Advancing democracy Paula J. Dobriansky IN THE Summer 2004 issue of The National Interest, Adrian Karatnycky called for “an effort to press democracy’s expansion” that would take advantage of what he described as an opening in history when there is a chance utterly to vanquish and banish the worst forms of tyranny and autocracy and […]
When pushtun comes to shove – history of the Pustun tribes – Brief Article Leon B. Poullada Historically, the Pushtun tribes, secure within their mountain bastions centered on the Suleiman range and the Safed Koh, have successfully resisted all attempts to subdue them by Greeks, Persians, Kushans, Mongols, Mughals, Sikhs, British, and other Afghans. Most […]
Power and civilization Owen Harries UNTIL VERY RECENTLY, the concepts of “civilization” and “culture” have played a minor role in thinking about international politics. Realism, which has been the dominant theory of international politics for the last fifty years, allows no significant role for civilizational influences–not in its older version which posits a universal and […]
Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime S. Frederick Starr EVERY FIELD HAS its lexicon of praise, and for academic history in recent decades it has included words like cool, dispassionate, nuanced, and non-judgmental. No matter how provocative the thesis, the compleat historian has been expected to offer it up in the guise of a white-coated clinician […]
Charles Beard, properly understood – isolationism A.J. Bacevich THE STORY OF how the United States emerged–reluctantly and belatedly–to lead the world has long since acquired the weight of a well-known parable. Like any good parable, this one aims chiefly to admonish, to warn against the recurrence of error, to suppress wayward and irresponsible urgings to […]
Shaken, not stirred – actual James Bond quote on making of Martini’s from the book ‘Casino Royale’ – Brief Article – Excerpt Ian Fleming “A dry martini”, he said. “One. In a deep champagne goblet.” “Oui, monsieur.” “Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it […]
That’s entertainment? Hollywood’s contribution to anti-Americanism abroad Michael Medved “THINK AMERICA: WHY THE HOLE WORLD HATES YOU?” THIS MESSAGE, proudly proclaimed in a hand-lettered sign held aloft by a scowling, bearded Pakistani protestor during one of the angry demonstrations that followed September 11, continues to challenge the world’s dominant power. In responding to such disturbing […]
American Sovereignty and the UN Jesse Helms EARLIER THIS year, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivered an address to the General Assembly in which he declared that “the last right of states cannot and must not be the right to enslave, persecute or torture their own citizens.” The peoples of the world, he said, have “rights […]
Globalization and American Power Kenneth N. Waltz ASSOCIATING interdependence with democracy, peace and prosperity is nothing new. Before World War I, the close interdependence of states was thought of as heralding an era of peace among nations, and democracy and prosperity within them. In his widely read book, The Great Illusion, Norman Angell summed up […]