Politics

American Extremism Has Always Flowed from the Border

Donald Trump says there is “a crisis of the soul” at the border. He is right, though not in the way he thinks.

No Collision

In the face of climate apocalypse, the rich have been devising escape plans. What happens when they opt out of democratic preparation for emergencies?

The Path Back from Hell

U.S. foreign policy disasters helped to fuel our current political crisis. But for a new approach to succeed, we must do more than point out past failures.

Selling Outrage

Yochai Benkler argues that the mainstream media is our best hope for tempering the radical right. 

Empire’s Racketeers

Wajahat Ali speaks with Pankaj Mishra on the devastating consequences of Western imperialism, globalization, and capitalism and the fate of liberal democracy.

Trickle-Down Authoritarianism

Jair Bolsonaro’s presidential victory in Brazil is the latest win for right-wing movements around the globe.

This Is Not a Witch Hunt

Trump would do well to remember that it is only a witch hunt if the accusations are untrue.

Foreign Policy for the Twenty-First Century

It is time to develop a new geostrategy unencumbered by past traumas.

The Digital is Political

The political ideas we have held for centuries are ill-equipped to respond to today's challenges.

Resisting the Juristocracy

The cult of the higher judiciary had its limits long before the left failed to block Kavanaugh. Now the only progressive move is to reclaim democracy.

Monarchy of Fear

A Boston Review Book Talk with Martha C. Nussbaum

What We Talk About When We Talk About Liberalism

The language of liberal politics is confused.

MLK Now

Canonization has prevented a reckoning with the substance of King’s intellectual, ethical, and political commitments.

Why Do We Pledge Allegiance?

Few democracies require children to make a daily declaration of fealty to country.

Jews in Britain Are Not Facing an Existential Threat

But it is increasingly difficult to question Israel’s policies without accusations of anti-Semitism.

What John Stuart Mill Got Wrong about Freedom of Speech

Fascist politics exploits freedom of speech for authoritarian ends.

What Would Frances Perkins Do?

FDR’s labor secretary had a vision for forward-looking labor and employment policy.

Errol Morris on Steve Bannon’s Dangerous “Dharma”

Morris on his new film—and what’s at stake in trying to understand its subject.

Populism Isn’t The Problem

The charge of populism says at least as much about those making it as it does about their opponents.

Erdogan’s Ottomania

In a bid to consolidate power, Erdoğan is reshaping Turkish politics in the image of the Ottoman past.

Be Realistic: Demand the Impossible

The revolutionaries of 1968 didn't succeed, but the world still needs turning upside down.

Democracy Is a Habit: Practice It

John Dewey cautioned that institutions alone won’t save us.

The Trump Doctrine and the Gender Politics of Power

Both at home and abroad, Trump deploys a politics of misogyny—lifted right from Machiavelli.

The Democratic Coming Apart

Joshua Cohen talks to David Runciman about his book How Democracy Ends.

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