Notebooks

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The tragic decline of Christian rituals

Christian rituals associated with Lent are neither foolish games nor futile gestures. Rather, such traditions show how a fractured society can heal, connecting its mortal existence..

Bijan Omrani March 10, 2025

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The perils of partition

Those who seek to carve up Syria should know that partitions never work. The divisions they create are at best arbitrary and must be enforced with violence, as the history of the M..

James Snell March 10, 2025

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The Genocide Convention and its discontents

In 1948, the UN General Assembly ratified the Genocide Convention to punish and prevent one of humanity's worst crimes. Today, questions arise about whether this legal framework is..

Christopher Hale March 7, 2025

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How to revive our reading culture

Technology has become a convenient scapegoat for the decline of literacy. The real problem lies in our society’s approach to reading as a shallow mode of self-expression rather tha..

Tiffany Jenkins March 6, 2025

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My journey to a defiant Ukraine

Even now, on the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainians remain valiant and defiant. But with Washington withdrawing its support for their struggle, E..

Brendan Simms March 5, 2025

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The Trump effect

The Donald Trump we know today has a lot in common with the Trump of 2000 or 1988. The consistency and brute force of the president's core convictions allow him to make the politic..

Samuel Rubinstein March 4, 2025

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The end of the Atlanticist Era

European leaders shouldn’t be surprised that the United States is reverting to its isolationist type. Despite this tendency, the Atlanticist Era has lasted for longer than anyone e..

Robert Lyman March 3, 2025

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The revolt of Germany’s working class

Germany's workers are turning to the radical right because they feel alienated by the internationalist ethos and welfare policies of their country's ruling classes, as the recent s..

Katja Hoyer February 28, 2025

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The transatlantic alliance is fractured, not broken

Despite the severe strains that are being placed on the transatlantic alliance by the Trump Administration, Europe and the United States are bound by economic and security ties tha..

George Magnus February 27, 2025