by Roger BerkowitzI am not usually hanging out on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website, but a former student and current Arendt Center Intern alerted me his Reverence’s recent review of Marilynne Robinson’s newest book, When I Was A Child I Read Books. It turns out the Archbishop and I share a fondness in brilliant contemporary […]

by Roger BerkowitzBeyond all the silliness attached to the Todd Akin case this week, the only meaningful comment came from Rachel Riederer. In an essay in Guernica, Riederer writes: The content of [Akin’s] statements was, of course, ridiculous and offensive. But the comments struck me most as a rhetorical move, one that’s in wide usage […]

By Chris MeadOnce a few years ago I received a perplexing phone call. It was from Jim Dunn, who was (and is) a beloved and respected community leader in Richmond, Virginia. At that time, Jim headed the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce. Jim called to suggest to me that, at the American Chamber of Commerce […]

During a visit to Cairo in late July, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta praised the relationship between newly elected President Mohamed Morsi and Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the longtime Defense Minister who had ruled Egypt after Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power. Ten days ago, Morsi radically changed that relationship, announcing the retirement of Tantawi […]

By Chris MeadWhat is real?Is it our sometimes harried daily lives, or is it what we sometimes see when we leave town or otherwise shake up our routine? I’m at the beach with my family trying to make sense of things.The trouble began on day one of vacation, Friday. A Wall Street Journal reporter had […]

Nearly twenty years ago, Zbigniew Brzezinski famously said, “Russia can be either an empire or a democracy, but it cannot be both. . . . Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be an empire, but with Ukraine suborned and then subordinated, Russia automatically becomes an empire.” Uninterested in becoming a democracy, today’s Kremlin has not given […]

By Chris MeadHello from Walter Mead’s younger brother Chris. On my last birthday I found a large crate at my house, courtesy of Walter. Now I’m stuck with a large four-legged creature for a good portion of the rest of my life. (Walter is afraid I will send him a monkey in revenge for Riley, the […]

“Gotov je!” (“He’s finished!”) —Serb resistance slogan, directed at Milosevic An arrogant dictator grasping at power, warning of terrorists at every turn. An opposition fragmented, but growing in both coherence and strength. An uncertain future, in a region prone to violence. In some ways, Syria today evokes memories of Serbia 12 years ago, when its […]

There has not been a day since February 11, 2011, that Egyptian politics have ceased to surprise the world. Ever since the afternoon that Hosni Mubarak fell, the world’s most seasoned political analysts have struggled to make sense out of events. No one foresaw the fast-paced dynamic of the political game we have witnessed in […]

by John EllisFor the past year or so, I have been working on a political manifesto entitled: “Recall Them All.” The plan is to hone it down over the next few months and release it as an e-book in early 2013. The idea is to put forward a platform of fiscal reform, government re-invention, and […]