On September 12, 58% of voters in a referendum approved changes in the constitution of Turkey which significantly reduced the power of the military—the staunchest supporter of the secularism which had from the beginning characterized the republic established  by Kemal Ataturk in 1923.  The outcome of the referendum is another victory for the AKP, the […]

The government formation stalemate in Iraq—well into its seventh month and counting—may at last be nearing an end. The next few weeks could seal a deal between rival electoral blocs that will produce the next national government. Two scenarios with very different outcomes appear to be jockeying for rail position in the race to produce […]

We all have our off days; Tom Friedman (a man I admire) had one last Sunday in a New York Times column calling for higher gas taxes and a crash program to build electric cars.  As usual, he’s worried about the right things and is even ahead of the curve.  The piece raises some serious […]

In 2004 Thomas Frank, a liberal journalist and writer, published a book entitled What’s the Matter with Kansas? He was trying to explain why some people, notably in Kansas, voted Republican in obvious defiance of reason and morality. In this exercise, of course, he reflected the worldview of a cultural elite confident of its superior […]

Is China the best friend of American power?Beijing’s recent missteps in Asia — moving ahead with reactor sales to troubled Pakistan and crudely threatening Japan over the arrest of a Chinese fishing captain — are swiftly solidifying America’s Asian alliances.  The new Japanese government came into office hoping to rebalance Japan’s foreign policy and reduce […]

It’s a little past midnight here in the rolling hunt country of Dutchess County where the Catskills guard the path of the Hudson down to the narrows at West Point.  The leaves are beginning to turn this high and this far north; the dry summer didn’t help, and even though the days can still be […]

Pluralism (and not secularization, as many still think) is the big modern challenge to religion. This does not mean that modern people cannot be religious. It does mean that faith is harder to achieve.

First Things is a journal published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life in New York, founded by the late Catholic theologian Richard John Neuhaus and now edited by Joseph Bottum. At the end of every issue there is a section headed “While we’re at it”, containing various tidbits, some quite amusing, from the […]

Something about blogging brings out my confessional side.  Already this week I’ve confessed my shameful love for Walmart; in one of my first posts I confessed my addiction to the $5 necktie.  Now I’m overwhelmed with the urge to share a dark, dirty literary secret: that I not only read science fiction, I love it, […]

After finishing the last post on Islamophobia in Europe an unexpected association occurred to me—I thought of an earlier post in which I discussed problems with democracy in Israel. In both cases there is a tension between democratic principles and the desire to preserve an ethnic culture. Of course there are significant differences between the […]