America Reawakens: Combatting the Far-Left Threat
Julio M. Shiling - 07-18-2026America Reawakens: Combatting the Far-Left Threat Leer en Español In a landmark address before representatives from more than 70 countries at the U.S. State Department's Ministerial Conference on...
11J at Five: Cuba's Real Unfinished Revolution
Julio M. Shiling - 07-10-202611J at Five: Cuba's Real Unfinished Revolution Photo: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini Leer en Español Five years have passed since July 11, 2021 (11J), when thousands of Cubans took to the streets in...
America's 250 th Anniversary: Recovering the Soul of the Republic
Julio M. Shiling - 07-02-2026America's 250 th Anniversary: Recovering the Soul of the Republic Leer en Español The celebration of America's 250th anniversary is more than a commemoration of national independence. It is an...
The Castroist “Reforms”: The Potemkin Façade
Julio M. Shiling - 06-19-2026The Castroist “Reforms”: The Potemkin Façade Leer en Español The Cuban dictatorship’s announcement of 176 economic and social “transformation” proposals should not be mistaken for a historic...
The 1940 Constitution: Cuba’s Democratic Bridge
Julio M. Shiling - 06-12-2026The 1940 Constitution: Cuba’s Democratic Bridge Leer en Español The possibility of a successful democratic transition in Cuba rests upon two historic advantages that distinguish the Cuban case...
Castroism’s Empire Crumbles
Julio M. Shiling - 06-05-2026Castroism’s Empire Crumbles Leer en Español For decades, opponents of economic pressure against the Castro-Communist regime insisted that sanctions did not work. According to this conventional...
Honoring Pedro Luis Boitel and the Demand for Accountability
Julio M. Shiling - 05-22-2026Honoring Pedro Luis Boitel and the Demand for Accountability Leer en Español This coming Monday, May 25, 2026, marks the 54 th anniversary of the death of Pedro Luis Boitel, a courageous Cuban...
The CIA Director’s Visit to Havana: An Ultimatum in Broad Daylight
Julio M. Shiling - 05-15-2026The CIA Director’s Visit to Havana: An Ultimatum in Broad Daylight Leer en Español The sight is repulsive on its face. A high official of the United States government, the world’s leading...
The End of Sherritt: A Victory for Helms-Burton and the Power of Targeted Sanctions
Julio M. Shiling - 05-08-2026The End of Sherritt: A Victory for Helms-Burton and the Power of Targeted Sanctions Leer en Español After more than three decades of open defiance, Sherritt International—the Canadian company...
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In Defense of a No-Fly Zone in Ukraine
Many have rushed to argue against a no-fly zone, but with the right military equipment from the U.S. and NATO, Ukraine could discourage Putin’s missiles and planes from flying over his country for war and genocide purposes.
As the free and sovereign nation of Ukraine battles the invading second most powerful army in the world, the West continues to evade its responsibility. Dictator Vladimir Putin has launched his captive nation into a war against the international democratic order. To believe that Russia’s imperial quest will stop at Ukraine’s borders is an exercise of supreme naivety. The West is in denial if it believes it is not currently under attack. Here are some reasons why implementing a no-fly zone of some sort over Ukraine makes sense.
Call it World War III or IV (if one counts the Cold War as a world war), the truth is that aggression from pillars of evil has been in a constant war against the free world. One example is communist China’s asymmetrical warfare since 1978. Another has been the installation of the Putin regime in 2000. It launched another front against free societies, a post-Soviet version. Authoritarian Russia took a mixed combat approach that has been, both, asymmetrical (cyber-attacks, espionage, economic, foreign interference) and traditional (Chechnya, Moldavia, Syria, Georgia, and Ukraine). The besieging of Ukraine, its heroic resistance, and the ensuing genocide have given the West a wake-up call.
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Debunking Russia’s Lies
Some of the lies told by Russia are doing a great disservice to freedom, republicanism, and the Russian people themselves.
There are a vast number of false narratives involving Ukraine and Russia, within the context of the latter’s invasion of the former. These bogus claims are not coming exclusively from dictator Vladimir Putin’s propaganda news outlets and spokespersons. Some individuals on both the left and the right are echoing these questionable claims. Considering all that is at stake, it is paramount to set things clear and debunk the main falsehoods made by the Putin regime, by those pushing his propaganda, or some well-intentioned thinkers that are framing their arguments on inaccurate premises.
“Ukraine is under Russia’s sphere of influence”
The notion that Russia is entitled to exercise discretionary authority over Ukrainian affairs is illegitimate. Ukraine is a free and sovereign nation with a consensual system of governance. The Ukrainian people get to decide, by way of their elected officials, the policies that their country adopts. If one is to accept as valid that Russia has a rational basis for its claim of Lebensraum (“living space”), then Nazi Germany was correct in its forced absorption of parts of the Czech Republic in 1938 and other parts of Europe. (More on this topic in a forthcoming article).
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Fear of War Will Cause a Bigger and Bloodier Conflict
Putin is losing this senseless war he started. According to Russian accounts, it should have been over in a few days. It wasn’t.
History serves many purposes, among them the knowledge that can be gained by studying and applying its lessons. War is one of those issues where politicians often ignore history, choosing instead to indulge in psychoanalytic historiography. The world’s democratic leaders, starting with President Joe Biden, are crafting national security decisions based on studying the pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behavior of the enemies of freedom. Fearing to go to war may precisely end up provoking a new one.
John F. Kennedy changed, at the last moment, the most seminal component of the structured plan of more than a year for an expedition of Cuban exiles to initiate a belligerent liberation campaign. This was to be carried out in coordination with an already active opposition force fighting on various fronts on the island. The Massachusetts Democrat, a darling of the U.S. soft left, dismissed the vital air support on which the plan was based, among other strategic elements. Kennedy’s fear of appearing “imperialist” and thus provoking a possible Soviet reaction, not only consolidated Castro’s communist dictatorship but also emboldened the USSR.
Read more: Fear of War Will Cause a Bigger and Bloodier Conflict
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Green Socialism Will Destroy America
The difficult choice between helping a democratic partner like Ukraine or betraying ethical obligations due to systemic dependency factors is a miserable choice.
The U.S. and the West are coming to terms with bad decisions made by politicians. To placate radical movements and interest groups that explain ecological destruction, climate dysfunction, pollution, poverty, and other perceived degradation of the environment through an anti-capitalist worldview, policies have been enacted that jeopardize free societies. Green socialism is detrimental to America’s health. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows us why this is so.
Vladimir Putin has devised a non-democratic regime that, after 22 years in power, has structurally emulated its predecessor’s place in the globe. This less ideologically focused, and lighter version of the Soviet Union has the same fatalistic relationship with oil and gas. Both dictatorial models claim the sale of fossil fuels as its main source of hard currency entry. The presidency of Ronald Reagan capitalized on this in the day of the USSR. The Reagan Doctrine of rolling back Soviet communism strategically used energy production and prices as a key tool in its war arsenal. Donald Trump initiated an intelligent approach to energy independence premised on concerns of national security, not just economic growth.
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