middle east

  • May: The war against history

    May: The war against history

    Islamists destroy the past to shape the future “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” This, as you may recall, was the slogan of the totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell in 1984, his classic novel. Today, various groups of Islamists – which we can define as…


  • May: The Battle of Mosul

    May: The Battle of Mosul

    The Islamic State will take a beating, but the ‘tide of war’ will not recede Ayman al-Zawahiri was correct. Believed to be ensconced in the tribal lands of Pakistan, the leader of what’s sometimes called al Qaeda Central has dedicated his life to a jihad that he hopes and prays will lead to the founding of…


  • May: The president should not tie his successor’s hands

    May: The president should not tie his successor’s hands

    It’s not for Obama to decide how the next administration deals with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict You’re probably familiar with the old story about the inebriated guy looking for his wallet at night under a streetlight – not because that’s where he dropped it but because what would be the point of poking around in the dark?…


  • May: Coming to America

    May: Coming to America

    Who should we take in, how many can we integrate and who decides? Millions of people want to come to America. Actually, it’s tens of millions or perhaps hundreds of millions. Some Americans believe our borders should be open – that everyone has a “right” to live in the United States. That seems to me both…


  • May: Iran and the future of the Middle East

    May: Iran and the future of the Middle East

    Obama’s bet on the Islamic republic moderating is a long-shot Nixon went to China. Obama will not be going to Iran. The 1972 visit of President Richard M. Nixon to the People’s Republic included meetings with both Chairman Mao Zedong, the communist revolutionary leader, and Premier Zhou Enlai, the pragmatic head of the government. Détente…


  • May: George Soros should put his mouth where his money is

    May: George Soros should put his mouth where his money is

    Why doesn’t the billionaire debate his opponents, rather than financing smear campaigns against them? Washington is not an easy-going town. You come here to argue policy with the big boys you should expect some rough-and-tumble. But you also should expect clean fights – no biting, no spitting, no hitting below the belt. Whatever else divides us,…


  • May: Tracking freedom’s enemies

    May: Tracking freedom’s enemies

    A new State Department report confirms most people are denied basic human rights If I were to ask an intelligent person like you what happened in the 20th century, or the 19th or the 18th, you could probably sum up the most significant developments. But if I asked you what is happening in the 21st…


  • May: Curb your socialism

    May: Curb your socialism

    Moderate Democrats should not let Bernie Sanders pull their party to the left Groucho Marx famously said he wouldn’t join any club that would have him as a member. Bernie Sanders last week turned that on its head, saying he wouldn’t remain a member of any party that wouldn’t have him as its leader. Sanders…


  • May: The problem with globalism

    May: The problem with globalism

    And why isolationism is not the solution Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo.” That line from Donald Trump’s long and emphatic speech to the Republican National Convention jumped out at me. I think I know what he meant: that he prioritizes America’s national interests above those of the wider world. If so, most Americans…


  • May: Terrorism and economic warfare

    May: Terrorism and economic warfare

    It’s a one-two punch meant to bring about a Middle East without Jews Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market bills itself as the “heartbeat of Israeli culinary art.” Dozens of small restaurants and shops offer cheese, wine, bread, fish, olives, pasta, burgers – pretty much anything you can imagine and quite a bit that you probably cannot.…


Welcome Back.

Streak: 9 days i

Stories you've missed since your last login:

Stories you've saved for later:

Recommended stories based on your interests:

Edit my interests