Category Archives: In the United States
Democracy and the Trump Election
Newspaper headlines and television pundits are screaming that Donald Trump’s election is a threat to “our democracy.” A strange charge following an election when a clear majority of voters chose the winner. Isn’t that consistent with the very definition of … Continue reading
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO AMERICA?
Rummaging through my accumulated papers, I just came across the English translation of a speech I delivered in Czech on July 4, 1982, when I was American ambassador in Prague. At that time Czechoslovakia was ruled by a Communist regime … Continue reading
When Intelligence Organizations Make Policy …
Last night, when I was casually browsing in a copy of my Autopsy on an Empire that I had taken off the shelf to give a friend, I ran into the following passage on page 175: Chebrikov’s Xenophobia Throughout 1987 … Continue reading
MUSINGS III … Celebrating July 4
America “goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” (John Quincy Adams) It was long a family tradition to read the Declaration of Independence at breakfast on July 4. We found that an appropriate way to start the day … Continue reading
Musings II … The “Intelligence Community,” “Russian Interference,” and Due Diligence
Did the U.S. “Intelligence Community” judge that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election? Most commentators seem to think so. Every news report I have read of the planned meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin in July refers to “Russian … Continue reading
MUSINGS … “RUSSIAGATE” HYSTERIA
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. That saying—often attributed to Euripides, though not found in his extant writings–comes to mind most mornings when I bring in the home-delivered New York Times and read the headlines of the … Continue reading
Contacts with Russian Embassy
Our press seems to be in a feeding frenzy regarding contacts that President Trump’s supporters had with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and with other Russian diplomats. The assumption seems to be that there was something sinister about these contacts, just … Continue reading
OPEN MESSAGE FOR PRESIDENTS TRUMP AND PUTIN: YOUR TELEPHONE CALL
As one who advised President Reagan on how to end the Cold War, I welcome your plans to discuss US-Russian relations tomorrow, January 28. Relations have reached a state that is dangerous for both our countries and, in fact, the … Continue reading
William Polk’s “A Fable for Our Times”
Inspired by Cervantes, William Polk has written a trenchant and appropriate description of our contemporary Don Quixotes and Sancho Panzas. Read, laugh, and then weep. A Fable for Our Times It was over half a century ago that I first … Continue reading
The Terrorist Threat: President Obama’s Response
I was as thrilled as anyone to see the reports of the missile strikes on ISIS and other terrorist sites in Syria and I felt that President Obama made a stirring speech at the United Nations regarding the terrorist problem. … Continue reading