Max Boot (Continuación)

Sally Rooney in January 2020 in Pasadena, Calif. (Erik Voake/Getty Images for Hulu)

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

There is a telling disconnect in the way that Israel is perceived by Arab countries and by Western leftists. The Arab states have increasingly accepted Israel’s legitimacy and are doing business with it. The leftists increasingly deny Israel’s legitimacy and refuse to do business with it.

Last week in Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the foreign ministers of Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to build on the foundations of the Abraham Accords concluded under the Trump administration. Last year the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco joined Jordan and Egypt in establishing diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.…  Seguir leyendo »

Una escena de El juego del calamar en Netflix. (Youngkyu Park/Netflix)

InternacionalEconomía, ,  

Al igual que millones de personas en todo el mundo, la semana pasada hice un maratón de los nueve episodios de El juego del calamar. Esta serie coreana se ha convertido en un gran éxito en Netflix y ha cautivado a los espectadores con su historia distópica sobre un grupo de personas endeudadas que participan en juegos infantiles por la mayor apuesta posible: si ganan, se volverán millonarios; si pierden, morirán. Es enfermizamente adictiva, gracias en parte a los finales abiertos de cada episodio que garantizan que uno vuelva por más.

También es una sátira descarnada de la desigualdad de la riqueza producida por el capitalismo salvaje.…  Seguir leyendo »

A scene from “Squid Game” on Netflix. (Youngkyu Park/Netflix)

InternacionalEconomía, ,  

Like millions of other people around the world, I binge-watched all nine episodes of “Squid Game” last week. This Korean-language series has become a breakout hit on Netflix, enthralling viewers with its dystopian story of indebted people playing children’s games for the highest stakes possible: If they win, they get rich; if they lose, they die. It’s insanely watchable, with cliffhangers at the end of every episode ensuring that you come back for more.

It is also a brutal satire of the wealth inequality produced by unbridled capitalism. It is ironic, then, that the worldwide success of “Squad Game” is, in fact, the ultimate tribute to the power of capitalism — and in particular to two of its much-maligned outgrowths: globalization and free trade.…  Seguir leyendo »

A submarine in Darwin, Australia. (Getty Images)

InternacionalOrden Mundial,

No pain, no gain. That’s as true in diplomacy as in the gym. The United States has gained much with its agreement to share nuclear-powered submarine technology with Australia as part of a new Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) accord. But this achievement comes at a cost: France, complaining of a “knife in the back,” recalled its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington (but not London) in its fury over losing a $66 billion agreement to sell diesel submarines to Australia.

Was it worth it? Yes. Could it have been better handled? Also yes. This is a bit like a football team scoring a touchdown and then getting penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.…  Seguir leyendo »

Future federal air marshals participate in a shooting exercise in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., on March 29, 2017. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

Twenty years after the worst terrorist attack in history, there hasn’t been “another 9/11.” By one count, 107 people have been killed in jihadist attacks in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001, and nearly half of those were in one attack — the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. Any deaths are tragic, but more Americans are dying of covid-19 every two hours than died of Islamist terrorism in the United States during the past 20 years.

You would think this counterterrorism success would be celebrated. Instead, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the “global war on terror” — as it was once called — is widely reviled.…  Seguir leyendo »

Taliban fighters patrol a neighborhood in Kabul on Aug. 18. (Rahmat Gul/AP)

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, ,

If you listen to President Biden and his advisers, they had no alternative but to set in motion the collapse of Afghanistan’s government, leaving tens of thousands of Afghans who worked with, and trusted, the United States in the lurch.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday argued “that when a civil war comes to an end … there are going to be scenes of chaos” and “that is not something that can be fundamentally avoided.” He also argued that it “is simply wrong” to imagine “that with 2,500 forces … we could have sustained a stable, peaceful Afghanistan.” That “would have taken a significant American troop presence, multiple times greater than what President Biden was handed.…  Seguir leyendo »

Combatientes talibanes en Kabul, Afganistán, el 16 de agosto de 2021. Este lunes los talibanes tomaron el poder después de que el presidente afgano, Ashra Ghani, dejara el país. (Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, ,  

A los analistas (incluyéndome) les encanta elogiar el bipartidismo estadounidense en las políticas públicas. Sin embargo, la catástrofe en Afganistán revela su lado oscuro: este fue un desastre producido por cuatro gobiernos de Estados Unidos: dos republicanos (George W. Bush y Donald Trump) y dos demócratas (Barack Obama y Joe Biden).

El presidente Bush falló, tras la caída de los talibanes en 2001, al no concentrarse en construir un gobierno y unas fuerzas armadas afganas capaces, y en cambio redireccionar los escasos recursos hacia una guerra asumida por elección propia en Irak. El presidente Obama falló al ordenar un incremento de tropas con un plazo de vencimiento que alentó a los talibanes a esperar a que las fuerzas estadounidenses se retiraran.…  Seguir leyendo »

A military transport helicopter flies over Kabul on Aug. 15. (Reuters) (Stringer/Reuters)

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, ,  

Pundits (including me) love to praise bipartisanship in public policy. The calamity in Afghanistan shows the dark side of bipartisanship: This was a disaster that was produced by four administrations, two Republican (George W. Bush, Donald Trump) and two Democratic (Barack Obama, Joe Biden).

President Bush bumbled, after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, in failing to focus on building a capable Afghan government and military — and instead, pivoting scarce resources to a war of choice in Iraq. President Obama bumbled in ordering a troop surge with a deadline that encouraged the Taliban to wait U.S. forces out. President Trump bumbled in negotiating a troop withdrawal deal that resulted in the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners despite a total lack of progress in peace talks.…  Seguir leyendo »

Jacob Simona stands by his burning car, which was set ablaze during clashes in Lod, Israel, on May 11. (Heidi Levine/AP)

MundoOriente Próximo

The peace movement slogan “War is not the answer” is not always right. Sometimes — as in the struggle against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan — war is the only answer. But that bromide certainly applies to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. However long Hamas continues rocketing Israel, and however long Israel continues bombing the Gaza Strip, this war will achieve nothing except a swift return to the status quo ante bellum.

That’s not a message that pro-Israel uber-hawks want to hear, but it’s the truth. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) claims that “handwringing calls for a ceasefire are tantamount to Hamas propaganda”.…  Seguir leyendo »

A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, 155 miles south of Tehran, in a satellite image taken last week. (Maxar Technologies via Reuters)

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

Congratulations — presumably — are due to Israeli intelligence for a devastating fire at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility over the weekend. Details are scarce, with the New York Times reporting that the site was hit by an apparent explosion and The Post citing an Israeli media report that it was a cyberattack.

So it goes in Israel’s shadow war against Iran’s nuclear program. Recent attacks attributed to Israel included the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last fall and a mysterious series of explosions that struck various sites in Iran, including a major missile facility, last summer. The most successful attack of all was the Stuxnet virus — part of a joint U.S.-Israeli…  Seguir leyendo »

En esta imagen de un video del Senado de Estados Unidos, se puede ver la votación final total de 57 a 43 para absolver al expresidente estadounidense Donald Trump por incitación a la insurrección, el 13 de febrero de 2021. (Televisión del Senado via AP) (AP)

MundoAmérica,

En la película de 1987Los intocables, Eliot Ness, interpretado por Kevin Costner, descubre a última hora pruebas de que Al Capone (Robert De Niro) había sobornado al jurado de su juicio por evasión de impuestos. Cuando Ness presenta la evidencia al juez, el jurado corrupto es destituido y Capone se ve obligado a declararse culpable. Al final, se hizo justicia.

Imaginemos que a pesar de eso, el juez hubiera ignorado las pruebas y el jurado corrupto hubiera absuelto al jefe mafioso. Eso es, en esencia, lo que ocurrió en el juicio político del expresidente estadounidense Donald Trump el sábado 13 de febrero, cuando el Senado se quedó a 10 votos de la mayoría de dos tercios requerida para declararlo culpable, porque 43 republicanos votaron a favor de la absolución.…  Seguir leyendo »

Un repaso de las grabaciones: las palabras de Trump revelan nuevamente su corrupción

MundoAmérica,

Tres conversaciones grabadas definirán el mandato repudiable del presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump. Al igual que las cintas del expresidente Richard Nixon previamente, las grabaciones confirman —solo que con mayor contundencia— que Lord Acton tenía razón al advertir que “el poder tiende a corromper y el poder absoluto corrompe de manera absoluta”.

Primero estuvo la grabación de “Access Hollywood”, que casi descarrila la campaña de Trump cuando fue revelada por The Washington Post el 8 de octubre de 2016. En ella, se podía escuchar a Trump alardeando de que su condición de celebridad le permitía agredir sexualmente a mujeres con impunidad: “Cuando eres una estrella, te dejan hacerlo”.…  Seguir leyendo »

The scene of the attack that killed prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh outside Tehran on Saturday. (Wana News Agency via Reuters)

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

It’s been nearly a year since a U.S. airstrike killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Quds Force in Baghdad. The fallout — or lack thereof — from that strike should make us cautious in assessing the impact of Friday’s killing east of Tehran of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a leading Iranian nuclear weapons scientist.

Hawks such as former Trump national security adviser John Bolton expressed hope in January that Soleimani’s death would force Iran to scale back its regional aggression and could even set in motion “regime change in Tehran.” Many critics of the Trump administration, on the other hand, expressed fear that his death could drag the entire region into war.…  Seguir leyendo »

Un niño disfrazado de presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, saluda durante un evento de campaña en Martinsburg, Pensilvania, el 26 de octubre de 2020. (Leah Millis/REUTERS)

MundoAmérica,

Les tengo buenas y malas noticias. Las buenas son que 52% de los estadounidenses apoya al candidato presidencial demócrata de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, según el promedio de encuestas del sitio FiveThirtyEight. La mala es que 42% apoya al presidente Donald Trump.

¿Por qué Trump no va perdiendo por muchos más puntos? ¿Cómo es posible que tanta gente siga de su lado a pesar de todo lo que ha salido mal en su administración?

Trump está de camino a ser el primer presidente en ver una pérdida neta de empleos desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Peor aún: ha estado al mando durante la pérdida de 214,000 vidas y contando.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica, , ,

Hasta ahora, había sido reacio a etiquetar a Donald Trump como el peor presidente en la historia de Estados Unidos. Como historiador, sé cuán importante es permitir el paso del tiempo para obtener un sentido de perspectiva. Algunos presidentes que les parecieron espantosos a sus contemporáneos (Harry S. Truman) o simplemente mediocres (Dwight D. Eisenhower y George H.W. Bush), lucen mucho mejor en retrospectiva. Otros, como Thomas Jefferson y Woodrow Wilson, ya no se ven tan bien como solían hacerlo.

Ya había escrito, el 12 de marzo, que Trump es el peor presidente de los tiempos modernos, pero no de todos los tiempos.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesDemocracia

When critics of President Trump argue that he is a threat to democracy, his supporters tell us to relax. No one is being exiled to Alaska or locked up for criticizing the supreme leader. The courts, Congress and the media all continue to function. Elections aren’t being canceled.

All true, but it offers scant comfort given the historical experience of how other countries have lost their freedom. There is seldom a moment of clarity, at least not early on, when a dictator announces that democracy has been abolished. Much more common is for aspiring autocrats to chip away at the foundations of liberal democracy — judicial independence, freedom of the press, minority rights, an apolitical civil service and so on — while maintaining its facade.…  Seguir leyendo »

Joaquin Phoenix en una escena de la película "Joker". (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures vía AP)

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia,

Joker, una película tan sombría que hace que la trilogía de Dark Knight parezca alegre en comparación, claramente ha impactado al público. Basta con ver su exitoso fin de semana de apertura. La pregunta es: ¿por qué?

En la superficie, el paisaje urbano infernal que se ve en la película está muy alejado de la realidad actual. Joker canaliza el espíritu de las películas de la década de 1970 como Taxi Driver, Dog Day Afternoon, Death Wish y The French Connection que describían a la ciudad de Nueva York como un páramo de crimen y depravación. Hoy, Nueva York está en camino de tener la tasa de asesinatos más baja desde la década de 1950; Times Square, una vez un centro de pecado, se ha convertido en una atracción turística tipo Disney; y todos los vecindarios de Manhattan, desde el Lower East Side hasta Harlem, han sido gentrificados.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia, ,

The politicians who want to return us to an imaginary past are seizing control of our very real future.

In country after country, right-wing populists/nationalists are taking power or holding onto it. In Britain, Theresa May, the relatively moderate Conservative prime minister, is being forced out of office, likely to be replaced by a more hard-line Brexiteer such as Boris Johnson. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have all just been reelected. In the Philippines, allies of President Rodrigo Duterte swept the Senate elections. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro won the presidency.…  Seguir leyendo »

People write condolence messages to the victims of a mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, during a candlelight vigil outside the New Zealand Embassy in Brussels on Friday. (Laurie Dieffembacq/AFP/Getty Images)

MundoOceaníaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, , ,

The livestreamed slaughter of 49 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, has shined a spotlight on how terrorists employ social media. As The Post noted on Friday: “The New Zealand massacre video, which appeared to have been recorded with a GoPro helmet camera, was announced on the fringe chat room 8chan, live-streamed on Facebook, reposted on Twitter and YouTube and discussed on Reddit.”

This is horrifying but not surprising. Terrorism is inconceivable without mass media. Terrorists, after all, typically operate by themselves or in small groups. (The Islamic State is one of the few exceptions: It had grown into a quasi-state before being reduced to its terrorist roots.)…  Seguir leyendo »

"Yellow vest" protesters with riot police members in Marseille, France, on Saturday. (Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images)

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

Weekend after weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron is dealing with sometimes violent protests from a populist movement known as the gilets jaunes (yellow vests). The protesters were galvanized by a plan to raise gasoline taxes, but they are still out in the streets even though the gas tax increase has been suspended. Now they’re demanding, among other things, default on the public debt, exit from the European Union and NATO, and less immigration. I’m dealing with a piece of the online fallout — and in the process learning a dispiriting lesson about how hard it is for a political leader to pursue a moderate path in an age of extremes.…  Seguir leyendo »