Obama’s Second Inaugural: Strong Argument, Little Vision
President Barack Obama’s Second Inaugural Address was a clear and sincere demand for equality, opportunity, and compassion. The speech called for unity in addressing contemporary challenges, and action...
View ArticleKissinger at 90
Henry Kissinger was born on 27 May 1923, in the shadow of the First World War. As a child, he witnessed the democratic exuberance of Weimar Germany and the terrible despair of Nazi tyranny. As a...
View ArticleHiroshima’s Anniversary
Today I had the opportunity to visit the site of the first atomic bombing, Hiroshima, and participate in the annual commemoration. Events began at 8:15am this morning, sixty-eight years after the...
View ArticleA Golden Age for the United Nations?
The annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly always draws distinguished speakers, but their speeches rarely have much international impact. General Assembly speeches are heavy on rhetoric...
View ArticleMachiavelli’s Wisdom on History and Leadership
“I judge that it might be true that fortune is arbiter of half of our actions, but also that she leaves the other half, or close to it, for us to govern. And I liken her to one of these violent rivers...
View ArticleThe Last of Our Heroes: Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela’s death is more than just the death of a great man. It is the death of a hero. He lived a life that combined radical ideas about racial equality and social democracy with a willingness...
View ArticleLeadership Starts By Asking the Big Questions
Successful leaders do not believe that they have the correct answers. They do not have set plans. Policy-making in a period of rapid change and multiplying uncertainties offers few clear paths forward....
View ArticleLessons from Yugoslavia for Ukraine
Ukraine is teetering on the edge of civil war. Courageous public demonstrations in Kiev and sympathetic parliamentary actions have caused the pro-Russian president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, to...
View ArticleContaining Russian Fascism
Effective policy-making begins by accurately assessing adversaries. Americans have a tendency to assume that their opponents are either pathetic pip-squeaks, ranting like irrational madmen, or enormous...
View Article25 Years Since Tiananmen, What Might Have Been
The early summer of 1989 was the most optimistic season in recent memory. William Wordsworth, writing in a previous revolutionary moment, captured the sentiment: “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,...
View ArticlePublic Universities Need Cheap Political Attacks to End
Universities provided the fuel for American economic growth and global leadership in the last century. This is particularly true for public universities. They educated more businesspeople, governors,...
View ArticleTalented Citizens must become Leaders of Character
On Saturday I had the privilege of delivering the keynote speech to the 2015 Honors Day Convocation of undergraduates at the University of Texas. The students inspired me to think deeply about how...
View ArticleHistorical Lessons for Choosing the Next President
The U.S. presidency is the most talked about and least understood office in the world. Presidents are elected to accomplish big things, but they spend most of their time focusing on problems that do...
View ArticleWhy Presidential Elections Matter
Electing a president every four years is one of America’s most basic democratic rituals. Complaining about the candidates is as much a part of this ritual as pulling a lever — or pressing a button — in...
View ArticleWe Need More Veterans’ Voices in Our Policy Debates
Many of our nation’s greatest presidents have been veterans of war: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. Military service is not...
View ArticleAdmitting Refugees Will Help Defeat the Terrorists
The United States had a secret weapon in the war against Nazi Germany. Many of the best minds from Germany and occupied Europe fled fascist hatred and came to our shores. Despite immigration...
View ArticleWhy We Need a New National Security Strategy
Strategy is an act of imagination. Strategic planning is important because it forces government bureaucracies to think imaginatively about how the world works and what the nation can achieve. Strategic...
View ArticleLeading the Impossible Presidency
No modern president has been prepared for the responsibilities of office. The leader of the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world is much more than a CEO, a general, or a party leader. The...
View ArticleContaining Russian Fascism
Effective policy-making begins by accurately assessing adversaries. Americans have a tendency to assume that their opponents are either pathetic pip-squeaks, ranting like irrational madmen, or enormous...
View ArticleSince 9/11 Our Fears Have Harmed Us, More than the Terrorists Have
Fifteen years ago, American self-confidence shattered amid the death and debris of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, a field in Pennsylvania and four hijacked aircraft. The ripple effect has been...
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