynolds, and why was she chosen for the rebuttal speech? Here are eight things… -
opinion
In a Dangerous Move, Putin Orders Nuclear Forces to High Alert
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday morning ordered his military leaders to place nuclear forces on high-alert status during his war on Ukraine. We don’t know the details of what Putin’s order entails. Many of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces that can reach the U.S. already are kept on a high level of alert. This new… -
opinion
Putin Won’t Stop With Ukraine, KT McFarland Says
Russia will succeed in its invasion of Ukraine, national security expert KT McFarland predicts. And once Russian President Vladimir Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there, she says. “I think [Putin’s] going to start looking to the Baltics, those three little countries—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,” McFarland says on “The Daily Signal Podcast.” America is now in another… -
news
What He Saw in Ukraine a Week Before the Russian Invasion
ORLANDO, Florida—A week before the first Russian boots set foot on Ukrainian soil, Rep. Mark Green flew to Ukraine to get a sense of how things were going, and how America could best help. “When I was there, the mood was very positive and energetic. They felt like they were going to fight,” said Green,… -
news
America in ‘Cold War 2.0’ With Russia, KT McFarland Says
ORLANDO, Florida—America is in a new Cold War with Russia, KT McFarland says. In Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opinion, America may have won the Cold War of the post-World War II period, or think it won, but “that was only Cold War 1.0,” McFarland, the former deputy national security advisor under former President Donald Trump,… -
news
Trump: Putin Would Not Have Invaded Ukraine If I Was President
Former President Donald Trump asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he were still in office–a statement backed up by broad public opinion. “As everyone understands, this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged, and if I was the president,” Trump said Saturday night, speaking… -
news
Gov. Noem to Biden: Lead on Punishing Russia Over Ukraine—or Resign
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem called on President Joe Biden to resign unless he can demonstrate better leadership on the world stage. The governor, speaking Friday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, said that Biden should lead allies to impose tougher and… -
news
Trump Praises Ukrainian President’s Bravery: ‘He’s Being Tested at the Highest Level’
ORLANDO, Florida—Former President Donald Trump weighed in Saturday evening on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, repeatedly praising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his bravery. Ahead of the former president’s remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, The Daily Signal asked Trump whether he would take up arms like Zelenskyy if Trump were president during such an… -
news
Rep. Jim Banks: Putin Was Waiting for ‘Weak American President’ Like Biden
ORLANDO, Fla. – Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin waited to invade Ukraine until he could work around a “weak American president” like Joe Biden. The Indiana congressman weighed in on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during a Friday interview with The Daily Signal, critiquing Biden’s “weak” sanctions of Russia… -
news
Pompeo: Russia Invaded Ukraine Because Biden Didn’t Show Trump’s Resolve
As an Army officer, Mike Pompeo was part of a unit guarding a European ally against Russian forces—a circumstance he says is reoccurring with U.S. troops stationed in the Baltic states and Germany now. “We see on our TV the bombs, the missiles, the Soviet tanks—the Russian tanks—moving across Ukraine,” Pompeo, secretary of state under… -
opinion
Of Course Putin Invaded Ukraine Under Biden’s Watch
In February 2014, Russian kingpin Vladimir Putin invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula, which had been under Ukrainian jurisdiction. The timing was no accident, coming as it did only a handful of months after then-President Barack Obama reneged upon his own chemical weapons “red line” for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, effectively leaving the resolution…