If the Horseshoe Fits: Illiberalism Across the Political Spectrum
The Center - “While far-right ideologues make no secret of their illiberalism, their counterparts on the Left tend to cloak theirs in the language of equality.” 7/10/2022

On Finland’s Memorandum with Turkey
The Left - “Finns should decide their own fate. Their pact with Turkey signals the opposite.” 6/30/2022

Like in Ukraine, We Must Recognize Iranians’ Right to Resistance
The Center - “Political leaders in the United States are increasingly recognizing the vitality and capabilities of the Iranian resistance movement and are looking for ways to empower it.” 6/7/2022

The Great American School Tragedy: The Coronavirus and Students
The Center - “So while parents are generally satisfied with what schools did under trying and unprecedented circumstances, they have good reason to be worried about the pandemic’s effects on their children’s academic and emotional well-being.” 5/31/2022

Narrative Ethics: A Modest Proposal
The Center - “I wryly refer to the universal adoption of narrative ethics as a ‘modest proposal’ because while telling stories is a fundamental part of human nature, telling stories in perfectly ethical ways is, unfortunately, too often alien to our nature.” 5/25/2022

On “The Diversity Paradox”
The Center - “Similarly, while professional hockey is considered to have an under-representation problem, the same is not considered true for the National Football League or National Basketball Association, in which African Americans are very over-represented.” 5/19/2022

Why the Left Is Accepting Finnish NATO Membership
The Left - “With that said, however, as a country with a 70-year commitment to welfarism, it would not be desirable to substitute this for Russia’s brand of plutocratic capitalism.” 5/18/2022

When Anti-Israel Bias Finds Its Way into Coverage Choices
The Center - “Our media’s acceptance of anti-Semitic narratives is eroding Israel’s standing in the world and, in turn, the nation’s ability to defend itself against an enemy that has long ago broken its borders and used its very liberalism against it.” 5/11/2022

The Term Woke Is Losing Its Punch
The Right - “It was a linguistic indication that revolutionary consciousness had made ‘the long march through the institutions.'” 4/30/2022

The Pandemic Is a Chaos Narrative
The Center - “Chaos narratives, however, defy our narrative expectations. There is no order, sense, or logical chronology but, instead, suffering without an apparent purpose or meaning.” 4/29/2022

Do David Brooks and the New Right Share Common Threads?
The Left - “The general public—and not the elite—is, in fact, the primary obstacle to the New Right’s political project.” 4/19/2022

Why Putin’s Russia and Xi’s China Are Cozy Bedfellows
The Center - “Why is there this close bond? Why does China do nothing in response to President Putin’s bloodlust?” 4/18/2022

Nuclear Iran—Why the Islamic Republic Is Not the Actor We Think It Is
The Center - “As the only Western journalist allowed to enter Iran prior to its presidential elections back in 2017, I followed then-candidate Ebrahim Raisi on the campaign trail. Whatever illusions I had about Iran and its ambitions melted under the sheer brutality of his war rhetoric.” 3/30/2022

Kids and the Coronavirus: Unintended Consequences Two Years Later
The Center - “So, we have been living in two pandemics, but only one has dominated our public health discussions.” 3/12/2022

Ukraine and “The Fog of War”
The Center - “Amid the memes and rhetoric, there has been much in the way of propaganda, unverifiable information, and outright lies that seem, at times, not to be appreciated for what they are.” 3/7/2022

What Whoopi Goldberg Got Wrong about the Holocaust—and Why It Matters
The Center - “Only days before Goldberg made her ill-informed comments, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) changed its definition of racism to ‘The marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people.'” 2/5/2022

No to Money for Hostages
The Center - “When I was imprisoned in Iran, I made it clear to the Swiss ambassador to let the Trump administration know not to offer any money in exchange for my release.” 2/4/2022

If the Pendulum Doesn’t Swing Back
The Center - “The implication is that culture and politics can be thought of as the bob of a pendulum swinging back and forth mechanically between the political left and the right, and that, at the moment, we are simply at the leftward amplitude of such a process.” 2/3/2022

When It Comes to Medical Aid-in-Dying, We Must Protect the Vulnerable
The Center - “Many such persons will have internalized the idea that they constitute an inconvenient and expensive burden on loved ones, as well as the healthcare system. Legalizing MAID risks reinforcing that message.” 1/10/2022

Why I Oppose the JCPOA
The Center - “As a former political hostage in Iran, I oppose the efforts to revive the current agreement as it stands. I will explain my reasoning and what I believe is the best path forward.” 12/16/2021

How the National Popular Vote Protects the Electoral College
The Right - “Importantly, this state-based reform preserves and protects the Electoral College by having state legislatures determine the manner and method by which presidential elections are run and administered.” 10/29/2021

A Question for Frances Haugen: Who Decides?
The Center - “The question, however, remains: Would politically motivated government officials make better decisions than executives at these companies, and would these decisions be fairly applied to all users?” 10/18/2021

It’s Time to Move Away from Outward Markers of Jewish Belonging
The Center - “One thing I chose not to do was circumcise my child. While many of my secular compatriots still feel an affinity for this practice as a ‘tribal marking,’ I find it intellectually and ethically difficult to defend.” 10/8/2021

What Motivates Retail Cryptocurrency Investors?
The Right - “Contrary to the Bitcoin apostles I met at the conference all those years ago, contemporary owners of cryptocurrency seem to be more interested in its speculative properties than its potential as an alternate currency or stable store of value.” 9/3/2021

Can Australians Trust the Americans after Kabul?
The Center - “As a result of this debacle, it now seems reasonable to question whether Washington is competent enough to assure Australia’s security.” 8/31/2021

Letter to the Editor: In Reply to “Buy Out the Settlers”
The Center - “Therefore, what possible reason is there to believe that simply bribing a few Jews out of a few homes in the West Bank will result in Hamas and Fatah making peace with Israel?” 8/4/2021

Liberal Democracy Lives on the Page, Not the Screen
The Center - “Here, I would like to reflect on the optimal mechanisms for sustaining the rational mindset that undergirds liberal democracy.” 7/8/2021

Are Cities Heading for a Fiscal Crunch?
The Right - “Although they are run down, many still boast high local taxes. Sadly, this forms a vicious cycle of adverse selection, spiraling tax rates, and underfunding. “ 7/1/2021

Biden’s Tax Policies Would Hamstring Economic Recovery and Social Mobility
The Right - “The recovery itself is likely to be the largest job creator this decade.” 5/25/2021

In a Future Driven by Artificial Intelligence, “Career Adjacency” Offers Humans Agency
The Center - “However trendy this new semantic shift, the word is more relevant than ever: “Career adjacency” is now the future of human work.” 5/24/2021

How the “New Atheists” Deradicalized Me
The Center - “New Atheism had taught me always to demand evidence; and the evidence revealed that, historically, political radicalism had been a major source of violence and inhumanity…” 5/15/2021

To Prevent Politics and Reality from Breaking Up, Keep It Local
The Center - “Therefore, if we want to ward off a divorce between our political narratives and reality, perhaps the best thing we can do is bring political affairs as close as possible to our lived, everyday realities.” 5/13/2021

Is Inflation Finally Going to Be a Problem?
The Right - “Finally, the mere expectation of inflation can actually bring it to pass.” 5/2/2021

The Facebook Oversight Board: How to Make It Actually Work
The Center - “Accordingly, we believe that Facebook could streamline its appeals process by following the guidelines suggested above.” 4/23/2021

Why We’ve Committed Ourselves to Fighting Online Censorship
The Center - “We believe this question of censorship is a non-partisan concern that will deeply affect the ability of our country to achieve fairness and progress going forward.” 4/9/2021
