Ramzy Mardini explains in the New York Times why arming the Syrian opposition is a terrible idea: see http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/opinion/sunday/bad-idea-mr-president.html?ref=opinion. I shared this on Facebook, offering a comment to emphasize that conflict resolution peace talks do NOT merely ratify the parties’ position on the battlefield, as some alleged IR experts insist — if properly facilitated, they identify underlying conditions generating the civil war and methods of ameliorating them.
The Assad regime’s authoritarianism is one such condition, but they are many more equally important; for example, Syria’s wildly uneven, pro-corporate economic development; the … read more…
There’s still time (barely) to apply to the dual degree masters program in Conflict Resolution and Mediterranean Security at the University of Malta.
In only 13 months (Sept. 2013-Oct. 2014), you could earn two degrees in conflict resolution – one from George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analsis and Resolution, the other from the University of Malta’s Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies.
All courses are offered at the University of Malta’s historic Valletta campus in one of Europe’s most beautiful and interesting (and least expensive!) countries. The curriculum and teaching are … read more…
By sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about a conference to end the civil war in Syria, President Obama has taken a step that he should have taken two years ago. Instead of taking sides in that conflict in order to oust Bashar Assad and to weaken Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, Obama should have listened to the Russians, who have advocated peace talks from the beginning. Kerry’s trip to Moscow implicitly admits that they were right all along to insist that arming the … read more…
A number of critics have already condemned the shallowness of most news coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. The media’s initial “cops and bombers” focus has now given way to an equally myopic concentration on the Tsarnaev brothers’ biographies and personalities, featuring inane questions like “How could such athletic, educated, personable young men have committed such monstrous acts?” What is missing is historical context — not only the tragic history of the Chechen people over the past two decades, but the more accessible story of America’s ill-conceived War on Terror.
Like … read more…
by Rich Rubenstein on November 26, 2012 · 2 comments
“Lincoln” is a great evocation of the capital’s culture and politics at the end of the Civil War.
Daniel Day-Lewis is superb as the president, but the real Oscar-winner is likely to be Sally Field, who manages to capture both the neurosthenia and dignity of Mary Todd Lincoln. Unfortunately, the politics portrayed here are far less complex than the characters of the protagonists. The Republican Radicals are presented as patriotic statesmen for betraying their commitments to social and political equality for Black Americans in order to secure a legal reform — … read more…
by Rich Rubenstein on November 16, 2012 · 0 comments
Here is the latest reaction to the Israel/Gaza mess by the great Israeli journalist, Uri Avneri. I think he gets it right, but two additional factors are also worth mentioning. (1) You can’t maintain a prison without expecting the prisoners to retaliate. Gaza remains the world’s largest prison. It must be closed; and the only way to close it without mass murder is to recognize and make peace with Hamas. (2) This war may turn out too be more than just another superfluous struggle. There is a real danger that discrete … read more…
by Rich Rubenstein on November 10, 2012 · 1 comment
Phnom Penh Noir, a new anthology edited by Christopher Moore and published by Heaven’s Gate Press, is out this month, with my short story, “Sabbatical Term,” included. The tale is about a young American college professor who goes to Cambodia to study the Khmer Rouge revolution, which he thinks may represent a new and better form of communism. He finds love and a lot more during his sabbatical term. Other stories include pieces by Roland Jaffe, director of “The Killing Fields,” John Burdett, author of the great Bangkok series of … read more…
by Rich Rubenstein on November 9, 2012 · 0 comments
My short story, “Sabbatical Term,” appears in PHNOM PENH NOIR (Heaven’s Gate Press), a new anthology edited by Christopher Moore that contains stories by some terrific writers, including Roland Joffe, director of The Killing Fields, and John Burdette, author of the Bangkok series of detective novels. The book launch is November 30 at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh — wish I could be there! Click on www.phnompenhnoir.com for more info.… read more…
by Rich Rubenstein on October 4, 2012 · 0 comments
A revised version of Rich’s article, “Mitt and Jesus: Theological Issues in American Politics,” has now been published by Unrest Magazine. Click on http://www.unrestmag.com/mitt-and-jesus/ to read it. Comments here or on Facebook are most welcome.
Become a regular reader of Unrest!… read more…
by Rich Rubenstein on September 21, 2012 · 3 comments
U.S. Ambassador (ret.) Douglas Kmiec thinks it important that the slain Ambassador Chris Stevens be promptly replaced to demonstrate America’s commitment to the rule of law and democratic principles, including freedom of religion and free speech. Those are high-sounding aspirations, but in light of the danger, who would go? Doug Kmiec – now teaching human rights and constitutional law at Pepperdine University – has volunteered to serve.
Kmiec is no stranger to the region. He resigned as our Ambassador in nearby Malta in late spring 2011. I got to know him … read more…
