Category Archives: Musings and Polemics
Stay Out of Syria!
This is the title of an article by David Bromwich to appear in the June 20 issue of The New York Review of Books. It is the best summary I have seen of the reasons President Obama should resist pressure … Continue reading
U.S.-Russian Juvenilia
A student at the University of Virginia asked my opinion of the Magnitsky Act and the Russian counter actions. I gave a reply in the discussion of Reagan and Gorbachev but will repeat what I wrote and elaborate on it … Continue reading
Did We Really Win in Iraq?
The general opinion seems to be, “Yes. We removed a vicious dictator!” However, it is difficult to argue that removing that dictator, who was no threat to the United States, was worth the cost of lives and treasure when the … Continue reading
THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SHOULD NOT BE CLOSE
The polls and pundits assure us that the presidential election November 6 will be close. Some even speak of a virtual tie. They are probably right, and if they are, this raises serious questions about the rationality of large segments … Continue reading
“Nine-Eleven” Eleven Years Out
All of us who were alive eleven years ago and more than two or three years old at the time will remember the shock, horror, and anger aroused by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York … Continue reading
Romney: Wrong on Russia
When President Obama was overheard telling Russian president Dmitri Medvedev that he could be “more flexible” in negotiations on missile defense following the election, Governor Mitt Romney was quick to pounce, calling Russia America’s “Number one geopolitical foe.” The New … Continue reading
The GOP Presidential Primary Circus: Radical is Not Conservative
Tom Friedman has a column in today’s New York Times that really hits home. Entitled “We Need a Second Party,” he bewails the absence of any evidence that the politicians competing for the Republican nomination for president have a clue … Continue reading
The Upside of Wikileaks
Today’s New York Times has an article that points up a positive aspect of Wikileaks… the opportunity for the public to appreciate the cogent analysis and creative writing of the U.S. Foreign Service. But perhaps the future impact of the … Continue reading
False Labels: What Does “Conservative” Mean?
Former ambassador Dennis Jett published a thoughtful op-ed Sunday about the media entertainers and politicians who call themselves “conservatives” these days. I consider them propagandists for an ideology which is, in many respects, the opposite of conservative as the word … Continue reading
Pavlovsk, Khimki and the Price of Nature
“If all human life depends on plants, doesn’t it make sense that perhaps we should try to save them?” Jonathan Drori Scientists surely understand. Recent years have seen several large-scale efforts to preserve the genetic diversity of the plants on … Continue reading