Purim: When Bad History Makes Bad Policy

Is it really a good idea for a US President to look to a biblical novella (especially one whose “happy ending” is the death of tens of thousands of people), or to any religious text, as his guidebook on foreign affairs? Continue Reading

The Leveretts, The Tea Party and Iran

The Leveretts have a piece up reacting to Sarah Palin’s USA Today op-ed. It’s a thoughtful accounting, deeply (and rightfully) scornful of Palin’s belligerence, but lacks in terms of context and framing. The Leveretts, while shrewd geo-strategists, may be engaged in… Continue Reading

The Theopolitics of Disaster: Sex, the Sabbath and the Occupation

When a Shiite prayer leader blames earthquakes in Iran on immodestly dressed and promiscuous women, neocons like Michael Ledeen snicker.

When a prominent ultra-orthodox Jewish spiritual and political leader–and former Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel–agrees with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that the fire that’s been destroying Israel’s Carmel Forest is a punishment from God, there’s stunned silence. Continue Reading