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Category Archives: Politics and Political Theory
The ontology of the ‘Unknown’
Errol Morris’ documentary on Donald Rumsfeld, “The Known Unknown,” was accompanied by an extraordinary series of interview-essays in The New York Times where the filmmaker acknowledged that he felt he now knows less about the former twice-serving Defense Secretary and White … Continue reading
Thinking Through Ukraine
I was at NATO when Russia invaded its neighbor, Georgia, in August 2008. The action caught anyone not paying attention by surprise. The experts knew it was long in coming. I’m sure the same is for the unfurling crisis in Ukraine, … Continue reading
Some Dreamers of the Impossible Dream
With nods to George Kennan, Joan Didion, and Cervantes, enjoy this excerpt from my book, The United States and the Challenge of Public Diplomacy about an extraordinary visit I made to Macedonia in 2006 published in The Foreign Service Journal. Although I wrote … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Books, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Politics and Political Theory, Public Diplomacy, The Former Yugoslavia
Tagged Albania, Books, Bosnia, Bulgaria, current-events, EU, European Union, Foreign Service Journal, George Kennan, international relations, Joan Didion, Macedonia, NATO, nature of politics, Ohrid, politics, Public Diplomacy, Rebecca West, Serbia
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Plenums and Power (Power v. Force III)
The past two weeks have been astounding to witness in Ukraine and Bosnia- Herzegovina. While I haven’t been able to follow quite as intimately what has happened in Ukraine, media reporting from that country has been very good. In Bosnia … Continue reading
Posted in North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Politics and Political Theory, The Former Yugoslavia
Tagged Arab Spring, Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Communism, current-events, EU, European Union, force, hannah arendt, NATO, nature of politics, politics, repressive regimes, transitional justice, Ukraine, western political philosophy, Yugoslavia
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Punk Is Not Dead
Today my review essay of Masha Gessen’s latest book, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot, appears in the Los Angeles Review of Books. The book is a testament to the courage of the members of the group who … Continue reading
The Interpreter of Comedies
The extended appearance of Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina on The Colbert Report Feb. 7 is worth watching for any number of reasons, top among them are hearing two victims of Vladimir Putin’s regime speaking in their own … Continue reading
Lessons from Robben Island
I visited Robben Island, South Africa’s prison colony off the Western Cape, more than a decade ago when I was in South Africa with the woman who would become my wife. Then as today it is a national heritage site … Continue reading
Lou Reed and the Power of Art
Lou Reed died today at 71. The standard obituaries have noted his profound influence on popular music since the 1960s and 1970s. Dig a little deeper and you might find, as The New Republic did, that he affected political leaders like Vaclav … Continue reading
Posted in Politics and Political Theory
Tagged aesthetics and politics, Communism, current-events, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, Lou Reed, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, nature of politics, Plastic People of the Universe, politics, totalitarian regimes, Vaclav Havel, Velvet Revolution, Velvet Underground
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