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Ian Buruma

Ian Buruma

Writing for PS since 2001
215 commentaries

Ian Buruma is the author of numerous books, including Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance, Year Zero: A History of 1945, A Tokyo Romance: A Memoir, The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, From Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit, The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II, and, most recently, Spinoza: Freedom’s Messiah (Yale University Press, 2024).

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  1. The Greatest Show on Earth
    buruma217_Kevin DietschGetty Images_dnc Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    The Greatest Show on Earth

    Aug 28, 2024 Ian Buruma describes the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a remarkable performance of authenticity.

  2. War Games and Tribal Passions
    buruma216_Mark LeechOffside via Getty Images_euro1988football Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images

    War Games and Tribal Passions

    Aug 9, 2024 Ian Buruma argues that sports nationalism is driven more by a desire for community than notions of blood and soil.

  3. Democracy, What Democracy?
    buruma215_ Octavio JonesGetty Images_trump supporters Octavio Jones/Getty Images

    Democracy, What Democracy?

    Jul 4, 2024 Ian Buruma warns that Donald Trump’s supporters have a different understanding of government by the people.

  4. Are the Kids All Right?
    buruma214_Win McNameeGetty Images_young trump supporters Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Are the Kids All Right?

    Jun 7, 2024 Ian Buruma explains why younger voters are falling under the sway of populist demagogues who threaten their liberties.

  5. The Privileged Gaza Protesters
    buruma213_Stephanie KeithGetty Images_palestine college Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

    The Privileged Gaza Protesters

    May 7, 2024 Ian Buruma argues that fear of losing rank could be driving students to demonstrate their intersectional bona fides.

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    Kishore Mahbubani on the US-China rivalry, Asian security risks, and more

    Kishore Mahbubani offers advice to Western diplomats attempting to engage with Asia, identifies risks to the region’s stability, highlights Singapore’s lessons for developing-country leaders, and more.
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    Tracking Air Quality the Right Way

    Soumya Swaminathan & Christa Hasenkopf call for an authoritative global accounting of the world’s single greatest external risk to human health.
  3. buchholz19_Tayfun CoskunAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_aukus Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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    Countries That March Together Should Trade Together

    Todd G. Buchholz urges the next US president to distinguish good from bad actors, rather than raise tariffs haphazardly.
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    Resetting US-China Economic Relations

    Barry Eichengreen

    The implications of the deepening Sino-American rift are far-reaching, because several of the world’s most pressing economic problems can be solved only with contributions from both countries. And, to address global challenges, active cooperation between the two economic powers is indispensable.

     hopes that political will on both sides catches up with the opporunities for cooperation that now exist.
  5. gros189_Sean GallupGetty Images_germanypowerlines Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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    The Improving Economics and Worsening Geopolitics of Clean Energy

    Daniel Gros warns that political obstacles are preventing the widespread uptake of low-cost green technologies.
  6. rajan94_Arvind YadavHindustan Times via Getty Images_indiasemiconductor Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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    Industrial Policy’s Deceptive New Clothes

    Raghuram G. Rajan

    If the new "industrial strategy" is offering ideas for better public governance, it is useful. But it becomes positively dangerous when it turns to the private sector, where state interventions inevitably undermine competition, disrupt price signals, and dampen the motivation to innovate.

     sees little reason to support the case for renewed government interventions in the private sector.
  7. frankel128_ plus49Construction PhotographyAvalonGetty Images_emissions plus49Construction PhotographyAvalonGetty Images
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    A New Trilemma Haunts the World Economy

    Dani Rodrik weighs the trade-offs between combating climate change, global poverty, and rich countries’ middle-class decline.
  8. hamada66_ Mario TamaGetty Images Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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    The Choice Confronting American Voters

    Koichi Hamada warns that electing a president who refuses to accept defeat could jeopardize not only US democracy.
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    Climate Security and Geopolitics

    Ian Bremmer

    Although multilateral efforts to address climate change are not well served by deepening geopolitical rivalries or the apparent trend toward global economic fragmentation, that doesn’t mean governments have abandoned the pursuit of net-zero emissions. Instead, the process has become more competitive – and more complex.

     considers the international political dynamics of current energy, trade, and environmental policies.

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