Washington Should Think Twice Before Launching a New Cold War
First, let’s remind ourselves of the catastrophic global consequences of the last one.
We Must Stop Family Separation — And We Can Do It Now
The Biden administration has tools it can use right now to put kids and families first in immigration policy.
Will Ukraine Write the Alt-Right’s Epitaph?
Most of the leaders of the alt-right are scrambling to distance themselves from Vladimir Putin. It might be too late.
11 Years of War in Syria
What started as an anti-authoritarian uprising became a brutal international proxy war. However many years pass, the solution remains the same.
Global Stewarts
Jon Stewart, the premier political satirist of his generation, is one of a kind. Or is he?
In this survey of the Global Stewarts, Foreign Policy In Focus goes around the world to find the comics who would be Jon Stewart. It’s an interesting mix: a surgeon, a superhero, a mimic. In some cases, Stewart would welcome the comparison. But at least in one case, that of a French anti-Semite, Stewart would meet the anti-Stewart.
Remembering Alexander Cockburn
It was fitting that writer and critic Alexander Cockburn’s funeral should include a passage from Milton. For more than 50 years, Cockburn combined polished, erudite writing with fierce political insight in the tradition of the great 17th-century English polemicist. Cockburn died July 20th in Germany at age 71, following a two-year struggle with cancer. He was buried July 28th in his beloved Petrolia, California.
On Drugs and Democracy
The UN Office of Drug Control (UNODC) has thoroughly documented the violence, crime, and corruption linked with the worldwide heroin and opium trade. The U.S. news media report every day on the mayhem and corruption of government officials caused by the drug wars in Mexico, Colombia, and other points south of our border. In Afghanistan, the Taliban tax the opium trade and protect poppy farmers from eradication, fueling the insurgency and our 11-year war.
However, these problems are all consequences of drug prohibition, not of the drugs themselves.
Damaged Historical Sites and Stolen Antiquities Fray Syria’s Links to the Origins of Civilization
As with Iraq, Syria’s link to its past as the cradle of civilization is threatened.
Understanding the Standoff in Mali
The standoff between Mali’s government and the armed Islamists who control two-thirds of the country is unlikely to resolve peacefully, and the prospects for a new war in the Sahel appear increasingly probable.
Ploughshares Makes Life Hell for Oak Ridge Nuke Plant
Ploughshares shames nuke plant security.
Playing the Pundit
Performance is an essential element of punditry. Once you sit before a microphone or in front of the cameras, you become a different person. Academics have to master the art of the sound bite. Journalists have to make their words come alive. And policy wonks have to attempt the impossible and become entertaining. For any of these talking heads, ignorance is not an option. The interviewer — and by extension, the audience — expects answers that are short and sweet, and that, preferably, predict the future.
The Term “Nuclear Security” Is a Modern-Day Koan to the Japanese
Some in Japan still covet nuclear weapons.
Art and the Arab Awakening
The visual landscape of the Arab World has changed greatly as various forms of creative expression have flourished in the days since the Arab Spring. Graffiti and street art not only played a distinct role in the political dissent of this revolutionary period. Art has also been an ongoing experience for the revolutionary youth that is strengthening civil society and the democratic process.
North Korea and Disneyland
When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently watched a concert that included Disney figures like Mickey Mouse, it was big news. Foreign analysts rushed to the conclusion that the young leader was presiding over a shift in Pyongyang’s attitudes about the West. After all, Mickey Mouse is a symbol of American imperialism and Western penetration almost as potent as McDonald’s.
But the worlds of Walt Disney and Kim Il Sung are actually not that far apart.