Essay
List of Essay articles
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An illustration shows a hand holding up a head-shaped hourglass in a Hamlet-esque pose. Inside the hourglass are sands enveloping the statue of liberty and other monuments. The End of Modernity
A crisis is unfolding before our eyes—and also in our heads.
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An illustration depicts historical moments from the past in the curtains of the Oval Office: Julius Caesar, the Cultural Revolution in China, and three American presidents. The room shows an empty chair at the Resolute Desk and a presidential seal on the rug. Why Compare the Present to the Past?
Thinking via historical analogy has become the preferred way to confront our anxieties.
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People use their phones to take a photo of the empty space on a wall of portraits. How Trump Will Be Remembered
No other president has made his time in office so nakedly about himself and his legacy.
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A woodcut style illustration depicts Donald Trump as Julius Caesar An American Caesar
Comparing two leaders, two millennia apart.
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An illustration shows a Nazi-uniformed hand holding a fountain pen that breaks the globe into spheres of influence. How a Nazi Jurist Captured Imaginations on the U.S. Left and Right
It’s Carl Schmitt’s world, and we’re all just living in it.
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An illustration shows Chairman Mao being driven in a car past a sea of red flags. In the foreground is Donald Trump in a similar pose driven in a golf cart. Is This an American Cultural Revolution?
Liberal critics charge Trump with creating a cult of personality not unlike Mao Zedong’s.
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A woodcut style illustration shows a George Washington's face low down on a dollar bill rolling his eyes. How Low Can the Dollar Go?
It took a decade for the U.S. economy to recover from Nixon. This time could be worse.
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An illustration depicts a lectern with a presidential eagle seal on it. Leaves fall off a branc in one of the eagle's talons. A Trump-like figure looms above. The Human Rights Presidency
Jimmy Carter made foreign policy feel moral again, but that era might be over.
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A woodcut-style illustration depicts Donald Trump on one end of a face card with Boris Johnson on the other. Both hold mirors. Ranking the Strongmen
In an era defined by vanity, the U.S. president outdoes all his populist peers.
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A woodcut style illustration depicts five U.S. presidents, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Nixon, Bush, and Trump Is Trump’s Use of Executive Power Really So Different?
Presidents of both parties have relied on expansive authority to achieve their goals.
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An illustration depicts Vladimir Putin holding up a hand of playing cards Putin Is a Gambler, not a Grand Master
The Russian president has abandoned real strategy for a single goal.
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Donald Trump supporters climb the Peace Monument memorial in front of the U.S. Capitol Does the United States Need a More Militant Democracy?
A political concept from the mid-20th century has never been more relevant than now.
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An illustration shows Trump from above and behind walking away with six views of the globe behind him. Spheres of Influence Are Not the Answer
Even if the great powers could carve up an interconnected world, Washington may not get the result it wants.
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A drawn illustration shows a chaotic swarm of Eurovision performers surrounded by multicolored disco balls. The performers are encircled by the stars of the EU flag. The West Is Strong—and in Sequins
Eurovision has never been a bigger party or more political.
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Joseph Ny gestures with one hand as he speaks. Joseph Nye Was the Champion of a World That No Longer Exists
The distinguished scholar, who coined “soft power,” shaped five decades of U.S. foreign policy.
