NATO’s summit meeting in Warsaw, scheduled to begin July 8, comes at a difficult yet opportune time for the alliance. The difficulties NATO confronts are evident. Major challenges include terrorism by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as well as the security impact of Syrian refugees flooding European NATO nations. The modernization of military […]
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Sanders pushes for change within his party
WASHINGTON — Nick Salvatore, the biographer of Eugene V. Debs, wrote that the popularity of the great American Socialist leader in the early decades of the 20th century “rested upon his ability to articulate and symbolize something of the severe dislocation experienced by all Americans in the transformation to industrial capitalism.” Bernie Sanders’ appeal bears […]
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Media give Democrats carte blanche
Have you heard that Hillary Clinton is the “first woman” ever to be nominated for president by a major political party? Of course you have. The media have repeated the line so often it is broken news. Hillary Clinton’s nomination and the euphoria in the press (one NPR female reporter said she has seen women […]
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Don’t try to humanize wild animals
Animals do not name themselves. The lion illegally hunted down in Zimbabwe last year did not know he was “Cecil.” The western lowland gorilla shot at the Cincinnati Zoo after a 3-year-old fell into his enclosure did not answer to the name “Harambe.” We can understand why zoos, nature preserves and animal rescue groups give […]
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The stirring of a butterfly’s wings brings major change
What shall we call the butterfly? The butterfly I have in mind is the one that illustrates chaos theory: It flutters its diaphanous wings, stirring the slightest breeze, which connects with others until, thousands of miles away, it forms the essential ingredient for a hurricane. Can we call this butterfly Brexit? I mean, why not? […]
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Brexit: A vote for self-government
Democracy is too important to be left to the people. That is the global elite’s collective reaction to Britain’s vote to exit the European Union, which is being portrayed as the work of ill-informed xenophobes who never should have been entrusted with a decision of such world-historical importance. Judging by their dismissive tone, critics of […]
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Keep open mind about merger
England just voted to leave the European Union. Financial markets went into free fall. The value of the British pound dropped dramatically and there is concern this will plunge the world into a global recession. Minimally, England’s failure to share governance with Europe will hurt their economy intensely. That separation with different perspectives was what […]
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Trump, Sanders partners on global trade
NEW YORK — Republican leaders such as House Speaker Paul Ryan have explained that their core rationale in supporting Donald Trump is that only he can ensure the success of conservative, free market ideas. The alternative, Ryan notes, is Hillary Clinton, who would simply continue Barack Obama’s policies. One wonders how Ryan will continue to […]
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European Union: Grand idea that was poorly executed
WASHINGTON — Given their arrogance, pomposity and habitual absurdities, it is hard not to feel a certain satisfaction with the comeuppance that Brexit has delivered to the unaccountable European Union bureaucrats in Brussels. Nonetheless, we would do well to refrain from smug condescension. Unity is not easy. What began in 1951 as a six-member European […]
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Brexit causes an unnecessary crisis
WASHINGTON — Elites are in trouble. High levels of immigration are destabilizing our democracies. Politicians who put their short-term political interests over their countries’ needs reap the whirlwind — for themselves but, more importantly, for their nations. Citizens who live in the economically ailing peripheries of wealthy nations are in revolt against well-off and cosmopolitan […]