What should the US do on Syria?
For the US to act as part of the international community and through the UN, it must commit itself in this particular case – and in general – to a diplomatic strategy of building common perceptions and...
View ArticleFundamentalists take US hostage
Will the Tea Party fundamentalists see the light and release their hostage before the US plunges into default in mid-October? Will the Republican leadership finally step back from the cliff edge they...
View ArticleTime to begin thinking about world government?
What might a world citizen look like while there is still no world government? The first example might be Edward Snowden. Whether he meant to or not, his disclosures have served the interest of people...
View ArticleManaging conflict as America declines
Those seeking to better manage America’s important but diminished role in the world need to consider a number of questions concerning, for instance, its own interests, capacities and vulnerabilities;...
View ArticleRussia, Ukraine and the U.S. – the saga continues
The current crisis should encourage Europeans and Russians to explore structures to push security and political collaboration to the same high level as economic integration. Whilst that may not...
View ArticleMichael Brown and social fission
The bottom line is not that democracy is dead or activism is pointless, but that the accelerating decline of Western power creates unlimited possibilities for different forms of politics and the...
View ArticleTorture is also stupid
The revelations of CIA torture are the tip of an iceberg. The larger issue remains the apparent American inability to formulate a bipartisan approach to work multilaterally and through international...
View ArticleAmerica’s default setting
When the US doesn’t know what else to do but politics seems to require some form of action, the US defaults to its military and intelligence capabilities. This is really not a substitute for actual...
View ArticleAmerica’s default setting – part two
Berlin and Brussels should be spearheading efforts to pull together a diplomatic approach – to accompany US/Russian military actions – to gaining some level of stability in the Mideast. They should...
View ArticleMistakes were made – part II
The US is now in the process of choosing its next president. Everyone – in America and beyond – should insist that all the candidates clearly define their notion of national interest and explain how it...
View ArticleHail the Carnival King!
According to Bakhtin, the power of carnival comes from the way it subverts the rules of everyday life, reverses power dynamics and sweeps people up in its transgressive fervour. Certainly the Trump...
View ArticleWill America survive a Trump administration?
This country had had awful presidents in the past, but the United States is bigger than any one chief executive, regardless of how bloated, egomaniacal and hate-mongering. The question is, can we...
View ArticleWhat happened to America?
President Obama’s legacy is on the line. He must either rise to meet the challenge by taking courageous and decisive military measures; or continue his futile diplomacy, watch the systematic...
View ArticleAmerica’s Weimar moment
In its contempt for things like evidence, justification and warrant, Trumpism has created a social condition in which virtually all the normal constraints on public speech and discourse no longer...
View ArticleReset redux – how to coordinate US and Russian foreign relations
A brief contrast between US and Russian political histories and diplomatic philosophies enables us at least to trace the contours of a possible resolution, with a number of lessons being drawn....
View ArticlePresident Trump’s moral harm
Although Trump has already succeeded in creating a degree of havoc all around the globe, what we need to begin to prepare for is the moment this president is truly tested. We cannot afford to let his...
View ArticleRelocating the American Embassy to Jerusalem
Relocating the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem unconditionally will be a de facto recognition of Jerusalem, east and west, as the capital of Israel. Since the Israeli government insists...
View ArticleTrumpism and anti-Semitism
The growing anti-Semitism in the United States has been fed by a social-political atmosphere that is conducive to groups that thrive on racist ideology. White nationalist groups have been encouraged by...
View ArticleTrumpism and the ethics of climate change denial
To really address Trumpism and the denial of man-made climate change, we have to assume moral responsibility, not only for our actions but for our beliefs themselves. Philosophy has a crucial role to...
View ArticleTrump’s wars – more to come
The American president’s domestic failures are fuelling militarism abroad. It’s a dangerous mix. Suggested Reading Conflict Background GCCT By Paul Rogers A series of accelerating and interlocking...
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