Essays
own goal
Don’t Play The Russian PR Game

Neither the delisting of Rusal nor the allowing of sanctioned Russian persons to attend Davos is a capitulation.

(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Irony in Motion
Leaving Syria

We probably should not be leaving Syria. But it’s more complicated than the chatterati would have you believe.

Courtesy of Zipporah Films
At the Movies
Wiseman in the Heartland

A new documentary from an 88-year-old master casts an empathetic spotlight on small-town America, and the institutions that sustain its communal life.

The Hybrid War
Maria Butina and the Mortal Threat to Liberal Democracy

The Butina case highlights the insidious danger to our cherished notions of democracy and justice—not from Butina’s actual activities, but from the probable overreaction to them.

George H.W. Bush, Lodi Gyari, Tenzin Tethong, and the Dalai Lama (White House photo)
In Memoriam
Making the Case for Tibet

RIP Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari (1949-2018), who worked to build support for the cause of Tibet in the United States, and led negotiations with Chinese officials on behalf of the Dalai Lama.

(FPG/Getty Images)
Human Rights
The Universal Declaration Turns 70

Over the past seven decades, the human rights community has lost its way. A return to its roots is more necessary than ever.

(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Populist Scarecrows
Georgian Dream’s Pyrrhic Victory

Salome Zurabishvili’s ascent to the presidency of Georgia was an empty victory for the politics of fear.

Policy Shop
How to Make Sanctions on Russia Work

Our prevailing approach to sanctions has manifestly failed to change the Kremlin’s behavior. There is a better way.

Wikimedia Commons
combatting corruption
Two to Tango: Attacking the Demand Side of Bribery

If the United States wants to get serious about tackling corruption, it needs to align itself with international norms and finally criminalize passive bribery.

(Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images)
Swiss Populist
The Trump Before Trump

Christoph Blocher has turned Switzerland into a laboratory for right-wing populism. How did he do it, and what can we learn from him?

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