WASHINGTON — Is Bernie Sanders a closet foreign policy “realist?” Reading his few pronouncements on foreign policy, you sense that he embraces the realists’ deep skepticism about American military intervention. But he has said so little about foreign policy that it’s hard to be sure.　Foreign policy is the hole in Sanders’ political donut. We know what he doesn’t like — the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which he mentions, in nearly every debate, almost robotically, describing it as “one of the worst for

Viewpoints Feb. 14, 2016

Most of the world has a stake in the success of the talks on Syria which have begun in Geneva, Switzerland, weak though their prospects for success may appear to be.　First of all has to be the importance of the matter for the Syrians themselves. An estimated 320,000 of them have died so far in the nearly five years of war. The country itself has been torn into fragments, nearly all of which are dominated by an armed group fueled by hatred of other Syrian groups. As many as 11 million Syrians hav

Viewpoints Feb. 5, 2016

The Syrian peace talks that are scheduled to resume in Geneva on Jan. 25 will take place under a framework set out in Vienna in October. These principles, agreed upon by the most important foreign players in Syria’s war, include a commitment to secular governance, the eventual defeat of the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, the maintenance of Syria’s prewar borders, the preservation of its state institutions and the protection of minority groups.　What they do not include is an effort to

Viewpoints Jan. 22, 2016

Before November’s terrorist attacks in Paris, it was legal to stage a demonstration in a public square in that city. Now it isn’t. In Uganda, although citizens campaigning against corruption or in favor of gay rights often faced a hostile public, they didn’t face jail time for demonstrating. But under a frighteningly vague new statute, now they do. In Egypt, government authorities recently raided and shut down prominent cultural institutions – an art gallery, a theater, and a publishing house –

Viewpoints Jan. 8, 2016

Among Republicans, it has become politically correct to be politically incorrect. Actually that’s the most politically correct thing that you can possibly be. As soon as you announce that you’re politically incorrect, you’re guaranteed smiles and laughter, and probably thunderous applause. Proudly proclaiming your bravery, you’re pandering to the crowd.　A math-filled new paper, by economists Chia-Hui Chen at Kyoto University and Junichiro Ishida at Osaka University, helps to explain what’s going

Viewpoints Jan. 3, 2016

For Japan, World War II is not resolved history. It is, incredibly, a recurring controversy.Several times in recent decades, Japan’s leaders have expressed remorse and apologized for the nation’s rampage through Asia in the 1930s and ’40s. But to the governments and the surviving civilian victims in South Korea and elsewhere, the words and actions have always come up short.　Japan has issued mea culpas, yes. But also from Japan: Revisionist textbooks in schools, a Tokyo shrine that memorializes c

Viewpoints Jan. 3, 2016

Congress passed legislation lifting the 1970s-era ban on crude oil exports. While it is great that Congress ended this outdated policy, there is more work to do to realize America’s full energy potential.　Under current policies, the government continues to keep federal lands off limits to energy production. Earlier this year, the administration proposed a wilderness plan for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to starve the Alaska pipeline, while others want to deny Americans their energy resources

Viewpoints Dec. 27, 2015

Nobody knows where Donald Trump will stand six months from now in this bizarre Republican presidential campaign. But you can predict with some confidence how his recent anti-Muslim diatribes will look in a decade or two, unless Trump manages to rewrite the Constitution itself. American politics, like most things, is a story of what statisticians describe as the reversion to the mean. Self-proclaimed saviors and other outliers come and go throughout our political history. Occasionally they’re suc

Viewpoints Dec. 11, 2015