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.

Continue reading “Tyranny Is Imperialism. Liberty Is Security.” →

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.

Continue reading “Here I Stand” →

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.

Continue reading “Freedom Matters!” →

Slouching Towards Jerusalem

The Obama Administration may have convinced itself that an Iranian military presence in the Syrian Golan Heights is no big deal and might even represent a positive development, one that might eventually force both Iran and Israel to reconsider the nature of their antagonistic relationship. A simple and rational cost-benefit analysis, or so the thinking seems to go in this regard, should in time encourage both sides to agree on some kind of détente, one that could pave the way for formal recognition, and even, cooperation in the not-so-distant future.

Continue reading “Slouching Towards Jerusalem” →