Adam Garfinkle

Essays

Arab democracy is no oxymoron, but expecting it in time to remedy our 9/11 problem is unrealistic.

As the shock of September 11 wears off and certain conclusions settle in, the U.S.-Saudi relationship has come under unprecedented scrutiny. It's about time.

We still live in a dangerous world, but the tenure of U.S. primacy depends less on reacting to threats than on pursuing the opportunities before us.

The fall of Milosevic does not vindicate U.S. Balkans policy, and the violence in Israel does not prove Oslo was doomed to fail.

Without realizing it, the United States is taking over the role of the Habsburg Empire in the Balkans, a role that it is ill-equipped to play.

Reviews

An exaggerated indictment of Israel's home-grown critics.

Two of the books reviewed here describe how Joshua Muravchik and the late Eric Nordlinger read the post-Soviet map and would have us travel upon it. Both recommend sharp turns at high speeds. The third contains the counsel of Peter Rodman, a man l

Commentary

 It takes time for a raspberry patch to mature.

 Little Sally Ann Tucker from over across the croft visited Chestnut Nook again the other day.

 There's snow on the raspberry patch these days, and aside from the changing patterns of bird prints on the frozen surface, all seems inert within.

The first problem concerns the presumption that Arab democracy will equate to a "peaceful swath" in the Middle East.

I don't mean to bother folks with details they may not care to know, but it so happens that not all varieties of raspberries grow the same way.

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May 25, 2012