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?
Voices for Reason is a blog that covers a wide range of topics, including philosophy and its application to current events, programs of the Ayn Rand Institute and the ideas of Objectivism. Looking back on the year, here are 2016’s most-read blog posts (along with edited versions of the introductions that accompanied them at time of publication).
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.
“Islamophobia” in America is a “social cancer” — one that has “metastasized.” So claims the eminent scholar John L. Esposito of Georgetown University. Is it really? Andrew Harrod has a good write-up on Esposito's view, along with a forceful rebuttal to it. But let’s ask a prior question: What exactly does the term “Islamophobia” mean?
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.
In this panel, ARI authors Elan Journo and Steve Simpson discuss the subject of their books, why they concentrate on issues like free speech and Islamic totalitarianism, how ARI’s predictions over the years illustrate the power of the Institute’s distinct philosophic perspective and what everyone can do.
It has been fifteen years since the horrible terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. In this episode of The Yaron Brook Show, Yaron Brook and Elan Journo discuss Elan and Onkar Ghate’s new book Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: From George W. Bush to Barack Obama and Beyond. Topics covered include ARI’s distinctive perspective of the threat of Islamic totalitarianism, why destroying ISIS is necessary, what to do about the “self-radicalization” of so-called lone wolves and innocents in war.
Elan Journo, ARI Director of Policy Research, was recently interviewed on Secure Freedom Radio about his and Onkar Ghate’s new book Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: From George W. Bush to Barak Obama and Beyond. In the interview, Elan discusses the enemy’s ideological and totalitarian nature and whether we are any safer today than fifteen years ago.
