Between the Issues

Richard Wolin recently sat down with Michael Walzer to discuss the state of the contemporary left and Walzer’s new book, The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective. Richard Wolin: Let’s begin by talking about what you mean by “liberal as an adjective” and why this theme is so relevant today. Why do…

Part I: Treason During the latter stages of World War II, the American labor movement was divided sharply in two: on the one hand the old line craft unions, such as ladies’ garments and headgear, joined in the American Federation of Labor; on the other the unions attached to the newer mass industries: auto ,…

There’s a large synagogue in my area that always keeps its doors locked. People seeking entry need to be buzzed in. I suspect that this requirement is true of virtually all synagogues. We usually think of houses of worship as open, welcoming places. Yet the need for surveillance and safety at Jewish institutions is warranted…

Forty-four years ago, the image of an Iranian woman, dressed in the traditional Shiite chador and holding a G-3 automatic rifle, had become one of the hallmarks of the Iranian revolution of 1979. Today, the key iconic image of the protests in Iran, which has being going on for four months, since the death in…

The February 2022 suspension of actor Whoopi Goldberg from The View after she apologized for her remark, to the effect that the Holocaust had not been about “race,” epitomized several layers of the problem in disentangling antisemitism IN THE USA from the phenomenon of systemic racist oppression.  It further epitomized the field of tension that exists between US African Americans…

In the English-language scholarship, there have been two general accounts for interpreting President Putin’s foreign policy. One emphasizes his possible ideological commitments (ranging from his interpretations of Russia’s historic geographic boundaries and identity) and, for lack of a better phrase, his effort to “make Russia great again”. A second emphasizes his strategic interests and his…

I’m not into making predictions, but at this point it’s fairly easy to predict not what is going to happen, but rather what has to happen to avoid what might otherwise be irremediable consequences. All commentators think the Republican Party is going to win back the House.  That will be pretty terrible in that the House leaders…

Very few occurrences left in this generation would command the kind of tractions that followed the demise of Queen Elizabeth II of England. For 70 years, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor ruled over the great British Empire, ensuring the sustenance of its legacy, bridging gaps, and giving many, especially the British, different reasons to continue connecting…