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L. Todd Wood

L. Todd Wood

ltwood@123washingtontimes.com

L. Todd Wood, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, flew special operations helicopters supporting SEAL Team 6, Delta Force and others. After leaving the military, he pursued his other passion, finance, spending 18 years on Wall Street trading emerging market debt, and later, writing. The first of his many thrillers is "Currency." Todd is a contributor to Fox Business, Newsmax TV, Moscow Times, the New York Post, the National Review, Zero Hedge and others. For more information about L. Todd Wood, visit LToddWood.com.

Articles by L. Todd Wood

In this May 4, 2004, photo, a full moon rises above the golden domes of the Orthodox Monastery of the Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. Tensions over the imminent formation of a Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of Moscow are raising fears that nationalists will try to seize Russian church properties.(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Ukraine media wars

As we have seen in the United States in vibrant real time over the last several years, the media have become a battleground for the powerful to fight it out with the goal of altering public opinion and, therefore, influencing policy -- in other words, to gain power.

October 30, 2018
National security adviser John R. Bolton met this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and said President Trump intends to withdraw from the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. (Associated Press)

Vladimir Putin’s Russia can’t win U.S. arms race

Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning this week of a new arms race and threatening to target European nations that may host U.S. midrange nukes, in response to National Security Adviser John R. Bolton's trip to Moscow this week where he confirmed President Trump's intention to pull out of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

October 25, 2018
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton, left, and Russian Security Council chairman Nikolai Patrushev talk prior their official talks in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Bolton met with Patrushev to discuss a broad range of issues including arms control agreements, Syria, Iran, North Korea and the fight against terrorism.(Press Service of the Russian Security Council via AP)

CROSSTALK: John Bolton to press US-Russia nuclear treaty

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is visiting Moscow this week to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian National Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. It is reported that a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin could also be in the works.

October 22, 2018
Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim, center, visits a polling station in the southern coastal town of Port Dickson, where Anwar is vying for a seat along with six other candidates, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. Voting opened Saturday in a by-election that is expected to see charismatic Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim win a parliamentary seat and return to active politics as he prepare for his eventual takeover from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Gay rights and the path ahead for Malaysia

In the wake of the long ordeal of Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim, whose career was derailed for years by legal battles and convictions for sodomy, a campaign against LGBT people in Malaysia has been ramping up since Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir came to power this year.

October 18, 2018
Illustration on freedom of religion by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Is Central Asia becoming a model for religious tolerance?

The tri-annual Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held this month in Astana, Kazakhstan, is a gathering of the world's top clerics to try to bring understanding between different religious faiths, and also to unite against religious extremism.

October 16, 2018
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to his plane to depart for meetings with Saudi Arabia's King Salman in Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018 at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (Leah Millis/Pool Image via AP)

Khashoggi mystery: Saudi dissident suspects killing

I had the good fortune to sit down recently with a D.C.-based Saudi dissident, and the timing coincides with the Jamal Khashoggi case, which remains the big news following reports Monday that Mr. Khashoggi may have died in a botched interrogation.

October 15, 2018
In this Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chinese leaders, led by President Xi, promised Wednesday to increase imports and reduce risks in their financial system amid slowing economic growth and pressure from Washington and Europe to open their markets wider. (Nicolas Asfouri/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Beijing’s bravado betrays growing case of nerves

Chinese state media has just announced the imminent test flight of a new long-range stealth bomber called the Hong-20. A "military expert" told reporters that "usually, the development of equipment and weaponry of the People's Liberation Army is highly confidential."

October 11, 2018
The Central Bank of Russia, stands on Neglinnaya Street, Moscow, Russia, on Friday, June 20, 2008. The bank also known as the Bank of Russia, was founded on July 13, 1990. Accountable to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, it was originally called the State Bank of the RSFSR. Bloomberg News

Russia: shades of U.S. 2008 crisis

I remember the 2008 financial crisis very well. Actually, I remember it starting in 2006. At the time, I was working at a very large Wall Street investment bank.

October 10, 2018
In this photo from Tuesday, April 24, 2018 , US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron embrace at the conclusion of a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) **FILE**

France decides to confront Iran

The French government has decided it has no choice but to confront Iran after a blatant terror attempt on French soil during the summer against the main Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujahideen of Iran, which held a massive gathering in Paris in June.

October 3, 2018
Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Friday, Sept. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) **FILE**

Malaysian sex, lies, videotapes and sharia

In elections earlier this year, Malaysia experienced a political earthquake. The party that had ruled the former British colony for six decades, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), via the Barisan Nasional coalition, was pushed out of power. A new coalition, the Pakatan Harapan (PH), was installed in its placed via the May general vote count.

September 28, 2018
A Russian Il-20 electronic intelligence plane was accidentally downed by Syrian forces responding to an Israeli airstrike on Sunday. (Associated Press/File)

U.S. helps Israel after Russia shoot-down in Syria

As the bloody Syrian civil war appears to near a climax, the big winners after more than half a decade of carnage and confusion may rate as something of a surprise: Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

September 27, 2018
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

CROSSTALK: It’s all about Iran

For the Trump administration, it's not about Syria in the Middle East, or even Russia; it's about Iran, and only Iran.

September 26, 2018
In this April 2, 2018 file photo, a Chinese flag is seen on the end of a railway track at the Khorgos Gateway, one of the world's largest dry dock in a remote crossing along Kazakhstan's border with China near Khorgos. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) **FILE**

Astana’s international financial center - build it and they will come

The global financial world is changing, as President Trump would say, big league. This week marks the next-level escalation of the trade war between the United States and China, as POTUS attempts to roll back decades of the hollowing out of American manufacturing in favor of emerging markets in the Pacific.

September 25, 2018
Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, says Western powers stand "against the Iranian people's will." (Associated Press) **FILE**

Iranian resistance calls for European action against regime

The president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi, called on European leaders to cut off the financial lifeline to the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to further put pressure on the regime for its eventual downfall.

September 24, 2018
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives at the informal EU summit in Salzburg, Austria, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)

Understanding ‘illiberal democracy’ and the fight for the West

Western leftists likes to mock Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban when he infamously said that Hungary would pursue an "illiberal democracy" in opposition to Western European social democracy — which might more accurately be labeled as intolerant socialism. If one wants to be intellectually rigorous (not a virtue common among liberals), it's necessary to dig deeper into Mr. Orban's concept to see what he is actually talking about.

September 20, 2018
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was overheard on a hot mic confronting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over anti-immigrant posts, amid complaints from her government that the social network isn't doing enough to curtail racist comments. (Bloomberg News/File)

EU backlash grows against internet thought control

It's hard to think of a more damaging display of elitism caught on tape than German Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2015 confrontation with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, when she demanded that he "fix" anti-immigrant posts showing up on his social media network.

September 13, 2018