781 Per Day
Grieving is a highly personal experience. When I worked in the U.S. Senate at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I had the solemn privilege of attending several funerals for fallen American service members at Arlington National Cemetery. For all of the precision and uniformity of a military ceremony, each funeral, each graveside service, was different—reflecting the wishes of family or the fallen heroes themselves. The one … Read More
We Will Never Surrender
On Monday afternoon, the stock market responded to news that an experimental vaccine had successfully produced an antibody response in the first six individuals to receive it as part of a phase 1 clinical trial. One day later, the market dropped precipitously in its closing moments on news that it was too early for this particular vaccine candidate to be declared successful. It was a whip-saw reaction that feels particularly … Read More
More Women Needed to Close the Cybersecurity Workforce Gap: Picks of the Week
As Much as We Want it to Be, The Pandemic Isn’t Over
Globalization: Not Dead Yet
Every fall I teach a course on the history of globalization. It is the highlight of my year and it gives me a seemingly endless supply of grist for understanding. So when I read an article from The Los Angeles Times that claimed the Coronavirus may threaten globalization, it set my wheels turning because it speaks to a popular misunderstanding of what globalization actually is. More than a century before … Read More
Russian Disinformation in the Age of Coronavirus
Just because there’s a global pandemic doesn’t mean that the great game of international politics takes a break. In fact, just like the rest of society, international powers are adapting to—and in some cases exploiting—the Coronavirus. The two most aggressive players are Russia and China, and while they have different international objectives, they are both aggressively pursuing their goals. In Russia’s case, the government of President Vladimir Putin continues to … Read More
An Ode to Government Inefficiency in the age of COVID-19
When is it okay to start thinking about life after the virus? It’s hard to ask that question because the news is still bad in so many places. The crest of the pandemic hasn’t arrived anywhere in the United States and we’re looking at more days of sickness, and isolation, and, tragically, death. Yet, there are questions we will need to grapple with as we begin to rebuild. Perhaps no … Read More
The Questions Matter
I watched the Democratic primary debate from Las Vegas last night. I don’t know if what we saw was good for Democrats, good for Republicans, or good for the country. I know politics is fierce. It’s bare-knuckled. It’s theatrical. And last night’s debate had its fair share of drama. But there are so many issues worthy of a national discussion that I’m mystified why debate moderators don’t ask better questions, … Read More
Our Republic is on the Ballot
The most important player in a republic—including ours—is the citizen. From our consent, leaders derive the authority to govern: to raise taxes, to declare war, to enforce laws and treaties, and to do all the things we expect of government. From the ranks of citizens, our government draws its judges, its soldiers, its officials at every level—including our representatives in the House and Senate as well as the White House. … Read More
Our North Star
In May of 1952, John Foster Dulles, the man who would become Secretary of State to President Dwight Eisenhower, published an article in Life magazine titled “A Policy of Boldness.” It was both a critique of the Truman administration’s conduct of foreign policy and a description of the establishment views of the Republican party as it sought to regain the White House for the first time in two decades. I … Read More