Beyond Intractability in Context Blog
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Posts ordered from most recent to earliest.
- From a defecting Russian diplomat, an explanation of how anenvironment in which dissent was not tolerated led to the tragedy in Ukraine (with important lessons for those suppressing dissent in the US). -- The Sources of Russian Misconduct -- Oct 25
- For those clinging to the belief that the United States is still the most successful democracy, evidence that others are doing better (and that maybe we can learn from them). -- America's Democratic Backsliding Is Not Universal -- Oct 25
- An examination of how the Republican Party that nominated Mitt Romney came to embrace Donald Trump in the style of politics we now call Trumpism. -- Don't Buy the Mitt Romney Martyr Theory -- Oct 21
- Disturbing news for those who thought that the United States was united in its opposition to the kind of brutal aggression on display in Ukraine. -- Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and Midterm Candidates Peddle Russian Propaganda -- Oct 21
- Reflections on the far-reaching implications of a political philosophy that sees racism as the sole factor that determines the course of society. -- This Is What Happens When Race Is Everything -- Oct 20
- An only slightly reassuring exploration of what everyone ought to know about the tactical nuclear weapons that now threaten to take us to the first nuclear war since 1945. -- Tactical Nukes: A Primer -- Oct 20
- As it fights its internal battles over racial and cultural issues, the world is sliding toward the kind of major confrontation that could make United States' internal battle seem trivial. -- We Are Suddenly Taking On China and Russia at the Same Time -- Oct 18
- A thoughtful look at the miracle of religious pluralism and tolerance that we take for granted and reflections on why we can't seem to apply this to the "culture war." -- Disagreement Isn’t Bigotry -- Oct 18
- While there is plenty of reason to fear the rise of authoritarian leaders like Xi and Putin, there is also reason to believe that they may be sowing the seeds of their own (and their country's) destruction. -- Xi Jinping Has Fallen Into the Dictator Trap -- Oct 17
- Reflections on the fact that a great many of the stories of extreme racism that are doing so much to drive us apart turn out not to be true. -- What a Report of Extreme Racism Teaches Us -- Oct 17
- A look at California's efforts to deal with the hard choices that arise when the problems of untreated mental illness intersect with the politically explosive issue of homelessness. -- Calif. Passed CARE Court Bill. Will Other States Follow? -- Oct 17
- An insightful exploration of the ways in which anti-Semitism differs from other forms of prejudice and discrimination. -- Why Conspiracy Theorists Always Land on the Jews -- Oct 17
- An article that explores the failure of the "theory of change" that we thought would lead to the emergence of successful liberal democracies around the world. -- Why China Didn’t Liberalize -- Oct 15
- A report on the war in Ukraine with stunning statistics revealing that Ukrainians have captured and are using more heavy equipment from the Russians than they have been receiving from the West. -- Ukraine’s New Offensive Is Fueled by Captured Russian Weapons -- Oct 15
- An article that demonstrates how extraordinarily difficult is going to be to build a bipartisan consensus on how to control the many aspects of social media that threaten democracy. -- How social media ‘censorship’ became a front line in the culture war -- Oct 14
- An important appeal to the US and its allies -- think carefully about the lessons we learn from the war in Ukraine and don't make the mistake of thinking we are more powerful than we really are. -- Russia's Defeat in Ukraine Would Be America's Problem -- Oct 14
- A look at the obstacles that we will have to overcome before we can expect to reintegrate the many men and boys who are now alienated from both our economy and our society. -- Why Men Are Hard to Help -- Oct 13
- An article to help us fill in a critically important gap in our understanding of what, exactly, allowed the Nazis to come to power. We need to understand this history to avoid repeating it. -- How Hitler's Enablers Undid Democracy in Germany -- Oct 13
- A different and informative kind of dialogue -- a discussion transcript created by a reporter seeking to succinctly bring together competing views on the tension between Columbus and Indigenous Peoples Day. -- A Columbian Exchange -- Oct 12
- An exploration of the many difficulties being faced by contemporary men and an explanation of why society's failure to address these problems is both a human tragedy and a political disaster. -- Men Are Falling Behind -- Oct 12
- More insight into the complexities of human psychology. This essay explores the surprisingly sophisticated nature of competition in evolutionary biology. -- Fortune favours the shrewd -- Oct 11
- A different and thought-provoking argument that hyper-polarization isn't the big problem. Rather it's a symptom of a bigger problem -- illiberalism on both the left and the right. -- Both Left and Right Are Converging on Authoritarianism -- Oct 11
- An inspiring report on Ireland's Citizens Assembly and its surprisingly successful efforts to bring collaborative problem-solving to the morally fraught issue of abortion. -- Give Ordinary People a Say On Abortion (and Other Contentious Issues) -- Oct 08
- An important reminder that religious freedom is of critical importance to all – even those whose socio-cultural beliefs are not grounded in one of the major religious traditions. -- Why Religious Freedom Matters, Even if You’re Not Religious -- Oct 08
- An in-depth review and summary of two major new books that explore options for strengthening democracy in ways that better cope with socio-cultural diversity and economic inequity. -- How Democracies Live: The Long Struggle for Equality Amid Diversity -- Oct 07
