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
Japan Augments Alliance Capabilities, but More Needs to Be Done
Since returning as prime minister of Japan in 2012, Shinzo Abe has fulfilled long-standing promises to develop new military capabilities and expand its security role in the region and globally. Abe has enacted an impressive list of national security initiatives and has overseen a moderate increase in the country’s defense budget. Japan took a step…Bruce Klingner -
- Opinion
China’s Government Is Like Something Out of ‘1984’
The Chinese communist government increasingly poses an existential threat not just to its own 1.4 billion citizens but to the world at large. China is currently in a dangerously chaotic state. And why not, when a premodern authoritarian society leaps wildly into the brave new world of high-tech science in a single generation? The Chinese…Victor Davis Hanson -
- News
The War in Ukraine Was Supposed to End 5 Years Ago. But It Didn’t.
KYIV, Ukraine—Saturday marked the fifth anniversary of the day the war in Ukraine was supposed to end. But it never did. On early Tuesday fighting flared in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region when Russian-backed forces assaulted Ukrainian troops as they occupied an observation post near the front-line town of Zolote. Under intense shelling, Ukrainian forces were…Nolan Peterson -
- Opinion
Huawei’s Role in the ‘Chinese Espionage Enterprise’
Chinese telecommunications company Huawei has a footprint in countries across the world, including the United States. But in China, companies aren’t really independent from the communist government—which means that the data Huawei is acquiring about the habits and practices of its users could be also obtained by China. Klon Kitchen, a senior research fellow at…Katrina Trinko -
- News
Trump Sanctions Russian Oil Giant in Push for Freedom in Venezuela
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it has imposed sanctions on a Russian state-controlled oil company that does business with the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro, the socialist strongman clinging to power as an illegitimate president in the South American nation more than a year after the country’s legislature voted to remove him from office. The…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
The United Nations Once Again Proves Its Anti-Semitism
The depraved totalitarians, nefarious barbarians, two-bit gangsters, odious scoundrels, and bigoted scum who run the United Nations recently set up a new “database” to help anti-Semites around the world target Jewish businesses in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria—businesses that not only offer economic opportunities for Palestinians but opportunities that pay higher than most…David Harsanyi -
- Opinion
Pompeo Warns of China’s Hidden Influence in America
It sounds like an episode of “The Americans” or a best-selling Tom Clancy novel. But when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looked into the faces of 40 governors and warned them that China had infiltrated their states, he wasn’t kidding. They’re hiding in the shadows of our schools, our lobbying meetings, even our business dinners….Tony Perkins -
- Opinion
US Shouldn’t Rejoin UN ‘Tourism’ Agency, Despite Trump’s Budget Request
The Trump administration is continuing its curious fixation with rejoining a United Nations “tourism” agency, amid numerous reasons why the move wouldn’t help the U.S. diplomatically or economically. The State Department’s summary of its budget request for fiscal year 2021, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, contains a bullet point that reads: Engagement with…Brett Schaefer -
- News
Rebuking Russia, Turkey Pledges to Fund Ukraine’s Military
KYIV, Ukraine—Turkish President Recep Erdogan joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday outside Kyiv’s 18th-century Mariyinsky Palace to review an honor guard of Ukrainian troops. A band played the anthems of both countries. Along the nearby streets, Turkish and Ukrainian flags hung side-by-side on light poles. The Mariyinsky Palace originally was built as a residence…Nolan Peterson -
- Opinion
Banned in Britain: Franklin Graham’s Tour Dates Canceled Over Christian Beliefs
Evangelist and missionary Franklin Graham’s seven-city tour of the United Kingdom is now a trial, as all seven venues have dropped him. Graham’s canceled dates likely are due to an “an outcry over his homophobic and Islamophobic comments,” CNN reports. Although I don’t agree with everything Graham has said by any means, it’s disheartening to…Nicole Russell -
- Opinion
A Big Achievement for US Deterrence Posture Against Russia
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced the U.S. Navy has deployed the W76-2 low-yield nuclear weapon on its Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles, an achievement that fills a critical gap in the United States’ deterrence posture against Russia. The official announcement marks the completion of a short-yet-controversial process of modifying the Navy’s W76-1 nuclear warhead to…Patty-Jane Geller -
- News
In UK, Starbucks Ad Celebrates Gender Transition
Starbucks UK has partnered with Mermaids, a nonprofit group that provides support for transgender youth, on an advertising campaign, #WhatsYourName, celebrating gender transition. Starbucks said in a press release that learning each customer’s name and calling it out with his or her order “creates a moment of connection between our baristas and customers,” and that…Virginia Aabram -
- News
Trump Lauds Black Pastor Who Is Rebuilding Church After Arson
President Donald Trump took time Thursday to recognize the pastor of one of three black churches in Louisiana burned last year by an arsonist. Trump, speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, saluted the Rev. Gerald Toussaint, pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, a 140-year-old house of worship in St. Landry Parish. “Last year, Mount Pleasant…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
After Her Husband Joined ISIS, She Started Fighting Islamic Extremism
For Tania Joya, who was raised Muslim in London, it was a long journey to life in the United States. “I wanted to be in America, but my husband … thought that was bad for my religion and he thought that I would teach my children the wrong values,” recalls Joya. “So he took us…Virginia Allen -
- News
A General’s View of Why US Should Stay in Afghanistan
Despite overtures from the Taliban and declining interest among Americans, it is essential that the United States remain in Afghanistan, retired Army Gen. Jack Keane said this week at a Heritage Foundation event. Over the past 18 years, Keane said, the U.S. has made tremendous progress at preventing another attack on the U.S. from al-Qaeda…Allison Schuster -
- Opinion
A Mistake Imperils the Privacy of Parents Who Back School Choice
Christy Cook hasn’t been singled out or harassed for the choices she makes for her son’s education. She’d like to keep it that way. Yet in an astounding administrative error, Arizona’s Department of Education put Cook’s family and thousands of others at risk by disclosing their personally identifiable information to a special interest group opposed…Jonathan Butcher -
- News
Ukrainians Mark a Bittersweet Beginning to 2020
KYIV, Ukraine—The holidays are over and the winter doldrums have begun. For Ukrainians, the New Year has gotten off to a particularly bittersweet start, alternating between moments of monumental hope and tragedy. The year began on an optimistic note. The closing days of 2019 saw a landmark prisoner exchange between Ukrainian and Russian forces, marking…Nolan Peterson -
- Opinion
Russia’s Plan to Move on the Arctic
Aggression by Iran and trade with China may dominate U.S. foreign policy headlines, but a plan recently announced by Russia to increase its presence in the Arctic should command our attention. The Northern Sea Route Development Plan—known as Plan NSP—marks a 15-year effort by Russia to strengthen its involvement in the Arctic by focusing on…Rachael Menosky -
- News
Trump Offers Middle East Peace Deal: ‘We Have an Obligation to Humanity to Get It Done’
President Donald Trump, rolling out a Middle East peace plan Tuesday, acknowledged that other presidents since the 1960s have tried and failed to reach a lasting deal between Israel and the Palestinians. “I wasn’t elected to do small things or shy away from big problems,” Trump said to applause in the East Room of the…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
State Department Right to Tackle ‘Birth Tourism’
“Birth tourism” has become big business. Today, hundreds of companies advertise to pregnant women—particularly upper-middle-class women from China, Nigeria, Russia, and Turkey—offering assistance to get visas that would allow them to visit the U.S. during the time they expect to give birth. The U.S. hosts tens of thousands of “birth tourists” every year. In 2015,…Lora Ries