Part of any trip to Georgia getting the most out of local color: the food, the scenery, the Stalin Museum.But there’s another dimension to Georgia: geopolitics.  Divided, occupied in part by Russian troops, Georgia is one of the world’s most at-risk countries and the shadow of new crises with Russia hangs over everything in the country.Some […]

Attentive readers of these posts know that my father, Loren B. Mead, is an Episcopal priest.  Ordained more than fifty years ago in the Diocese of South Carolina, he served in the parish ministry at Trinity Church in Pinopolis, South Carolina and in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at the Church of the Holy Family.  Once […]

There are many reasons that more people should visit Georgia (republic of, not state of — although, dear readers from the Peach State, there are many reasons to visit the state of Georgia also); there is the fresh fruit and the fantastic food, the beautiful scenery and the friendly people.  And, of course, there is […]

I’ve just come back from a trip through the Republic of Georgia, giving a series of lectures at universities there and meeting with people in various policy institutes and government offices.  For me, a trip through Georgia is a trip down memory lane.  I first visited Georgia twenty years ago when it was still part […]

With the Israeli government’s latest (and in my view, misguided) decision to start construction on housing in East Jerusalem, the struggle over the future of the peace process has grown more intense.  Meanwhile, as Middle East diplomacy heats up, J Street–an organization primarily representing American Jews who disagree with the hardline policies of the current Israeli […]

When the idiotic Kyoto Protocol was put before the US Senate, 95 senators voted against this confused and destructive initiative on the grounds that, as designed, the measure would simply ship American jobs to China and other countries without reducing greenhouse gasses.For years, green activists have mourned and bemoaned the shortsightedness of the US.  How […]

The world is full of boycotts.  Animal rights activists are boycotting everything from mink coats to veal and foie gras.  The Palestinians and their allies are boycotting goods made in Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in the Golan Heights.  Workers’ rights activists are boycotting clothes made in sweatshops.  Human rights activists are boycotting […]

Lost in the chatter about the potential GOP tsunami in the midterm elections is one simple fact:  if American politics still operated on the rules of the twentieth century, the Democrats would own this political cycle.The issues that concern voters most in this cycle (unemployment, insider power, Wall Street greed) are, or used to be, […]

As an old Cuba hand, I have no desire to defend the island’s communist government or make excuses for its dismal failures in the area of human rights and economic development, but with the news that Cuba is considering the release of yet another tranche of political prisoners, it’s increasingly clear something important is happening down […]

We all have our off days; Tom Friedman (a man I admire) had one last Sunday in a New York Times column calling for higher gas taxes and a crash program to build electric cars.  As usual, he’s worried about the right things and is even ahead of the curve.  The piece raises some serious […]