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Charles Lipson

Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus

University of Chicago

Frequent contributor: 
Real Clear Politics
Spectator | World
The Telegraph
Wall Street Journal

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The Spectator •

Can General Bessent win the war?

With Monday’s announcement of tough sanctions on all Iran’s trading partners, the final fight for the regime’s survival has begun. Important as those sanctions are, they can only weaken the regime. Toppling it will require “kinetic action” by local forces, armed and assisted by the US. This fight is likely to culminate over the next few weeks. The future of Iran, the Persian Gulf, Lebanon, and Israel all hang in the balance.
The Spectator •

Will the wars in Ukraine and Iran merge?

This is a fraught moment, perhaps the most dangerous since the end of the Cold War. Two major wars are being fought, one threatening European security, the other the world’s energy supply. In East Asia, China continues to threaten Taiwan, and North Korea is reportedly upgrading its military technology with Russian help.


Put simply, the bad guys are on the march, fighting for their regimes’ survival, their malign domestic projects, and as much regional domination as they can achieve.
Althoug...
The Spectator •

California’s Democratic establishment battles insurgents

What’s new in California politics is the impact of Spencer Pratt’s powerful, innovative, and inexpensive AI videos. They will set a pattern for campaigns everywhere. As for the elections themselves, the runoffs for California Governor and LA Mayor come down to the same choice for voters: an insurgent versus “more of the same.” Spencer Pratt, the insurgent in LA, has a real chance but he is still the underdog. For governor, Xavier Becerra (the establishment candidate) is a heavy favorite.
The Spectator •

Trump’s credible threat at Davos

The headline from Trump’s Davos speech is clear: I won’t use military force to take Greenland. That’s what the President told the world’s leading politicians and business executives at the World Economic Forum. But there was a lot more to the speech. Some was a list of his greatest hits over the past year. Some were grievances--and promises to retaliate on trade if we don't get fair, reciprocal treatment.. And some was an ominous silence about what he was about to do to Iran.
The Spectator •

Greenland, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico… who will US target next?

When the earthquake is big, the porcelain rattles far and wide. And that’s exactly what’s happening now… in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and even Greenland. The plates are rattling after the Trump Administration’s swift, successful mission to capture Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was allegedly a major figure in the country’s international drug trafficking. Both husband and wife now face criminal charges in the US. Who else is rattled? Well, the Democratic Party fo...
The Telegraph •

Trump has moved the Middle East’s tectonic plates. It’s a nightmare for Putin and Xi

The most important, and most immediate, consequence of the Gaza deal is how it is likely to prompt a wider accommodation with Israel. Preventing that is why Iran sponsored the attack in the first place. But Israel first extinguished the terrorist “ring of fire” around its borders and then, together with the Trump administration, set back Iran’s nuclear program by years. Russia and China were pushed out of the region and the US can now focus on the Pacific Rim and containing China.
The Spectator World •

Has Israel won?

Two years after the October 7 attacks, first by Hamas, then by Hezbollah, has a war-weary Israel accomplished its main strategic goals? Yes, for the most part. It has ended its encirclement by Iran’s proxy forces (known as the “ring of fire”) and ended the constant, lethal attacks on its people, which gave cover to Iran as it secretly finished developing nuclear weapons, which could exterminate Israel’s entire population and wipe the Jewish State off the map. And it has emerged as the “strong horse” in the region, militarily and economically. But it hasn’t gotten the hostages back, finished the fighting in Gaza, or developed a viable plan for Gaza after the war ends. The plan is necessary, not only for Israel’s security but to complete the Abraham Accords.
The Telegraph •

Trump has set Democrats up for a shutdown humiliation

Senate Democrats, afraid of their left-wing base, won’t sign off on a simple deal to keep the government running for the next few months at current levels. They demand sweeteners, and Trump won’t give them. Trump has a very different plan. If the Democrats force a government shutdown, Trump and his allies will use it to cut progressive programs and the federal workforce. Democrats, “the party of government,” have painted themselves into a corner.
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