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Ian Buruma

Ian Buruma

Writing for PS since 2001
169 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, and, most recently, The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, From Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit.

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  3. Who Is America?
    buruma168_SAUL LOEBAFP via Getty Images_ Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

    Who Is America?

    Dec 24, 2020 Ian Buruma asks why President Donald Trump has unleashed an unprecedented spree of federal executions before leaving office.

    38
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  3. singer190_Boris Roessler - Pool Getty Images_covid vaccine Boris Roessler/Pool/Getty Images

    The Ethics of Prioritizing COVID-19 Vaccination

    Peter Singer

    In the United States and some other countries, members of disadvantaged racial and ethnic minorities have a lower-than-average life expectancy, and therefore are under-represented among those most likely to die from COVID-19. How should policymakers weigh this and other factors specific to population sub-groups? 

     argues that the overriding principle guiding who gets inoculated first must be to save the most lives.
    3
  8. lind1_ MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_trump hats Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

    The Cure for Demagogic Populism

    Michael Lind

    Demagogues such as US President Donald Trump emerge when conventional politicians and party establishments ignore large groups of a country’s population. The best way to counter them is to incorporate alienated constituencies into mainstream politics and address their legitimate grievances.

     argues that a disease of representative democracy can be treated only by making democracy more representative.
    9

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