A Promised Land

America as a Developing Country

The Manchurian President

Speaking hypothetically...What if Putin really did control Trump?

In the 1962 film, “The Manchurian Candidate,” a US soldier is captured during the Korean War and brainwashed in Manchuria (a part of China bordering Korea) by Chinese and Russian agents. They then arrange his supposedly heroic “escape” that earns him the Medal of Honor back in America.

The point of this plan? Acting as an automaton, he will then unwittingly assassinate a presidential candidate and usher in an authoritarian regime serving our enemies’ interests.

Which brings us to Donald Trump. I am not suggesting that he’s been brainwashed or that he deliberately prioritizes the Kremlin over America. His main motivators instead seem to be money, power and narcissism.

But, speaking hypothetically, what  if Trump were in fact a “Manchurian President,” brainwashed  by Russia to  undermine the United States? What would he do?

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Ten Positive Points About American Democracy and What the World Can Teach Us

Some Thoughts on Vipers, Strongmen, Patience and Small Steps

What must she be thinking…

We can’t view the news these days without finding fuel for despair. Nonetheless, I’d like to draw on my nearly forty years of advising on foreign aid for democracy, the rule of law and human rights around the world to offer ten positive points about American democracy in these troubled times.

These thoughts are not predictions. I see all sorts of reasons to see a dark future. But I don’t see how giving up does us any good.

1. We’re comparatively fortunate. Yes, really. As I sketch below, foreign societies burdened by poverty, poor education, repression and histories far worse than ours have overcome more daunting circumstances to launch, protect or restore democracy. If they can overcome, so can we.

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We’re Not Alone: MLK’s Dream, Not the Trump Nightmare, Should Define January 20

Dr. King Saw the Civil Rights Movement as Part of a Global Struggle. That Means Even More Today.

So, Inauguration Day is here. Our president is a racist, rapist, insurrectionist and narcissist, as well as a corrupt, convicted crook – to put it mildly. But to get through today’s dismay, and to take heart for the next four years, it’s far better to make January 20 about the other event it commemorates: Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This includes learning from Dr. King’s under-appreciated dream about how the fight for freedom in America relates to similar struggles abroad, in stark contrast with Trump’s nightmarish outlook.

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Empty Sky

On Losing and Finding Faith in the Wake of the Election

“I woke up this morning, I could barely breathe.”

The words are from “Empty Sky,” the saddest of the many songs Bruce Springsteen wrote about 9/11. They came to mind eight years ago, right after Trump’s shocking triumph over Hillary Clinton. Along with Trump, they’re back.

“Empty Sky” is about the loss of the planes that September day. It’s about the loss of so many lives. It’s about the loss of a loved one.

Most of all, it’s about the loss of faith.

“I woke up this morning to an empty sky.”

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