Oman: the joy of benevolent dictatorship
ON A SUMMER morning in 1970, British commandos stormed the royal palace in Oman, captured the sultan, forced him to abdicate, and placed his son on the throne. Violent interventions like this one, aimed at securing the imperial goals of distant hegemons, often have disastrous consequences. The opposite happened in Oman. In the 47 years since […]
A Warning From the Middle East
AFTER LIVING in Turkey for years, I concluded that Turkish democracy was deeply enough rooted so that no demagogic leader could throw it off track. I was wrong. Now I believe the same thing about the United States: that our institutions are strong enough to withstand even the force of an autocratic president. I may be […]
Waking the Mexican sleeping giant
ONE REASON it’s so safe to be American is that we have no enemies nearby. To our east and west are nothing more dangerous than fish. Canada, to our north, has been a reliable friend — some would say our better half — since we gave up the idea of conquering it more than a […]
Stephen Kinzer on NPR’s “Here & Now”
How the century-old debate over “American Empire” still resonates
Stephen Kinzer on Radio Open Source
Stephen Kinzer: America’s Empire State of Mind
