Foreign Policy

3 Things We Must Know in Order to Stop Jihadists

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?
Culture And Society

‪Why a Free Man Fights [Video]‬

“I’m often asked why someone with a penchant for philosophy and an academic life joins the Marine Corps. Why, some ask, does a scribe lower the pen to pick up the sword?” So begins this stirring and thought-provoking Independence Day address by Lt. Col. Scott McDonald, USMC, to attendees at Objectivist Summer Conference 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Foreign Policy

Elan Journo on The Federalist Radio Hour: Fighting Islamic Totalitarianism [Audio]

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.
ARI News

ARI Presents the Summer Reading List of 2016

Isn’t summer the perfect time to read a good book? We think so. That is why we at ARI have compiled a summer reading list with a selection of great books covering today’s important issues from a distinctly Objectivist perspective. These books address topics such as the inequality debate, the threat from Islamic totalitarianism, the state of American education and other significant issues.
Foreign Policy

Previously on The Yaron Brook Show: Do We Need a “Foreign Policy Elite”?

In this recent episode of The Yaron Brook Show, originally airing on May 14, 2016, guest host Elan Journo, ARI fellow and author of Winning the Unwinnable War: America’s Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism, discusses the tremendous educational, social and spiritual value of attending Objectivist Summer Conference 2016; whether America needs “elites,” especially in foreign policy; how Hamas’s rise to power illustrates how philosophical ideas shape our foreign policy; the theme of his upcoming book, tentatively titled Unprincipled: Why America’s Foreign Policy Undercuts Israel and Empowers Jihadists; why you should read Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri’s A Companion to Ayn Rand.
Foreign Policy

The Mythology of the Iran Nuclear Deal

When defending the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration and its surrogates made claims that seemed, at least to some people, plausible. For a long time, I’ve argued that the deal was predicated on evading Iran’s jihadist character and malignant goals, and that the deal’s selling points were fantastical. Some people felt that “only time will tell”; so let’s consider two of the administration’s claims.
ARI News

Elan Journo to Assess Obama’s Middle East Policy

Barack Obama vowed to reset America’s orientation to the world. He also pledged a radical departure from Bush’s policy. Now, as his presidency comes to an end, two important questions arise: How different has Obama’s Middle East policy actually been? And, how should we evaluate it?

Further Reading

Ayn Rand | 1957
For the New Intellectual

The Moral Meaning of Capitalism

An industrialist who works for nothing but his own profit guiltlessly proclaims his refusal to be sacrificed for the “public good.”
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Ayn Rand | 1961
The Virtue of Selfishness

The Objectivist Ethics

What is morality? Why does man need it? — and how the answers to these questions give rise to an ethics of rational self-interest.
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