In an op-ed for the WSJ, AI board member William Galston uses “Jacksonianism”, an old WRM idea, to explain one of the most interesting phenomena in American politics today: The Tea Party: More than a decade ago, before the post-9/11 national fervor set in, Walter Russell Mead published an insightful essay on the persistent “Jacksonian tradition” […]

How did we get where we are on Syria? With Assad surging on the battlefield, with moderates increasingly eclipsed by al-Qaeda radicals within rebel ranks, and with an ill-specified peace plan continually failing to take shape, the New York Times provides a sobering and damning account of the White House’s decision-making process over the past few […]

America’s energy-related carbon emissions dropped 3.8 percent in 2012 to their lowest level in 18 years. Emissions were down even while the American economy grew; it was the largest drop ever recorded in a non-recession year. The Energy Information Administration reports: Although GDP increased by 2.8 percent in 20121, energy consumption fell by 2.4 percent (2.4 quadrillion […]

A new report on Obamacare in Missouri confirms that the law’s problems are about much more than technical glitches. When pressed, supporters of the ACA have tended to characterize the law as a simple tradeoff: some people have to pay higher premiums, but we’re all getting higher quality health care in return (which they define as […]

After a three-year delay, Turkey will resume membership negotiations with the EU in November. BBC reports: The EU had first agreed to relaunch negotiations in June, but postponed the talks after members criticised Turkey’s crackdown on anti-government protests….But it recognised that Turkey had introduced judicial reforms. It also praised the announcement last month by Prime Minister Recep […]

When Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives in China today he’ll bring with him some of India’s top businessmen. In a joint speech with Xi Jinping he’ll also address the second annual India-China CEO Forum. Along with border issues, business is the most important item on the agenda for Singh’s visit. But back home, Indian business leaders […]

You can’t extract shale gas in New York state, but that doesn’t mean you can’t burn the cheap stuff. New York City is building a pipeline to bring in cheap natural gas from Pennsylvania. The pipeline will carry enough gas to heat 2 million homes, and you can bet plenty of NYC residents are looking […]

Knowingly or not, the Obama administration is alienating its oldest and strongest US ally in the Middle East. The relationship with Saudi Arabia, dating to the Franklin Roosevelt administration, has been the bedrock of the US stance in the region since World War II—even more so than the relationship with Israel.A few weeks ago, we […]

Puerto Rico, despite its grave economic problems, has more than doubled its borrowing in the last decade, hitting $70 billion in 2013. Though the US territory is hemorrhaging people and its economy is growing at a paltry 0.2 percent, its government is continuing to borrow, and Wall Street is continuing to lend. Bloomberg reports: Wall […]

Speculation that Greece may abandon the euro has been circulating ever since the country’s troubles began in 2010, but now there’s a new question: what if France leaves first? That’s looking more likely with the publication of François Heisbourg’s new book The End of the European Dream, which calls for Europe to abandon the currency […]