The State Department’s naughty lists
MOST OF US carry lists in our heads. They help us deal with the world. We have mental lists of people we like or dislike, foods we enjoy or avoid, and politicians we admire or detest. This is a useful impulse for individuals, but it is dangerous for nations. Over the last few decades, the United […]
NATO is headed for a very messy break-up
IF YOU’RE AN American citizen, cancel plans for that vacation in Turkey. Don’t invite your Turkish friends to the United States, either. Recently Turkey and the United States stopped issuing visas to each other’s citizens. This is more than just another travel ban. It is a geopolitical spectacle unique in modern history: two allied countries blocking […]
How to end the endless war
WARS THAT the United States is waging around the world undermine our security by turning entire populations against us and diverting our attention and resources away from urgent needs at home. No, the opposite is true: the United States faces serious threats, and can only protect itself by confronting them wherever they emerge. This debate has […]
Breaking up is hard to do
LET MY people go! For millennia this has been one of humanity’s most stirring cries. People want to rule themselves, not be ruled by others. Their patriotic ardor gives independence struggles an air of nobility. In recent weeks, breakaway movements in Kurdistan and Catalonia have moved closer to confrontation. Nationalists in both places want to break […]
Don’t let the CIA run wars
Espionage is sometimes called the cloak-and-dagger business. That term no longer applies to the Central Intelligence Agency. It was established to collect and analyze information, and — at times — quietly subvert enemies. Now its main job is killing. Instead of running agents, it launches drone attacks. The CIA is becoming a war-fighting machine: no […]
