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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a press conference in Holland in 1964.

Asking Martin Luther King…

… on the lecture circuit talking about Martin Luther King, one of the questions most commonly asked is: “What would Dr. King say about…?” The … on it and its possible answers. “Jesus drove a Honda,” one pundit assured us, “‘For I did not speak of my own …

The Shifting Terrain of Latin American Drug Trafficking

… In June 2011, the non-governmental organization Global Commission on Drug Policy published a report detailing the … few battles won and has come at such a great cost both in money and human lives. The trafficking of illicit drugs is a … cartel and effectively ended the cocaine wars that bloodied the streets of Miami. In addition, each trafficker …

South America’s ‘Sleeping Giant’ Wakes: Brazil’s 2010 Election

… claiming 56 million votes—fully 12 million more than her opponent. The general election also included contests for all … and Russia, and with nearly two times the per-capita income of China, Brazil is on track to become a major force in … After her release, Rousseff returned to college and studied economics, and began a career in government service. …
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

Free Speech: Still Under Threat

… After all, American society is now among the world's most complex. In a nation of such diverse origins, practices and views, one should expect sharp clashes over published ideas and … to muzzle the expression of those that offend the values of one group or another should not be surprising. But that, of …

A Fresh Start for Pakistan?

… first time in Pakistan’s turbulent political history that one democratically elected government served out its full … in 1947, Pakistan’s political elites have faced regional, communal, and religious obstacles to building a stable, … Beginning: Independence and Partition Salmon Rushdie has famously described Pakistan as “a place … …
Illustration of global public health by Giovanni Maki, 2004.

The WHO and International Public Health

… hold health conventions.” The PAHO still exists today as one of six regional working groups within the WHO. In … epidemiological data on infectious diseases, and offer recommendations on sanitation. The OIPH would later become a … for the WHO. There are many possible reasons why: Lee died suddenly in 2006, and his successor, Hong Kong-born …
Women suffragists marching on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., March 3, 1913.

The First Time Women Marched on Washington

… of the 1913 march had their organizational act together. Communicating via a federated national organization called … made it clear that women were a political force to be reckoned with. But a parade “of fine dignity, picturesque … to clear the street. By 4 pm, the women had barely made it one block. With every step, mobs of angry men jeered at …
Photo of the World Trade Towers after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

The End of a “Safe America”

… during the Cold War. But those things never happened, and one can reasonably doubt that they ever would have. But the … buildings and a section of the Pentagon, on Sept. 11. Commentators have noted that the terrorists picked their … a repetition impossible and unthinkable. But when that is done, the people who influence and shape U.S. policy should …
U.S. National Archives building

New Laws Needed to Stop Bullying of National Archives

… often waited for controversies surrounding a President to die down before opening contentious documents. A federal … labor bureau positions. Nixon’s order was contained in one of several thousand documents that the former President … honorably may struggle with his past. Governance is complex and politics messy. Laws demand disclosure of what …
H.G. Wells’s novel, War of the Worlds, described hissing, tentacled, tripodal invaders from Mars.

Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” Radio Broadcast

… an enterprising radio newsman unsatisfied with the comments from an obscure Midwestern astronomer, sped to … As for life on Mars, the odds were “a thousand to one.” Then they arrived, as if to mock the best expertise … to drink a bottle of poison.  Two people reportedly died from heart attacks.  The Washington Post declared …
Fort Bragg sign - home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces

Renaming Southern Army Bases Is Nothing New

… long street. We were unaware that it carried the name of a one-time traitor who helped orchestrate the deaths of thousands of American soldiers. After the Civil War, James Longstreet atoned for his … moves from the Jim Crow era. The opportunity to change our common legacy rests fully in our hands. Renaming these bases …
Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963.

President’s Commission on Race a Failure

… President Clinton’s commission on race relations is dead on arrival. Most … correct; candor was not its most notable characteristic. No one should be more disappointed about the commission’s work … is a professor of African American history at San Diego State University. His most recent book is "Seeing Red: …

Building a New Silk Road? Central Asia in the New World Order

… but otherwise, most Westerners probably cannot distinguish one "stan" from another. Certainly, the current intensive … collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Central Asia has become an increasingly important pivot in international … as cotton in Uzbekistan)—even if the end of Moscow's subsidies for unprofitable factories put the local economies in a …
The view of Dresden and the Elbe River from the very top of the Frauenkirche.

A Postcard from Dresden, Germany: Living in the Shadow of World War II

… or “Old Town,” is relatively new. This area had to be completely rebuilt after its destruction during  World War … it is estimated that anywhere from 18,000 to 25,000 people died during this attack. The Fürstenzug, or Procession of … mural that shows the rulers of Saxony. Little damage was done to it during the 1945 bombing of Dresden; The …
Nuuk, Greenland skyline with the aurora borealis.

Greenland Fantasies

… parties, struggle with their sexuality, track “likes” and “comments” on Facebook, experience domestic abuse, and dream … to imagine it. To see beyond fantasies about Greenland, one must look to its history and culture. Only then can we … southwestern part of the island around 985 CE.  The medieval  Norse  settlers relied on the ecological niches of …
Bust of Abraham Lincoln.

Getting Wrong with Lincoln

… Warren Beatty’s pseudo-presidential campaign, he’s already done something that most candidates can only dream about. … our more prominent pundits have actually repeated, and thus compounded, the movie star’s error. The bogus quotation … he hears one — and Beatty must have understood that his audience would respond better with an appeal to Lincoln’s …
Cartoon in Punch, 1906.

For Iraq, a Lesson from Africa

… No one's looking, because no one's inclined to look in such an unlikely place. But it … own independence from tyranny. But before 9/11, astute commentators warned about grandiose calls for democracy to …
Official ISIS flag

11/12/2014: Top Ten Origins: The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)

… based in northeastern Syria and northwestern  Iraq . It is one of the rebel groups fighting to topple  the Syrian … . The surge of U.S. forces to Iraq in 2007-2008 and the accompanying counterinsurgency strategy along with a Sunni … much of northwestern Iraq this year? A U.S. Navy F-18E Super Hornet receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker over …
Bartolome de las Casas

Bartolomé de las Casas and 500 Years of Racial Injustice

… This year marks the 500-year anniversary of the pricking of one man's conscience. Bartolomé de las Casas, sickened by … natives of the New World.   Las Casas ( above ) rose to become one of the most influential thinkers of his day. He … extremely popular Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, which was published during his lifetime (c. …
Stamp of Salvador Allende, the former Chilean president overthrown in 1973.

Regime Change: New Name, Dangerous Old Policy

… governments that help terrorists attack us. We have done all of those things since World War II, but regime … in Iran (1953), Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala (1954), Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam (1963) and Salvador Allende in Chile (1973). … property, the rule of law, a willingness to make political compromises and to accept the outcome of free elections. In …
Howard Dean speaking at a rally in 2003.

How to Rise from the Political Deathbed

… Howard Dean’s current bid to chair the Democratic National Committee is a test case of his political viability. It’s … since a spirited speech, endlessly rebroadcast and lampooned, derailed his innovative and well-funded 2004 … consumption, but originally directed at a much smaller audience. Several politicians provide excellent examples of …