Friday, June 1 2007
Boris, We Hardly Knew Ye
With the former Russian president's passing, Thompson recounts his visits to Yeltsin's Russia, and recalls what his Russian friends thought of Boris Yeltsin.
Thursday, March 22 2007
The Post-Putin Era: Russian Revolution or Russian Evolution?
The world’s two most dominant forces will usher in new regimes in 2008. Thompson offers insights into the next Russian presidential election and its diverse cast of players.
Tuesday, December 5 2006
Run, Hillary! Run!
As the weakened state of the Republicans augurs well for a Democratic president in 2008, a veritable flood of candidates has joined Clinton as the race begins. She begins her run with name recognition and plenty of monetary backing, yet she is far from a shoo-in.
Tuesday, October 10 2006
Fascist, Fascist, Who’s A Fascist?
The term "fascism" is being appropriated, inappropriately, by a range of political interests in the US – including the Republican Party.
Tuesday, August 1 2006
Onward Young Pioneers!
As Communism's old guard is gradually relegated to the past, much of Eastern Europe is faced with a decidedly non-traditional youth movement. But are countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic ready for the political make-over?
Wednesday, May 31 2006
Postcard from Beijing
The Lovely Club and Mao's Tomb not only seem like two different Chinas from on another -- they seem to be on two different planets.
Thursday, December 1 2005
Alito? No!
Is Judge Samuel Alito Jr. the right man for the Supreme Court? More right than you might believe.
Monday, October 3 2005
Impeach George W. Bush
As Hurricane Katrina nearly blew New Orleans off the map, George W. Bush blew the chance to fulfill his presidential duties.
Wednesday, July 6 2005
Supreme Court Smackdown
Separation of Church and State in the US is a myth. As Sandra Day O'Connor steps down from her seat on the US Supreme Court, the country prepares for another Holy War.
Tuesday, May 31 2005
Tony Blair’s Tenuous Trifecta
Blair endured a grueling campaign that required him to actually face disgruntled voters -- quite unlike Bush's pre-screened, pre-set, flag waving constituency.
Wednesday, January 26 2005
The Dogs of Revolution
The people -- and the dogs -- of Romania now reside in a less threatening, more humane country.
Wednesday, December 8 2004
Sex, Lies and Videotape: the 2004 US Presidential Election
'Moral' Bush supporters unleashing their anti-gay bigotry; 'patriots' denigrating a veteran's wounds and combat service while supporting a draft dodger. With four more years of the Bush Administration to endure, we have to show these bullies that it is we, not they, who represent the best, compassionate impulses of American democracy.
Wednesday, October 20 2004
You Can’t Force the Vote
Newsweek's Anna Quindlen thinks fining non-voters in the US is a good idea. Thompson, his university students, and some friends who lived under communist dictatorships in Hungary and the Czech Republic, think otherwise.
Wednesday, August 25 2004
Still Standing: House of Terror
This Neo-Renaissance building located a pleasant stroll from the Danube River, was once an elegant mansion. During WWII it became known as 'The House of Loyalty', then 'The House of Horror', and now it has settled into a museum named 'The House of Terror'.
Wednesday, June 30 2004
Budapest Dreams
Destroyed during WWII and again in '56, during the anti-communist, Hungarian Revolution, it seems Budapest was always pulling itself from the rubble. This 'second city' to Prague is stronger, now, and wizened, but full of promise.
Wednesday, May 12 2004
Dear Europeans: I Am NOT George Bush!
Politics and Culture/East and West -- Dear Europeans: I Am NOT George Bush! -- At the Geneva Model UN committee session, Thompson and his students face the repercussions of a long-standing European wariness towards Americans; and the fact that the Bush Administration's policies have turned that wariness into open resentment.
Monday, March 1 2004
The Iowa Caucuses: American Democracy’s Naked Emperor
Politics and Culture/East and West -- The Iowa caucuses disenfranchise a person who, despite being politically active, would prefer to act -- that is 'vote'.
Wednesday, November 12 2003
The UN, George Bush, and You
Politics and Culture/East and West -- Americans feel very mean towards the UN, at the moment.
Tuesday, October 7 2003
Patriots, Terrorists, and Liberty’s Future
Politics and Culture/East and West -- Americans are torn between the conflicting demands of liberty and security.
Thursday, September 11 2003
Reading Lolita in Tehran, and in Baghdad, and in Hungary, and in New York
For whatever the hardships, people will read.
Wednesday, July 9 2003
Justice, Peace, and Memory—From East Europe to Iraq
Politics and Culture/East and West -- Justice, Peace, and Memory - From East Europe to Iraq -- This painfully constructed edifice of rights is honored more in the breach than in the observance.
Wednesday, May 14 2003
Seeing the War from Abroad
No one can sit in this conference and be unaware of the U.N's guiding principle: the need for peaceful settlement of global conflicts.
Thursday, December 26 2002
Pop Politicians
In my high school a constant 'battle' went on between the Kennedy emulators and the Elvis crowd. Our hair told the story: the bushy tousled look with a smart part vs. the wild, unruly pompadour.
Wednesday, October 30 2002
Prague Is Pop
Sure enough, before the soup arrives the band of young, shaggy musicians is working hard to blow the breadbaskets off the dinner tables.
Wednesday, October 9 2002
Cher Was No Gypsy
So those stories about gypsies were true: they were thieves and beggars, always ready to assault, possibly even kill, and quickly move on.
Wednesday, August 28 2002
Prague: A Dual Heritage of Beauty and Sacrifice
Prague shows the world that sacrifice is not futile, that evil can be fought and ultimately, defeated.
Wednesday, August 7 2002
Dracula’s Revenge
At a lunch with two members of the Romanian Senate the discussion moved from NATO admission to Dracula Park.
Wednesday, June 26 2002
Democratic Vistas: East and West (with apologies to Walt Whitman)
We were no longer in a country where this soldier's actions were constrained by democratic niceties. When he said get off the bus, we got off the bus.
Wednesday, June 5 2002
The Complexity of Memory: Warsaw 1940-1991
Auschwitz and Warsaw clashed with Jennin; the Battle of the Boyne was fought again; memory struggled with memory.
Wednesday, May 8 2002
Mother(s) for President(s)
That your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical is a Truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute.
Wednesday, April 3 2002
Culture Clash at Ground Zero
The [Church of Christ the Redeemer] has been rebuilt — a meticulous copy of the original — and an example of reconstruction triumphing over destruction.
Friday, March 1 2002
Presidents, Pop Stars, and Czars
He should have rugged good looks, and perhaps some pop star charisma so that he can wow the crowds when he's out there making appearances and giving speeches 'on tour'.
Wednesday, February 6 2002
Reaching for the Real World War II—A Personal Journey
The newlyweds . . . came to the tomb as most Muscovite newly weds do, to pay homage . . . to honor those whose death had truly made this wedding day possible.
Wednesday, December 12 2001
Russia: White, Red and Green
I use Snickers to pay for taxi rides and to buy old Soviet medals from street vendors. People buy computer software from salespersons who tote up the price with an abacus.
Wednesday, October 24 2001
The Draculas’ Hometown
Who are we outsiders to say that Romania shouldn't fully exploit the Dracula story, both real and imagined?
