The Limits of Revolution

Late in life, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson rekindled a friendship and a correspondence that had withered under the strain of political disagreements. “You and I ought not to die, before We have explained ourselves to each other,” Adams wrote to Jefferson in 1813. The topic was revolutions, past, present, and future.
Adams was keen to [...]

Delta Blues

A troubling report, via a contact, from the conflict-riven Niger Delta region of Nigeria. According to Patrik Naagbanton and Stevyn Obodoekwe – the coordinator and head of the human rights program respectively of the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) – 27 year-old student Tombari Martins Berebon was shot by police at a [...]

The Story of Angola

In 1975, the central African country of Angola cast-off the colonial regime of Portugal and declared independence. The country promptly descended into civil war. Because of the larger context of the Soviet-American struggle this civil war was rapidly transformed into a proxy war. As James Traub reports in a terrific piece from this past weekend’s [...]

The George W. Bush Research Institute

Buried deep within their weekly dispatch on political doings in the United States, Aluf Benn and Shmuel Rosner have this interesting nugget about outgoing (and ageless) Israeli ambassador to the United States, Daniel Ayalon. Before departing Washington for good Ayalon, who has served tirelessly for an eventful four-and-a-half years, paid a visit to Bush and [...]

Big Brother (In-Law)

Yet another example of how carbon energy resources are allowing repressive regimes to persevere, resisting pressure to become less odious from outside and within. Burma’s military junta, truly one of the most despicable authoritarian regimes in the world, takes little notice of American sanctions imposed to protest its jailing of democracy activists because it has [...]

Not Reading Lolita in Tehran

The Guardian reports today that dozens of literary masterpieces and international bestsellers have been banned in Iran. Perhaps this comes as no surprise. Iran is, after all, a repressive theocracy in which men are executed for the “crime” of homosexuality. But apparently this is indicative of a a broader cultural freeze being orchestrated from the [...]

The Stain of Iraq

My partner in thought-crime brushed up against a very important thought a few days ago. While the debacle that is Iraq is a daily reminder of the grievous cost of intervention we must consider this cost in light of the alternative of non-intervention. Congo is a perfect case in point. It may seem an [...]

Four’s a Crowd

Pakistan took a groping, stumbling step out of the dark ages yesterday when its parliament amended the country’s rape laws to reflect the radical notion that an allegation of rape should not require the corroboration of four witnesses, as previously mandated. That’s right: four witnesses! Hell, why stop there? Why not go for an even [...]

A “Disturbing Element”

Disturbing indeed. The government of Iran appears to have executed another gay man in its ongoing campaign of persecution against gays and lesbians. The report from Iranian state news agency IRNA, translated and posted by the Persian Gay & Lesbian Organization, is worth reproducing here in full for its android-like Islamo-fascist tone:
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Some Good News

Maybe.
Nice to see that the suggestion of Nicholas Kristoff and others – that the least we can do is provide a protection force for the refugees in Chad, hopefully creating some kind of safe haven – is being taken somewhat seriously in policy circles. Chadian President Idriss Deby is a corrupt autocratic disaster, but that [...]