"Cry, the Beloved Country" is Alan Paton’s searing 1948 novel about his own country, South Africa, as it was at the time. It manifests the agony of a majority indigenous black population suffering under white man’s law. Syria’s suffering is... Continue Reading →
U.S. President Barack Obama told an interviewer recently that the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria “haunts me constantly” -- and well it should. Hundreds of thousands dead, millions displaced, and still no end to the conflict is in sight. Even one... Continue Reading →
Tere are few more consequential questions in world affairs than China’s uncertain future trajectory. Assumptions of a reformist China integrated into the international community have given way in recent years to serious concerns about the nation’s internal and external direction,... Continue Reading →
Islamic State’s taunt that “we love death more than you love life” was always a threat as well as a fact. This expressed love of death was incomprehensible to people raised to believe that self-preservation is at the core of... Continue Reading →
The military campaign against the Islamic State has jelled, and ISIS defeats continue to mount. As shown in the ouster of Islamic State forces last week from Manbij in Syria and Sirte in Libya, the group’s fighters are now fleeing... Continue Reading →
Brexit is not just an event, it’s a process. The decision to hold a referendum on leaving the European Union took years of debate to materialize. Likewise, the decision to leave will take years to work itself out in negotiations... Continue Reading →
Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s scathing June 2 speech denounced Republican nominee Donald Trump’s qualifications to run American foreign policy. Clinton charged Trump with a general ignorance of world politics, as well as a personal unreliability and irresponsibility. “This is... Continue Reading →
Anti-Islamic State coalition military operations are underway, with the ultimate goal of destroying the Islamic State in Syria/Iraq. This involves liberating the cities of Mosul, Raqqa, and Fallujah, as well as all ISIS-entrenched positions on the Euphrates River, beginning west... Continue Reading →
Bedeviled by Donald Trump, a populist, hardball Republican presidential nominee, Americans need as rarely before, the political wisdom of their sages. The institutional protections of check and balance government are fundamental but not sufficient to deter demagogic outcomes. This year’s... Continue Reading →
Tiersky's Viewpoint 