In the matter of Ayaan Hirsi Ali Frederick Lawrence President Brandeis University Dear President Lawrence: I know that many critics have expressed outrage that you rescinded your invitation to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a courageous women’s rights crusader and critic of Islam, to receive an honorary degree at Brandeis University’s graduation this spring. I won’t badger …
Continue reading “Open Letter To Brandeis University President”
U.S. scholars’ mounting boycotts of Israeli academic and cultural institutions are ironic indeed, for they contradict everything that higher education is supposed to stand for – they are wholly ignorant and profoundly narrow-minded. That Israel is a perennial target on America’s college campuses is hardly breaking news. The Jewish state has long suffered from the …
Continue reading “Boycott of Israeli institutions is academically dishonest”
“What’s Next for Syria?” the New York Times headlined its latest editorial on the subject this week. Its answer reflects the mushy-headed thinking that all too often emanates these days from America’s “paper of record.” “With the apparent collapse of the United Nations-mediated peace talks on Syria,” the Times opined, “the United States and its …
Continue reading “New York Times Defaults To Insanity On Syria”
Rare is the moment when an unscripted comment from a Secretary of State symbolizes all that’s wrong with America’s foreign policy, but it appeared the other day in the context of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Asked at the Munich Security Conference about prospects for peace, John Kerry expressed hope and discussed the implications of failure, focusing …
Continue reading “John Kerry’s Comments On Israel-Palestine Encapsulate U.S. Foreign Policy”
Let’s be clear: the United States cannot single-handedly ensure the advance of freedom and democracy around the world. But, notwithstanding all too much conventional wisdom of late, America retains enormous diplomatic, economic, and other capacities to influence the course of events. So, it’s no coincidence that, as Freedom House reported late last week, freedom declined …
Continue reading “Freedom’s decline and U.S. silence move in tandem”
WASHINGTON — America’s top foreign policy to-do’s in 2014 include preventing Iran from reaching the nuclear threshold, addressing the humanitarian disaster in Syria, containing an expansionist Russia, managing a rising China and reclaiming its own voice on human rights. Let’s take these one at a time. Preventing a nuclear Iran: The global agreement over Iran’s …
Continue reading “Unwavering democratic doctrines will let US shape events again”
Nearly a decade ago, President Bush provided important moral support to Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution,” criticizing the government after a fraudulent presidential election and pressuring officials to replace it with a fair one. President Obama, the quintessential anti-Bush, has generally eschewed the public promotion of human rights at moments of social ferment, believing the United States …
Continue reading “Washington reclaimed its voice at Kiev. Here’s hoping it doesn’t lose it again.”