John Dower in Conversation: Part I
The groundbreaking historian of Japan talks about the challenges of scholarship during rapidly changing times. John Dower was “Dower the Tower” during my years as a correspondent in Japan. He was a giant in his field, one of the few…
The Trump Administration’s Spoiler Foreign Policy
U.S. strategy abroad is assuming a curious shape. Whether the president or his minders are running affairs, Patrick Lawrence sees the U.S. being reduced to playing a spoiler role in the Middle East and Northeast Asia. It is not possible…
‘Too Big to Fail’: Russia-gate One Year After VIPS Showed a Leak, Not a Hack
One year later, the VIPS memo contending that the DNC emails were leaked and not hacked has yet to be successfully challenged. Meanwhile, the country sinks deeper into the morass of the new McCarthyism, comments Patrick Lawrence. A year has…
Star Island International Affairs Conference, Isles of Shoals, N. H., July 21 to July 28, 2018: “China as It Is: Recovering Our Sight,” presented July 24.
I was honored to be invited to speak at an annual event in a very special place. The Star Island International Affairs Conference has been convening for a century of so on one of the tiny islands known as the…
What’s going to happen when Assad wins the war in Syria?
Given the unexpected pace of events in recent weeks, the end of Syria’s seven-year agony appears to be very near. It is now all but certain that Bashar al-Assad’s government will win its long war against Sunni jihadists and their…
What happens when Assad wins the war in Syria?
There are many significant consequences to this outcome, and it’s crucial that we understand them Given the unexpected pace of events in recent weeks, the end of Syria’s seven-year agony appears to be very near. It is now all but…
Journal Entry #37
Nature boy. NORFOLK, CONN., JULY 15— For no obvious reason at all, I share a simple pleasure on a very fine Sunday afternoon. If there is a thought behind it that fits into words, it is only that we must…
Scholar Robert Meister on a new model: Using the financial markets to fuel historical justice
Revolutionary thinker and author of “After Evil” on how the financial markets could be leveraged toward justice Part 1 of my illuminating interview with Robert Meister, the author of “After Evil: A Politics of Human Rights,” explored some of the…
Is the U.S. About to Give Up on Its Lawless and Catastrophic Adventure in Syria?
The sooner the U.S. closes up shop in Syria, the better. The crisis in Syria, now seven years running, is on the brink of a decisive turn. In a short while, the Assad government will either succeed or fail in…
Scholar Robert Meister on America: Saying “the past is evil” doesn’t mean the evil is past
Part 1: A leading critic of “human rights discourse” on how we abandoned any sense of historical justice I first came upon Robert Meister a few years ago, when Peter Dimock, a singularly gifted novelist whose judgment I trust, urged…
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