Essays
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Purim
Looking for Wisdom in a Deranged Palace

The story of Purim begins with a debauched, bloody-minded despot and ends with a triumph of solidarity. A tale of Persia in the time of the Second Temple, it resonates today.

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Science and Politics
A Hard Future for a Soft Science

Behavioral economics, the science behind governmental “nudging” and studies disparaging conservatives, has run aground. It’s time to reform the field for the benefit of scientists and citizens alike.

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higher education
The Therapeutic University

How medicalized language and the therapeutic culture came to dominate Anglo-American institutions of higher education.

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The New Reality
Bernie Sanders’s Nightmare

President Trump doesn’t exist in the real world. He only exists in Bernie Sanders’s mind.

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Symbolic Speech
Those Three Little Words (No, Not “I Love You”)

To say, or not to say, “radical Islamic terrorism”—that is the question. Again.

Siloviki Sharpen their Knives
The Hit Is In Against Dmitry Medvedev

Alexey Navalny’s exposé of Medvedev’s corruption is not so much a victory for transparency in Russia as a sign that powerful forces are aligning against the Prime Minister.

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Euro Division
The Real Trade Challenge Is Germany, Not China

Trump may be more focused on China, but the economic and political implications of Germany’s trade imbalance pose more serious long-term challenges.

What Comes Next
America’s Placebo President?

For Trump supporters, the best-case scenario for the next four years may be the illusion of control.

Balkan Instability
Macedonia’s Crisis Isn’t Going Away

Perhaps it’s time for the Trump Administration to chart a new course in Skopje.

Surrealist-in-Chief
The Banality of (Trump’s) Lying

The dangers of becoming desensitized to the President’s serial untruths.

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