Apologies for the light blogging during the last few days.  I’ve been visiting family and trying to cope with a sudden flood of deadlines.  There’s lots to write about, including Al Gore’s poorly conceived op-ed in the Times, and I’ll be back be back in the saddle very soon.

The New York Times turned down the Watergate story, giving the Washington Post ownership of the story of the decade.  Now the Washington Post is going for a repeat, scooping the somnolent Times on the Climategate story.  The Post story by Juliet Eilperin and David A. Farenholdt is no skeptic’s dream, but Post readers now [...]

The apparent victory of Viktor Yanukovych in yesterday’s Ukrainian presidential election is yet another setback to the idea that the world is rapidly becoming a more democratic place.  The candidate whose fraudulent claims of victory in 2005 led to the much hailed “Orange Revolution” of 2004.  Losing candidate Yulia Tymoshenko has vowed to challenge the [...]

Over on his blog at Foreign Policy, the always interesting and engaging political scientist Daniel Drezner raises some important questions about science and politics.  Drezner looks at the interaction between populist critics of the science consensus and the guardians of that consensus — specifically at the debate between those who think that vaccinations may promote [...]

Here in the quiet precincts of the stately Mead manor in exclusive Queens, as the dew gently falls over the mist-shrouded lawns and the pigeons coo soothingly from the historic-landmarked eaves, it is sometimes hard to believe, but out there in the workaday world the long and graceful decay of the American social model is [...]

The credibility of the IPCC, the reputation and the job security of its chairman, the consensus among key (and rather skeptical) countries that global warming is man made and needs to be fixed:  it’s all melting away, to judge from the latest news from New Delhi.  The only thing that isn’t melting is the Himalayan [...]

Apologies to all who have had difficulty reaching the site.  Our servers are struggling to cope with heavy traffic.  We’ve brought in some highly rated (and unbelievably expensive) management consultants and will be implementing their suggestions.  This means cutting intern pay, laying off career employees, dropping the pension program and paying a second and larger [...]

This week the team of crack researchers and analysts at the sprawling Mead GHQ are presenting our analysis of the Top Ten Trends that will affect world politics in the decade ahead.  This won’t be about individual countries, but about the big trends that will shape global politics.  We kicked the series off yesterday with [...]

The name games continue in Malaysia; following the Malaysian Supreme Court ruling that a Catholic newspaper had the right to use the word “Allah” in reference to the Christian God, demonstrations have flared, mobs are on the march, and churches have been firebombed.
This does not, I am happy to note, represent the reaction of many [...]

The servers at the humming headquarters of The American Interest collapsed for about 12 hours yesterday, perhaps overcome with excitement that as Christine Russell points out today, New Year’s Eve this year falls on a blue moon.
However, not to worry.  The-American-Interest.com is on top of the problem; we’ve reviewed the literature and are handling this [...]

Last week, President Obama was living the Twenty-Third Psalm as he gave a well received speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo:
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days [...]

The global economic crisis is now moving into a new phase.  The first wave saw a series of bankruptcies as a financial panic wreaked havoc across the world’s major financial centers.  The panic was stemmed more or less by central bankers intervening to save some institutions, provide for the orderly or quasi-orderly break-up of others [...]

Ninety-two years ago today, British forces entered Jerusalem as the Ottoman Empire retreated from Palestine during World War One.
General Edmund Allenby, leader of the British forces, entered the Holy City on foot, issuing a proclamation that promised to respect the rights of all three religions for whom Jerusalem has a special significance.  The entry on foot [...]

General Stanley McChrystal let the cat out of the bag during his testimony today before Congress.  We can’t win against al-Qaeda, said America’s top general in Afghanistan, until we capture or kill Osama Bin Laden.
I think he’s right and have thought so for many years, but I don’t think it’s something to say much about.
“Think [...]

The Prime Minister of Turkey is visiting Washington.
This is much more important than most of these state visits are.  Building a relationship with the new Turkey is a critical mission for President Obama.  Some American allies became less important with the end of the Cold War; Turkey is one of the ones whose importance in [...]