Tyranny Is Imperialism. Liberty Is Security.

r2p

Imperialism is product of power, and a manifestation of our lingering autocratic tendencies. There is an imperialist impulse inherent in every state and it manifests itself in ways commensurate with her power. Only free and empowered people acting inside each state can ever check that impulse. This is why empowering people is important. This is why the fight for democracy is important. Democracies can come together to establish real lasting alliances, but the best that can be achieved in case of autocracies is limited-scope agreements and temporary truces.

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Here I Stand

President Barack Obama speaks about the breakthrough in the Iranian nuclear deal in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Thursday, April 2, 2015. World leaders, he said, had come to a “historic understanding” on a possible deal to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

A rare point of agreement between the critics and advocates of a deal with Iran starkly captures the nature of my own disaffection with it and with the current state of affairs in our world. The point simply put is this: the deal is being inked with Syrian, Iraqi and Yemeni blood.

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Freedom Matters!

Bush Institute - March 25, 2015

I was honored to take part in the launch of Freedom Matters! – “a supplemental curriculum developed to help high school students connect the foundations of freedom to today’s global struggles for liberty,” prepared by the wonderful people at the Bush Institute.

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Notes on Extremism and Modernization

The Salon of Madame Geoffrin - an example of the activities that shaped French Enlightenment in the 19th Century. — The Salon of Madame Geoffrin – an example of the activities that shaped French Enlightenment in the 19th Century.

The answer to the extremism prevalent in Muslim communities around the world will not come from any allegedly “enlightened” or “moderate” set of religious scholars, but from the average Muslims’ changing attitude towards religiosity. Historical precedents have indeed shown that the religious establishment has often to play catchup with the people in this matter. In the meantime, however, establishment figures, motivated by a variety of ideological and parochial considerations, will often lead the fight against modernization using the pulpits and whatever social, economic and political institutions under their control.

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