A Self-Created Tyrant
In a new biography of Stalin, William Nester does his best to locate a human being within the monster, but those efforts eventually run aground.
Ron Capshaw
· 6 min read
Politics
A collection of 591 posts
Appetite for Destruction
Trump and the art of the demolition, from Bonwit Teller to the White House.
Julia Friedman
· 8 min read
The Middle East Will Not Improve
Decades of free riding has meant that many Middle East countries lack the skills and institutions necessary to maintain and build upon the favourable circumstances in which they now find themselves.
Eric Bordenkircher
· 10 min read
Terror’s Intelligence Apparatus
Netanel Flamer’s book about Hamas’s intelligence war on Israel could be read with equal interest by members of Western security forces, and by members of the very groups against which they struggle.
Daniel Allington
· 7 min read
The Central Dichotomy
An appreciation of Richard Herzinger (1957–2025).
Jeffrey Herf
· 7 min read
They Don’t Believe It Either
The “Gaza genocide” calumny has become the Left’s equivalent of the “stolen election” hoax on the American Right—a baseless accusation that signals ideological allegiance precisely because it defies logic and evidence.
Maarten Boudry
· 13 min read
David’s Unholstered Sling
Lessons from 7 October and the 2023–25 war.
Brian Stewart
· 17 min read
The Honour and the Duty
Yossi Cohen has written a bracing and lively memoir about his time as head of Mossad.
Michael M. Rosen
· 6 min read
Rewarding Rejectionism
A new book by two former peace processors makes clear that statehood was never the goal of the Palestinian cause.
Shany Mor
· 12 min read
The Problem with Alt. Media
What the Hughes/Smith debate tells us about the podcast era.
Matt Johnson
· 14 min read
The Melbourne Crimewave
Criminal-justice reformers like to say that it is better to be ‘smart on crime’ than ‘tough on crime.’ But sometimes being tough is the smart choice.
Andrew Bushnell
· 10 min read
The Genocide Libel
A new report from the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies separates verifiable facts from politically motivated fiction in Gaza.
Andrew Fox
· 24 min read
The Good War No More
Jon Lee Anderson’s powerful new book on Afghanistan reminds us that the justness of a cause is no guarantee of its success.
Brian Stewart
· 6 min read
The Liberal-International Order Will Survive
...but it will need to be reimagined in the post-Trump era.
Matt Johnson
· 20 min read
Dangerous Games
In its quest to exploit Myanmar for diverse ends, the Chinese Communist Party keeps underestimating the state’s volatility.
Aaron Sarin
· 9 min read