Shlomo Avineri, Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, served as Director-General of Israel’s foreign ministry under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. His most recent book is Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State.
Poland's government wants to criminalize any reference to Poles' role in the Holocaust. But if Poles seek to gloss over or deny problematic aspects of their history, even those who identify with their… read more
Turkey's failed coup is likely to reinforce the illiberal democracy emerging under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in which majoritarian rule runs counter to pluralism, human rights, and freedom of sp… read more
American negotiators’ unremitting focus on the issues before them – centrifuges, enrichment levels, the fate of spent fuel, and so on – undoubtedly permitted the nuclear deal with Iran to be done. But… read more
The dissolution of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, marks a surprising turnabout. Indeed, when Israelis vote again in March, more than two years ahead of schedule, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could b… read more
The horror stories emerging from northern Iraq, as well as the continuing slaughter in Syria point to a tectonic shift in the Middle East. Almost 100 years after World War I, the regional state system … read more
The US lacks the type of grand global strategy that animates Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately, a rudderless US foreign policy appears to be both the best the world can hope for and the … read more
The entire Arab state system is being challenged and may be unraveling, and the military, Islamist, and powerful sectarian and tribal forces now in play could prevent new configurations from emerging … read more
The end of communist autocracies in the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and even Czechoslovakia brought about a dramatic redrawing of borders. Likewise, no one should be surprised if democratization in the … read more
Turkey could be a bridge between the West and the East, between Islam and modernity, and between Israel and the Arabs. But it runs the danger of succumbing to the arrogance of power, which has corrupt… read more
