Against Utopianism
The world is not waiting for our utopian visions to make sense of it and order it. Liberal democracy works when it assumes as much.
Dustin N. Sharp
· 8 min read
Politics
A collection of 620 posts
The Ingratitude of the Well-Fed
We need to cultivate an appreciation for the abundance that modernity has bestowed instead of taking it for granted.
Maarten Boudry
· 13 min read
The Middle East Powder Keg
Fragile ceasefires are holding for now, but the volatile region may be headed for another explosion next year.
Benny Morris
· 14 min read
Heterodox Orthodoxy
The obvious benefits of open debate and free dissent are too often confused with destructive contrarianism.
George Case
· 9 min read
The Limits of American Progressivism
History and the constraints of American federalism suggest the euphoria and catastrophism that have followed Zohran Mamdani’s election victory are misplaced.
John Aziz
· 8 min read
Islamist Violence and Official Silence
A month after the lethal Manchester synagogue attack, the UK still refuses to take its number one terror threat seriously.
Daniel Allington
· 15 min read
Power and Its Malcontents
Shadi Hamid has an uneasy conscience, and he doesn’t yet know what to do with it.
Brian Stewart
· 25 min read
Despite Israel, Not Because of It
Israelis repeatedly warned the Bush administration that invading Iraq would be a disaster.
David Brog
· 10 min read
Tara Freesoul and the Future of China
After decades of brainwashing, China continues to produce dissidents who absorb the same information as their classmates but reject it.
Aaron Sarin
· 7 min read
The Qatar Problem
Doha can change when it is forced to, and it must be forced to choose moderation.
Chama Mechtaly
· 14 min read
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
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