Not all atrocities are genocide
PERSECUTION OF THE Rohingya, the Muslim minority in Myanmar, has reached horrific levels. The government wants to push all of them out of their homeland. To encourage them to leave, it sends soldiers to burn their villages. Hundreds of thousands have reportedly been displaced. Hundreds have been killed. It is one of the great tragedies now […]
Don’t get too excited about the protests in Iran
WHENEVER TROUBLE breaks out in Iran, adrenaline rushes through Washington. Hearts pound excitedly at the Pentagon, the CIA, the White House, and Congress. In recent weeks, reports of street protests in several Iranian cities have triggered this Pavlovian response. Once again, however, Americans who have spent decades hoping for an explosion in Iran are disappointed. “Regime […]
What will happen in 2018? Take my quiz
UNPREDICTABILITY IS THE hallmark of the new world disorder. No year in living memory as astonishing as 2017. When it began, few could have imagined that the United States would trash its alliance with Europe, support a savage bombing campaign in Yemen, re-ignite conflicts with Cuba and Iran, and cozy up to brutes like those ruling […]
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 […]
