ARTICLES
“France’s ‘Generals Problem.’”
And ours. This spring the French political establishment was rocked by two open letters from current and former members of the French military, both warning that France was on the brink of civil war. The sensitive question of civilian control…
“Jobs and prices.”
Maybe there is a labor shortage. In 1964, Potter Stewart, then mid-career as a Supreme Court Justice, famously described how he recognized obscenity. “I know it when I see it,” he said. This somewhat vague, subjective, reply hits at the…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Aimless Empire
Under Biden, the world’s most powerful, most heavily armed, most determinedly righteous nation shows little sign of having any foreign policy at all. Bitter and frightening realities face us four months into Joe Biden’s presidency. On the domestic side it…
“The Rrrrussians come again.”
Pre-summit nonsense. Joe Biden has just announced that he will convene with Vladimir Putin for the two leaders’ first summit, to be held 16 June in Geneva. It is not too difficult to put forward a forecast as to how…
“‘The Blob,’ anatomized.”
An exchange with Kelley Vlahos. We were delighted to be joined last week by the editor and journalist Kelley Vlahos for a Scrum webcast. Vlahos, editorial director of the online magazine Responsible Statecraft and senior advisor at the Quincy Institute, is one the most astute diagnosticians…
“The Iran question.”
An exchange with Muhammad Sahimi. I first “met” Muhammad Sahimi over the internet after reading the pieces he was publishing a couple of years back on Lobe Log, Jim Lobe’s admirable project that gave shelter to all sorts of interesting voices….
PATRICK LAWRENCE: 1948 — No Longer Shrouded in the Mists
What we see now is a purposeful program of terror and it is merely the latest, in form and intent, of what Palestinians have endured since the Nakba. The shattering events of the past few weeks in Israel, the West…
‘The Russia Question’
Diplomacy must not die. Last week, the Biden administration announced plans to stop processing travel visas for most Russian citizens. In tandem, the embassy in Moscow plans to cut consular staff, State Department officers whose duties include visa processing, by…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: America the Innocent
The American press has been in the business of keeping readers ignorant since the Cold War—its most essential responsibility turned upside-down—and in our time it gets worse, not better. Vladimir Putin’s annual state-of-the-nation speech, delivered before the Federal Assembly in Moscow…
PATRICK LAWRENCE: The US-Russia Summit
Two recent moves on Moscow’s side suggest that the encounter in Geneva will mark the start of a long and welcome process. Curious it was to read that the Russian judiciary ruled last Wednesday that Alexei Navalny’s political network is an extremist movement….