During the War on Terror, force drift was explained to me as the concept that increasing levels of force are seen to be reasonable, and there is an almost unstoppable trend toward the use of more and more force. Absent clear rules of engagement and without strong leadership, force drift is inevitable. Maybe these days [...]
“In the end, we must depend upon creatures of our own making.” Goethe, Faust It’s clear and straightforward: the United States must avoid nuclear war or all other national obligations will become moot. It follows that all available fiscal and intellectual resources should be vested in this obligation. Prima facie, during the self-inflicted chaos [...]
If Prime Minister Mark Carney wins the Canadian federal election, new Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gary Anandasangaree — appointed by Carney on March 14 — will likely remain in the role as he now faces a moment that directly parallels his earlier career as an international human rights lawyer advocating for Tamil victims [...]
Hidden behind the United States’ largest produce supply is a crisis in farmworker housing, one that not only endangers workers but also poses a risk to consumers far beyond the fields. California grows more than a third of America’s vegetables and most of the country’s fruits and nuts. Thousands of farmworkers power this agricultural machine, [...]
There’s much talk these days about democracy being under threat at home and around the world. Most of this discussion tends to be focused on efforts by autocrats and their supporters to erode the rule of law and the right to vote; their adoption of policies that discriminate against minorities and women; and their use [...]
On Sunday, I attended a training by the Diaspora Alliance about the worrying rise of instrumentalized antisemitism. The Diaspora Alliance describes instrumentalized antisemitism as the use by political actors of Jewish peoples’ legitimate fears in an antisemitic environment. The idea is, these actors will manipulate those fears to compel organized action ultimately aimed at shoring [...]
The news about the administration of Donald Trump using the messaging app Signal to plan military operations has galvanized many in the public. On March 24, reports emerged that beginning on March 11, The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg had been added to a Signal group titled “Houthi PC small group.” The chat included various cabinet [...]
Facing recurrent cycles of terror-violence in a “state of nature,” Israel must defend itself in both law and strategy. Though generally unacknowledged, this dual-level defense could prove gainful not just for Israel, but also for other “civilized nations” in world politics. A patently core obligation, it is universal in scope and justice-seeking in objective. Multiple [...]
Part one of this series can be found here: Return of the Torture Monsters: Here We Go Again Recently, the ACLU highlighted one of the torture architects of our past. In early 2002, then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice appeared in a video outlining then-President George W. Bush’s role in establishing the 54-country torture regime [...]
The United Nations has stood for nearly eight decades as a bastion of hope for international cooperation and peace. As we witness its gradual erosion, marked by a troubling drift towards irrelevance among major global powers, it becomes imperative for member states — particularly those in the Global South—to rally behind the UN’s core principles. [...]
