Political Development
How China Misperceives Itself
Beijing’s blind spots hinder real reform.
The Real War for Iran’s Future
Who will determine the fate of the Islamic Republic?
Venezuela Needs Regime Change
The narrow path to a democratic transition.
Cuba Refrozen
Cuba’s downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes halted the thaw in relations that had seemed slow but inexorable. That suits Fidel Castro perfectly. Anti-Americanism hitched to a very Cuban sense of doomed defiance is the only sentiment he has going for him now that faith in socialism is dead and his regime is peddling tried-and-failed solutions for the ramshackle economy. Ironically, Castro’s sovereignty fetish has driven Cubans into dependence on Miami, as well as into poverty and crime. But the Maximum Leader, who has outlasted eight U.S. presidents, is a wily tactician. A post-Castro Cuba does not seem imminent.
Russia’s Descent Into Tyranny
How four years of war have remade society.
Orban’s Fall and Europe’s Rise
The dawn of a strange new European consensus.
Mao’s China: The Decline of a Dynasty
For a long time it was thought that the way the People’s Republic of China was being governed opened a new chapter in Chinese history. Some scholars argued that the communist system in China was a continuation of Confucianism, but a closer look disclosed little resemblance. The country was subject to spasmodic, repetitious political campaigns; the national economy constantly went through major reshuffles-land reform, socialization, communization, the retreat from communization and the Great Leap Forward. Traditional Chinese values were repudiated or ignored. Even the old Chinese concern for “face” seemed to be disregarded. Everybody was expected to expose in public meetings the evil words and evil deeds of friends and colleagues, of parents and brothers. The traditional Chinese family was severely disrupted, though, as the old Chinese proverb says, it is useless to attack a city if the hearts are not won over. The hearts were not won over, but for a long time it appeared that the régime was solidly established and enjoying general support, if not from love, then from fear.
Let Iran Defeat Itself
America should end the war but keep up the pressure.
How the War Saved the Iranian Regime
The unintended consequences of the U.S.-Israeli assault.
Libya’s False Peace
Libya needs political unity, not Washington’s dealmaking.