Part I of an on-the-ground series of columns following the Rio+20 Earth Summit, 13-22 June in Rio de Janeiro. Twenty years after the first UN Earth Summit of 1992, fifty to a hundred thousand stakeholders and leaders of the world have gathered in Rio for the Rio+20 Earth Summit. The document under negotiation is titled, … Read more
A few weeks ago, the people of the United Kingdom celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee–a momentous occasion that marked the sovereign’s 60 years on the throne. For anglophiles like me, the event was Christmas in June. It was a time to behold and revel in the best pomp and circumstance that Britain has to offer. Unfortunately for me, … Read more
Part I of an on-the-ground series of columns following the Rio+20 Earth Summit, 13-22 June in Rio de Janeiro. Twenty years after the first UN Earth Summit of 1992, fifty to a hundred thousand stakeholders and leaders of the world have gathered in Rio for the Rio+20 Earth Summit. The document under negotiation is titled, … Read more
In light of the announcement that China plans to make its first manned space docking in late June, what does this mean for the United States on the international stage of space flight and exploration? The launch of the Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957 during the height of the Cold War sent shockwaves … Read more
I recently returned from a trip to Germany with a couple of friends. It is a downright awesome place in many respects, be it the epic cathedrals or the titanic Alps, the pulsating nightlife or the gracious citizens. But it is a country, like so many others, with certain shadows in its past. It was … Read more
Some people, such as our Jacob Drucker, criticize big deficits as “irresponsible.” Others criticize the critics for falling into “The Fairness Trap”: blinded by their attempts at being moral, they fail to see we need to spend a lot of money now in order to stimulate the economy and promote long-term growth. This might seem to be … Read more
Attention history buffs and political junkies: TIME Magizine’s Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy have released a new book, The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity, and as Joe Scarborough proclaims, “This is…the historical version of crack.” The enthusiastic praise is warranted. I have devoured presidential biographies since elementary school, and The Presidents Club … Read more
Attention history buffs and political junkies: TIME Magizine’s Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy have released a new book, The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity, and as Joe Scarborough proclaims, “This is…the historical version of crack.” The enthusiastic praise is warranted. I have devoured presidential biographies since elementary school, and The Presidents Club … Read more
For a nation that receives $3.1 billion in U.S. military aid per annum, Israel seldom answers to our national interest. In the most poignant, contemporary example, the American foreign policy establishment has concluded that an Israeli decision to attack Iran will be fully autonomous, made with or without our preapproval. Furthermore, Pentagon analysts predict that … Read more
From W.W. Rostow to Edward Glaeser to the editorial staff of this very website, academics and social critics alike have lent their voice to the New Urbanism. Cities are objectively better than the burbs, we say, civically more vigorous, economically more efficient, and environmentally cleaner. But an article by architect Sarah William Goldhagen in the … Read more