It’s not easy being Israel.While much of the world rejoiced at the removal of Egypt’s authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak, the world’s only Jewish state was understandably concerned about the instability of its most important ally in the region. Meanwhile, Israel’s other vital partnership in the Middle East, Turkey, has likewise soured in recent times. And […]

Adding to the “new normal” of global economic gloom, India’s growth has slowed to its most tepid pace in three years, according to Reuters. High interest rates, rising inflation, and a manufacturing sector hampered by expensive inputs and high borrowing costs mean that India is doing worse than other Asian economies, which are themselves slowing […]

The French Constitutional Council struck down a proposed law that would have attached severe penalties to denial of the Armenian genocide. The draft law, the Council decided, violated the French constitution. We can learn several things from this episode.First, France remains a republic that respects civil liberties and the rule of law. Those running afoul of […]

Via Meadia is happy to report that a ray of light may be breaking through the gloom pervading the U.S. economy. The Commerce Department today announced that the economy grew by 3 percent in the most recent quarter, the highest rate in 18 months—and energy looks to be the key.In an interview with Bloomberg News, […]

Last week, international dignitaries converged on London to talk about Somalia. David Cameron declared the conference a “turning point.” As the FT reports, Mr Cameron described Somalia as a ‘complex jigsaw puzzle’ and warned there was ‘no single solution’ for restoring stability. But he said the talks were the next stage in a ‘long journey’ […]

With Romney’s “surprise” victory in Michigan dominating the headlines this morning, the media circus that is the Republican primaries continues to command the full attention of American journalists and is likely to continue to do so well into the summer.This is a shame. The primaries thus far have completely failed to surprise. Romney is still […]

Rahm Emanuel has just added his name to the growing list of blue politicians taking on the core institutions of the blue model. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Chicago School Board has followed the mayor’s advice and voted on plans to restructure a number of the city’s failing schools—often by dismissing the entire […]

The trial against 47 NGO workers (16 of whom are American) began in Cairo yesterday.The case is being whipped up by Egyptian officials who held important posts in the Mubarak government. Mubarak’s strategy was to tolerate, or often support, anti-Americanism even as his government took money from the United States. Indeed, whipping up anti-Americanism in […]

Belatedly I have just read a report issued in June 2011 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an organization that has been producing interesting survey data about worldwide religion with astounding frequency. This one is titled “Evangelical Protestant Leaders”. It contains the results of a survey of Evangelical leaders from all over […]

The decline of the blue social model is a subject I’ve been thinking about for the last thirty years. My first book, Mortal Splendor: The American Empire in Transition was written in the mid 1980s from the standpoint of someone who still believed that the blue model was synonymous with progress and civilization. In that […]