Power in Politics Power is the ability to make people, states, movements, organizations, or things do what they would not otherwise have done. It is a matter of fact that politics is seen to be about might rather than right.   It can be said that, in essence, politics is power …

In two weeks, our government wants to agree to a global pact for digital coercion. On September 22 and 23, a UN Future Summit prepared by the German and Namibian governments will take place in New York. A global digital pact is to be adopted, which has already been negotiated …

American foreign policy lacks Gaullist mesure. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous observation, made in his 1846 poem Ode, Inscribed to William H. Channing, that “things are in the saddle, and ride mankind,” applies with some force to the current circumstances surrounding the war in Ukraine. In the past week, reports by Ukrainian media indicate …

Pessimism about Chinese or Russian intentions is certainly warranted, but their future capabilities for carrying out a disarming first strike are uncertain. According to recent press reports, the Biden administration has approved a secret nuclear strategy designed to adapt U.S. defense planning to the anticipated rise of China as a third nuclear …

A new report shows that unrestricted AUMFs are not the norm This September 18 marks the 23rd anniversary of the law that launched the so-called “War on Terror”: the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, also known as the 2001 AUMF. Passed by Congress a mere three days after …

Administrators, driven by fear, political pressure, and donors, have engineered a power grab bypassing the established structures of governance to securitize campuses and restrict free speech. In the 1960s, social critic Paul Goodman offered a parable to describe what had gone wrong with American higher education. He wrote: Millennia ago, …

The delegates and attendees we spoke with often diverged with the party message on stage, and that means something In a terminally polarized America, it can sometimes seem like there’s nothing that diehards of both major parties can agree on. Yet at both the party conventions this year there were …

Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, and the Race to Oblivion The next president of the United States, whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, will face many contentious domestic issues that have long divided this country, including abortion rights, immigration, racial discord, and economic inequality. In the foreign policy realm, she or …

The American War Party and its adherents in Britain and the rest of Europe are pushing the world over the abyss. And there’s no debate about that. Two events dominated international news this week: the TV debate between U.S. presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump; and reports that Washington …

Bush’s withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty led to an anti-satellite weapons proliferation boom The past year has witnessed a growing chorus of alarm in Washington regarding the military utility of space. From the proliferation of space debris to the hastened tempo of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons development by China and Russia, there is a fear …