Essays Archives

Israel's Fraying Image

There are growing signs of a divergence in American-Israeli relations and interests. 

How to Reverse Failed Policy

U.S. policy makers have all too often clung to orthodoxies even as they fail. Yet a select few have managed to turn the ship of state around, to a better course.

The U.S. Democracy Project

American NGOs that push for democratic change abroad are facing growing resistance.

Zionism's Colonial Roots

Netanyahu may insist his state is "not neo-colonial," but Vladimir Jabotinsky, his ideological ancestor, saw things differently.

The Many Faces of Neo-Marxism

The German thinker's name has been attached to a wide range of modern ideas—poststructuralism, postmodernism, gender studies, etc.—yet he was more a man of his day than of ours.

Lessons of the Syrian Reactor

The intelligence failures of Iraq seriously constrained policy makers in other areas.

Japan's Daunting Challenge

Shinzo Abe might turn Japan into an isolated, aging, indebted fortress.

Syria's Crisis of Transition

History shows that an internationally led negotiation is the best way out of the civil war, but the situation isn't yet ripe for action.

Mo Yan's Delicate Balancing Act

China's Nobel-winning writer has been heavily criticized for being too close to the regime. Yet a close reading of his work shows he's far more complicated than his critics think.

Delusions of Indispensability

The notion that America is the world's "indispensable nation" is hardly questioned, even as it fosters strategic overreach.

When Kerry Stormed D.C.

John Kerry was just five years out of Yale when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and became an instant celebrity.

Congressional Abdication

Congress has been abandoning its traditional role in foreign policy to the executive branch.

The Mythical Liberal Order

A cooperative, law-based international system remains an aspiration, not a reality.

Spengler's Ominous Prophecy

An interbellum German intellectual's work is a powerful warning to Americans about the perils of our interventionist foreign-policy trajectory.

The Power of Moore's Law in a World of Geotechnology

Huge technological leaps are coming, and they're already creating a new realm of interstate competition.

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June 19, 2013