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.
A collection of 591 posts
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.
Trump and the art of the demolition, from Bonwit Teller to the White House.
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.
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.
An appreciation of Richard Herzinger (1957–2025).
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.
Lessons from 7 October and the 2023–25 war.
Yossi Cohen has written a bracing and lively memoir about his time as head of Mossad.
A new book by two former peace processors makes clear that statehood was never the goal of the Palestinian cause.
What the Hughes/Smith debate tells us about the podcast era.
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.
A new report from the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies separates verifiable facts from politically motivated fiction in Gaza.
Jon Lee Anderson’s powerful new book on Afghanistan reminds us that the justness of a cause is no guarantee of its success.
...but it will need to be reimagined in the post-Trump era.
In its quest to exploit Myanmar for diverse ends, the Chinese Communist Party keeps underestimating the state’s volatility.