Tag

2021 July

Delta, Inflation, and the Health of the US and Global Economic Systems

While it looks for now as if Monday’s Wall Street sell-off was a momentary blip within the market’s steady recent ascent, questions remain as to the long-term growth of the global economy as the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads and fears about inflation mount. With the pandemic seemingly resurgent or, in many countries, still ever-present,...

Cuba, Communism, and the Embargo Problem

This week, thousands of Cubans took to the streets in protest, demanding government action to address severe economic want and the COVID-19 pandemic, while also calling for the resignation of President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the end of sixty years of Communist rule. In response, the Cuban government has arrested over one hundred protesters and called...

The Politics of the Past in Hungary

For many visitors, Budapest casts a spellbinding beauty, sparkling with ageless jewels like Saint Stephen’s Basilica and the fin de siecle House of Parliament. Beneath this surface of gothic grandeur however, a determined fight is being waged for control of Hungary’s historical narrative, and thus for direction of its future progress. This fight is most...

From Revolution to the Rule of Law: Constitutionalizing Charisma

Charismatic leaders, from George Washington to Nelson Mandela, have dominated political revolutions in many nations. More important than their charisma itself though, at least once the Bastille is stormed, is how these leaders channel charisma into a constitutional order. France’s twentieth-century experience with presidentialism provides a particularly rich example of this process, and exposes the...

President Biden & Airstrikes in the Middle East

This past Monday, President Biden ordered U.S. Forces to carry out airstrikes against targets along the Iraq-Syria border. The Pentagon stated that these targets had been housing munitions for Iranian-backed militia groups. At least four Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada milita members were killed in the attack. A day later, militia units retaliated against U.S. forces in...