NEW YORK — While news and analysis in America continue to be obsessed with Donald Trump’s daily antics and insults, halfway around the world, something truly historic just happened. China signaled that it now sees itself as the world’s other superpower, positioning itself as the alternative, if not rival, to the United States. This is […]

NEW YORK — Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s comprehensive documentary series on the Vietnam War is filled with the stories and voices of ordinary soldiers on all sides of the conflict. But the most tragic aspect of the tale, for me, was to hear Lyndon Johnson on tape, before full U.S. engagement, admitting that the […]

WASHINGTON — This past week, The New York Times front page described the Trump administration’s repeal of the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s attempt to slash carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. “The war on coal is over,” declared EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Right under that article was a story from halfway around the […]

NEW YORK — “He’s a sick man, a demented man,” said Donald Trump, trying to explain the latest mass shooting in the United States. We hear this view expressed routinely, after every new incident. But it is a dodge, a distortion of the facts and a cop-out as to the necessary response. There is no […]

NEW YORK — President Trump’s speech to the United Nations was well delivered. But it was a strange mishmash of topics and tones, in parts celebrating realpolitik but then also asserting the importance of freedom and democracy. There was, however, one overriding theme — the embrace of nationalism. And in striking that chord, Donald Trump […]