Institutions, which are typically based on rational assumptions, are dams holding at bay the howling frenzies lurking in human souls. All institutions are fragile. Sometimes the dams break.

The U.S. should stop assuming that its interests and those of its ally and fellow NATO member will generally overlap. There’s room for cooperation with Turkey, but only on a case-by-case basis.

Russia’s internal pathologies are creating a zone of instability in its periphery that could easily spread to the rest of the world.

The influential Middle East Studies Association objects to the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism, thereby giving up any pretense of professionalism it still had.

The Pentagon is flummoxed as to what Russia’s intentions are in Syria. Please allow me to clear up the confusion.

Europe’s far-Right has discovered that the road to electoral respectability involves rejecting anti-Semitism and embracing Israel.

A moral vision is important, but it helps greatly if you can appeal to hard interests as well as to conscience.

Reform of the licensing process for infrastructure projects is a vital part of the restructuring government needs. Layers of conflicting mandates, bureaucracies with overlapping responsibilities, and legal and regulatory processes that are sluggish and out of date make necessary projects and repairs slower and much more expensive than they need to be.

Europe’s failure to create a coherent civic identity for its citizens has left the door open for the continent’s various far-right parties. And they’re not hesitating to seize the opportunity.

Germany’s warm welcome to Syria’s refugees is earning the country good press, but it may also be sowing the seeds of long-term agony.