Ian Buruma, Editor of The New York Review of Books, is Professor of Democracy, Human Rights, and Journalism at Bard College. He is the author of numerous books, including Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance and Year Zero: A History of 1945.
One wonders whether senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller had any idea of the historical use of “cosmopolitan” as a derogatory term when he used it to describe a reporter for CNN. As the de… read more
Some people might have dismissed Donald Trump’s recent tweet of a video clip showing him punching the face of a man with a CNN logo on his head as yet another example of the US president’s vulgar buff… read more
The post-1945 order constructed by the US in Europe and East Asia has been fraying at the edges for some time now. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement… read more
Many commentators on the French presidential election have pointed out that old ideological categories no longer fit contemporary politics in France – or, indeed, anywhere else. But while Emmanuel Mac… read more
Donald Trump's decision to bomb a Syrian air base has been met with high praise, including from some of his harshest critics. His efforts to portray himself as a great president have faltered, but as … read more
The counter-model to a "closed society" is withering fast. The West faces an existential threat not from immigrants, Islam, or NGOs, but from the people – Viktor Orbán, Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, J… read more
Those who have been telling us that Islam, not just revolutionary Islamism, is a lethal threat to Western civilization should now feel satisfied: the US president and his main advisers agree with them… read more
Is there any reason for liberals to feel optimistic after a year of political disasters, and on the eve of the inauguration of an ignorant, narcissistic, authoritarian loudmouth as US president? If de… read more
The cult of Britain's wartime leader has not been an altogether beneficial one for the US: too many US presidents fancy themselves Winston Churchill’s true heirs. President-elect Donald Trump is the l… read more
