Category Archives: International issues

Ralph Peters sounds like David Halberstam

Posted on August 29, 2017 by Arnold Kling

Peters writes, It really comes down to that blood test: What will men die for? The answer, were we willing to open our eyes, is that more Afghans will volunteer to die for the Taliban than for our dream of … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, terrorism | 11 Comments

Random North Korea thoughts

Posted on July 6, 2017 by Arnold Kling

The missile launch makes the WaPo think of President Trump. It makes me think of Bob Gallucci. 1. I had a course from him at Swarthmore College. 2. He negotiated the deal in 1994 that was hailed as stopping North … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues | 11 Comments

Economic Indicators to Follow in the Trump Era?

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Tyler Cowen gives three. if the worst predictions about Trump turn out to be true, the negative consequences ought to show up in some of the world’s most fragile spots. He suggests following an index of Baltic stocks, an index … Continue reading →

Posted in income distribution-wealth-poverty, International issues | 3 Comments

The State of Arab Youth

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Arnold Kling

From a UN development report press release. Today, youth in the region are more educated, more connected and more mobile than ever before. Pointer from Timothy Taylor. We know from Martin Gurri’s The Revolt of the Public that this is … Continue reading →

Posted in books and book reviews, International issues, Timothy Taylor is my Favorite Blogger | 2 Comments

Trump Explanation to Flatter the Right

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Arnold Kling

William Voegeli writes, When Trump says political correctness cripples our ability to think, talk, and act against terrorism, he’s signaling that our response to terrorism is severely compromised by Islamophobia-phobia—the closed-minded, contrived, overwrought, unwarranted, misdirected, counterproductive fear that accurate threat … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues | 17 Comments

Tyler Cowen on Brexit, Steven Pinker, and Joseph McCarthy

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Arnold Kling

And also other topics. The link goes to a Twitter post with a video. Judge for yourself, but to me it sounds like he is telling a PSST story. He says that, for better or worse, the UK spent the … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, PSST and Macro, Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger | 11 Comments

What I’ve Been Reading

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and its Allies, by Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn. About a week ago, he was mentioned as a potential Trump running mate. His book became available on … Continue reading →

Posted in books and book reviews, International issues, terrorism | 3 Comments

How Should Europe be Organized?

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Arnold Kling

In the wake of the Brexit vote, here are my thoughts. I view the issue primarily from a libertarian perspective, which means a bias in favor of free trade and free movement and a bias against centralized bureaucracy. 1. The … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, Libertarian Thought, links to my essays | 24 Comments

Venezuela

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Arnold Kling

I can imagine that this might be a front-page story every day if it were happening in a different country, say, Egypt or Poland. I find it easy to come up with explanations that are not chartitable toward the news … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues | 36 Comments

Honor, Face, Dignity, and Victimhood

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Arnold Kling

Jorg Friedrichs writes [UPDATE: link fixed], In short, status is more salient for honor and face than for dignity cultures. In honor cultures, hierarchy is like a “pecking order” with “cockfights” rife among status-anxious rivals because the honor code requires … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues, Tyler Cowen is my Favorite Blogger | 24 Comments