The Egyptian government has survived the first crisis of the revolution and both the government and the protesters are moving to a new trial of strength.  Surviving the first blast of popular fury — and of international criticism — is an important milestone for the government.  The longer it can hold out, the more likely […]

February 1, 2010—One week ago, Egypt was a stable authoritarian regime, prospects of change were minimal, and every expert in Washington would have bet on the endurance of its regime. Today, Egypt is in a state of chaos. The regime, even after using its mightiest sword, hasn’t been able to control the country, and the […]

The Obama administration is now living through one of the oldest and most difficult recurring problems in American foreign policy: what do you do when revolution breaks out in an allied country?The only clue history offers is not an encouraging one: there is often no satisfactory resolution of the dilemmas revolutions present.In 1789 Americans watched […]

In its January 25, 2011 issue, The Christian Century, the banner publication of liberal Protestantism, carried an interesting cover story (subscription required) by Amy Frykholm with the title “Double Belonging”. Not only did the cover contain a graphic illustration for the article—a pair of differently colored glasses—but an editorial by John Buchanan enthusiastically endorsed the […]

The end is now at hand for the government of Hosni Mubarak, ruler of Egypt for the last thirty years. Two outstanding questions face us now: What will the army do? And how should the United States react? Called into the streets by President Mubarak in an eleventh-hour attempt to secure his rule, the army […]

Here at my rural retreat in the rolling Dutchess County hunt country in scenic upstate New York, I’m facing a dilemma.  I need to get back to New York City for a meeting tomorrow, but the series of monstrous winter snowstorms has made parking scarce in the purlieus of the stately Mead manor in glamorous […]

As the blue social model gradually falls apart and American society casts restlessly about for something to replace it, charter schools may be on the cutting edge of the social transformation about to take place.This isn’t because they are a magic bullet solution to our education problems.  The research surrounding the effectiveness of charter schools […]

In its issue of January 7, 2011, the National Catholic Reporter had an interview with Douglas Vakoch, a psychologist who is “director of interstellar message composition” at the SETI Institute (a job description prone to produce ecstasy in any teenage consumer of science-fiction). SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and is located in Mountain […]

In music, as everybody knows, the blues were born in the Mississippi Delta and traveled up the river and the railroads from New Orleans to Memphis, St. Louis and on to Chicago.In politics, the blues were born farther north: in the Puritan commonwealth of 17th century New England centered around Boston.  For the Puritans, the construction […]

When we talk about American social models and the need to go beyond what I’m calling the blue social model and on to liberalism 5.0, race needs to be discussed.  The collapse of the blue social model, a shift from federal to local power and a shift from government to the private sector are not […]