Archive for March, 2014

A Slight Imbalance

An article in today’s NY Times reports on the UN’s Human Rights Council’s decision to extend the term of its monitor for Iran.   The vote was 21 to 9, with 16 abstentions.   Iran, naturally, was opposed.  Its government would like us ...

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Putin’s Rage, Obama’s Restraint

President Obama’s restrained handling of the Ukraine/Crimea crisis is just about right, for now.  Putin has legitimate grievances, but they don’t justify his illegal seizure of the Crimea.   Some kind of reaction from the West was necessary, even though there is ...

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Thank you, Roger Cohen

The Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disaster is a terrible tragedy.  But the awful reality of the tragedy—the death of all the flight’s passengers—has long been obvious to everyone who doesn’t believe in fairies (or maybe mermaids).   Why, then, do we ...

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Risky Leftism?

In my last post I suggested that the apparent inevitability of a Hillary Clinton presidential nomination shouldn’t be met with acquiescence or resignation by committed progressives.   Yes, she can get the nomination if she wants it, and yes, her election ...

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Thinking About 2016

One of my favorite commentators on Middle East issues, MJ Rosenberg, has offered some ruminations on the future of American politics that accord fairly closely up to a point with my own evolving views.  In an earlier post (11/21/13) I ...

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Russia, the Ukraine and the West: Another View

The Cold War is history, but Cold War modes of viewing the world persist.  The current crisis is playing out in the media as a familiar morality tale of  Western innocence and Russian (/Soviet) perfidy.   The reality, now as ...

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Panel Discussion–Chomsky’s Challenge to American Power

If you live in or around NYC and would be interested in hearing what should be a lively discussion of my book, you are welcome to attend a panel discussion this Wednesday evening, March 5, at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 ...

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