William Hawkins is a writer and policy analyst focused on national security, trade policy, and foreign affairs. He contributed to The Weekly Standard from 1998 to 2001, writing on topics including the tension between commercial interests and national security, military strategy, and U.S. policy toward North Korea. His articles frequently argued for robust defense postures and skepticism toward trade policies that compromised strategic interests.
Down through the centuries, trading nations have confronted the task of reconciling their commercial interests with national security -- a task the United States faces with regard to China. And repeatedly, history has pointed to a great lesson: that private firms cannot be trusted to police their…
It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,
PRESIDENT CLINTON announced on June 3 that he would again waive the law and grant a one-year extension of China's "normal trade relations" (NTR) with the United States. "Maintaining NTR with China," he said, would "promote America's economic and security interests."
U.S. and NATO aircraft are now engaged in operations few anticipated when the strikes against Serbia began. Transports are moving Kosovar refugees to "temporary" homes outside the Balkans and bringing in relief supplies for hundreds of thousands in camps in Albania and Macedonia. War-planes are…
On December 1, 1998, Vice President Al Gore told an audience of farmers that he favors a review of American use of economic sanctions. "All this excessive use of sanctions in willy-nilly form should be reevaluated," he said. That Gore chose to thus opine at the very time the administration he…
Meeting with the top brass last week at the National Defense University in Washington, President Clinton pronounced himself satisfied that "our forward-deployed and first-to-fight units are highly ready." But ready for what? The cruise missiles the president launched against terrorist targets last…