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Tag Archives: current-events
What matters most
A recent opinion article by Roger Cohen about a book and polling data demonstrating a gulf in transatlantic public opinion struck me as a windy but representative example of the unnecessary polarization in our political debate. We find more visceral examples of this bifurcated outrage … Continue reading
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
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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Do We Need A Cultural Foreign Policy?
This month in Bosnia-Herzegovina citizens protested government paralysis in every major city in the country, in some places leading to destruction of municipal government buildings. In Sarajevo, somebody took advantage of the chaos and burned the city archives – a … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Public Diplomacy, The Former Yugoslavia
Tagged aesthetics and politics, Afghanistan, Arab Spring, art, Art Galleries, BiH, Bosnia, current-events, EU, George Clooney, George Stokes, Islamic art, Ma'il Qur'an, Mali, National Gallery of Art, Public Diplomacy, Sarajevo, Sarajevo Haggadah, Smithsonian Institution, The Monuments Men, U.S. State Department, USAID
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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
America Is It
State Department and Customs and Border Protection, take note. Leave it to Coca-Cola, the preeminent American brand, to get so much right in 60 seconds during the Super Bowl. The short spot is the song “America the Beautiful” cut between … Continue reading