Subterms
The verdict is in. Contrary to what some have maintained, what COVID-19 has provoked is not just another recession in the eternally recurring cycles of capitalism. Not even a Great Recession, like the one the world began wading through 12 years ago. This time, it is clearly our second Great Depression. And, who knows, it […] More
Frankly, with all the bad actors in blue uniforms on the public stage in America at the moment, this old white guy would think twice about calling the police. Which warrior would show up, and how prepared would that warrior really be to address the problem I am having with my neighbor? With this in mind, […] More
Dear Americans, Allow me to welcome you in your steady evolution into our world. According to your leaders, Democrats and Republicans, you are either “lowlifes” or “deplorables.” There is bipartisan agreement on this. That’s a very good start. Where I come from, the Arab world, we have gone beyond that. Long ago. We are not […] More
With their focus on the present and occasionally on the future (for the visionaries and innovators), Americans have never been enamored of history as a subject of study. They have preferred simply to ingest the simplistic myths transcribed in textbooks produced in Texas that offer them that minimal satisfaction of knowing they share with other […] More
Uncertainty hangs over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pending decision on whether to annex as much a 30% of the West Bank, including the possibility of all existing Israeli settlements there and the entire Jordan Valley. Should he proceed, the proposal will go before the Israeli cabinet and the Knesset, where it will likely win […] More
Unreliable narrators are a staple of literature. Consider the delusional, self-serving narrator of Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” or the way Humbert Humbert used his cultured references and gorgeous prose to dress up his crimes in Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita.” Now along comes John Bolton and his account of time served in the Trump administration as national security adviser. Bolton’s […] More
Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, is one of these institutions of higher learning that prides itself on being close to the locus of power, particularly to the who is who of American foreign policymaking. Or, at least, that was the case in the past. I should […] More
Although the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, Mary Elizabeth Taylor, was not a high-profile member of the Trump administration, her resignation last week gathered the attention of the media due to the reasons she cited. It was all about what one of the rare black remaining members of the administration was willing to […] More
