PARIS — When confronting bad news these days, many tend to assume that it is just a bump on the road and that things will work out. President Obama was fond of invoking Martin Luther King’s assertion that “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Yet, could we be […]

NEW YORK — It is commonplace to hear and read about President Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party. And certainly there is lots of evidence that the GOP is animated these days by an unquestioning devotion to Trump and whatever his ideas may be at any given moment. But the problem is that Republicans are […]

NEW YORK — For those who believe that Donald Trump is a clownish know-nothing who somehow tapped into the mood of the electorate or just got lucky in 2016, the last month has been instructive. Trump has demonstrated uncanny political instincts. When combined with his ruthless “amorality” — a term used by one of his […]

NEW YORK — The apparent murder of Jamal Khashoggi tells us something important about Saudi Arabia. But it also tells us something important about America. First Saudi Arabia. As has been often noted, Jamal Khashoggi used to be part of the Saudi establishment. Although not a member of the House of Saud, he was well-born […]

NEW YORK — The most consequential casualty of the recent confirmation battle is not Christine Blasey Ford or Brett Kavanaugh. It is the Supreme Court and, thus, American democracy. The court was one of the last bastions in Washington that towered above the political fray. It is now part of the dysfunction that has overwhelmed […]

NEW YORK — President Trump’s speech on Tuesday at the United Nations was an intelligent — at times eloquent — presentation of his “America First” worldview. He laid out an approach of pursuing narrow self-interest over broader global ones and privileging unilateral action over multilateral cooperation. But Trump might not recognize that as he withdraws […]

NEW YORK — When confronting a challenging problem, it is sometimes useful to listen to someone who looks at it from an entirely different angle. That is why I found it fascinating to talk about the rise of populism and nativism with Bono recently at a summit in Kiev. The Irish singer-activist-philanthropist sees the same […]

NEW YORK — For several years now, scholars have argued that the world is experiencing a “democratic recession.” They have noted that the movement of countries toward democracy has slowed or stopped and even, in some places, reversed. They also note a general hollowing out of democracy in the advanced, industrial world. When we think […]