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Call for Alarm

The unique post-World War II economic and military power of the United States prevented military and foreign policy errors from becoming overpowering disasters. Military adventures in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq upended America’s political system and wounded its psyche. Other than the 2001 attacks on American soil, physical destruction was foreign, appearing as images on television […]
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Fractious Arenas: Netanyahu Dissolves the War Cabinet
You could almost sense the smacking of lips, accompanied by the rubbing of hands. The departure of Benny Gantz from the Israeli war cabinet, which had served as a checking forum against the conventional security cabinet, presented a perfect opportunity for those who felt his presence stifling. In these febrile times, Gantz, the leader of […]
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Why Modi’s India is Suddenly getting Washington’s Cold Shoulder
Modi’s narrow re-election this month was greeted in the U.S. media with petulant satisfaction that Indian voters had “woken up”, as an oped piece in the New York Times put it. The Washington Post’s editorial board rebuked Modi with the headline: “In India, the voters have spoken. They do not want autocracy.” The Post editors […]
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Ukraine, Continued Aid, and the Prevailing Logic of Slaughter
War always commands its own appeal. It has its own frazzled laurels, the calling of its own worn poets tenured in propaganda. In battle, the poets keep writing, and keep glorifying. The chattering diplomats are kept in the cooler, biding their time. The soldiers die, as do civilians. The politicians are permitted to behave badly. […]
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Timely Lessons About Tyranny from the Father of the Constitution

It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. — James Madison, A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, 1785 James Madison, often referred to as the “Father of the Constitution,” once predicted that the Bill of Rights would become mere “parchment barrier,” words on paper ignored by successive generations of […]
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Democracy Will Not Come through Compromise and Fear
Aisha Khalid and Imran Qureshi (Pakistan), Two Wings to Fly, Not One, 2017. Half of the world’s population will have the opportunity to vote by the end of this year as 64 countries and the European Union are scheduled to open their ballot boxes. No previous year has been so flush with elections. Among these […]



