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The concepts of tolerance and freedom according to Spinoza and Mendelssohn*  In this article, I would like to examine the political connotation of Spinoza’s concept of freedom, as elaborated in the Theological-Political Treatise. It does not deal in particular with its metaphysical connotation, as elaborated and defined in the Ethics. On the one hand the…

The present economic collapse is likely only the opening salvo of a much longer and broader age of crises. This period will produce changes at least as profound as those that marked the transition from feudal society to capitalism. It will change virtually everything about the way we live our lives. It will, in short,…

In Taking Power: On the Origins of Third World Revolutions John Foran tells us revolution may occur whenever “a world systemic opening” occurs.  “This may be the result of distraction in the core economies by world war or depression, rivalries between one or more core powers, mixed messages sent to Third World dictators, or a…

The collapse of the United States as the global hegemon constitutes a “systemic revolution” that will transform both the U.S.and the rest of the globe. Such a  revolution is different from “normal” political revolutions, which entail an overthrow of the government. A systemic revolution ushers in even broader and more enduring changes in economy, society and…

“Nothing that has ever happened should be regarded as lost for history” –Walter Benjamin History and Memoryistory is written by the victors. They define what counts as history, whatis remembered and what is forgotten, what is important and what is notand, most crucially, what is usable for informing the relationship of thepresent with the future.…

While not the best of John le Carré’s novels, The Mission Song is certainly far ahead of his previous symbolic disaster, Absolute Friends, and once again proves that he is the master of the post-Cold War political thriller and factually way ahead of the pack. Shadow of the Zebra-crossing The story is narrated by one…

Vorwort I did not go looking for Arendt’s voice.  An unexpected gift from Germany, from the woman who was my intellectual mentor in Gymnasium, brought five CDs of interviews, award speeches and lectures, brought Hannah Arendt’s voice across the ocean and across more than five decades into my living room last summer.  It was a…