The other day, Claremont Review of Books published Elan Journo’s review of The Tail Wags the Dog: International Politics and the Middle East by Efraim Karsh.
The Iranian Hostage Crisis, the Salman Rushdie Affair, September 11th and the Charlie Hebdo Massacre. Are we in the Western world doomed to more and more attacks by Islamic totalitarians? And what can anyone do about it? The answer might surprise you.
When I first heard about the “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists,” I had grave misgivings: the freighted title, by itself, rang in my ears like a siren. Turns out, the “Field Guide” was worse than I thought.
The truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin has cast a lurid spotlight on German authorities. The police apparently knew the suspect, had evidence of his ties to jihadists and believed he posed a threat. Yet twelve people are now dead. Last August, we saw a truck used as a weapon of jihad in Nice, France, so why didn't police prevent this one?
Lately we've seen a whole flurry of articles — many of them overstated — about the influence of Ayn Rand on some of Trump's cabinet picks, and in that there's some (qualified) good news. Now comes this heartening news story: Israel's newspaper of record, Haaretz, reports that the country's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was seen in parliament reading a book by an Objectivist historian, the late John David Lewis.
Carol Gould, the author and commentator, has praised Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism for reaching “the highest level of scholarly excellence.” The book, she continued, “should be a primer for leaders around the globe and a text to be read by students hoping to go out into the working world in leadership positions. Highly recommended.”
The centrality of Islam in Middle East politics can be seen in laws and opinion polls, but that data fails to capture just how entwined Islam and state really are and the destructive effects that ensue. The persecution of a Jordanian writer who shared a cartoon on Facebook dramatizes the problem.
What do you call a payment of money for the release of a prisoner? Yes, it’s a ransom. But not if the recipient is Iran. That, the Obama administration calls a triumph of diplomacy.
What did we learn in yesterday’s debate about the candidates’ foreign policies? Earlier today, Elan Journo shared his reactions to the candidates’ views on the Iran nuclear deal, the Iraq war, ISIS and more.
What is ARI’s distinct view on foreign policy? Does the U.S. suffer from a “self-esteem” problem? What is the nature of the threat of Islamic totalitarianism? Is Iraq a “military failure”? What does rational egoism look like in foreign policy? Should the U.S. be the world’s policeman? These are some of the questions that Elan Journo covers during his interview on The Federalist Radio Hour.
