The noted science fiction writer Philip K. Dick once declared that “Reality is what continues to exist whether you believe in it or not.” Such an observation should be kept in mind when we consider some of the touchier aspects of American society. Recall the notorious case of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, whose 1965 report on…
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. (President Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 17, 1961) *** The World is being misled concerning the causes and consequences of the corona…
It is now clear, not only in the USA but also beyond its borders, that US efforts to quietly oust the Assad regime in Syria have failed. Washington’s original mission of “protecting the civilian population” in Syria quickly turned into “fighting terrorism,” but this, of course, primarily meant engagement with the very same jihadists from…
This past week has been a catastrophic seven days that shook America. Some of the debris may have fallen on President Donald Trump. Most importantly, the Trump administration has lost the plot on China. The tragic Memorial Day murder of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, highlights that as much as racial violence…
Rejiggering security arrangements in the Gulf may be a more pressing issue than meets the eye. That is not good news for the Gulf states. It is also bad news for China, which could see the rug pulled out from under its studious effort to remain on the sidelines of the Middle East’s myriad conflicts….
Some eight years ago, I wrote about the outbreak of popular stirring in the Middle East, then labelled the ‘Arab Awakening’. Multiple popular discontents were welling: demands for radical change proliferated, but above all, there was anger – anger at mountainous inequalities in wealth; blatant injustices and political marginalisation; and at a corrupt and rapacious…
