What the psychology of mass murderers — from Charles Manson on up to Bashar al-Assad and ISIS — can teach us about the method behind their madness.
Je Suis Charlie (Manson)
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Middle East & North Africa
Military Intervention in Syria Is the Problem, Not the Solution
From Paris to Beirut, the Islamic State’s latest atrocities are a calculated effort to bring the war in Syria home to the countries participating in it.
After the Paris Attacks, What Happens Here?
In the wake of the Paris attacks, Americans can’t let the hawks stampede us back into panic and illusions that US military supremacy can remake the world.
Is It Wrong to Mourn Paris More Deeply Than Beirut?
Paris was a wake-up call for Westerners — a reminder that we usually have the luxury to ignore the costs of war, even as our governments inflict them on foreigners.
Will Russia Turn Its Full Fury on the Islamic State?
Russia may seek serious vengeance on the Islamic State for the possible sabotage of Metrojet Flight 9268.
Will the Paris Climate Talks Deliver the World We Need? Not likely.
Even as governments set climate targets, they’re working hard to expand the extractive global economy with measures that could deepen the climate crisis.
The Middle East: The Only Way Forward Is Unification
As long as false borders continue to exist in the region, the Middle East will not progress.
The View from 2050
“Back in my youth, we imagined that lumbering dinosaurs like Russia and China and the European Union would endure regardless of the global convulsions taking place around them.”
The Saudis Are Stumbling. They May Take the Middle East with Them.
America’s leading Sunni ally is proving how easily hubris, delusion, and old-fashioned ineptitude can trump even bottomless wealth.
Constructive Conflict Applications in Obama’s Foreign Policies
Giving President Obama his due on foreign policy for using the constructive conflict approach.