Drive for Autonomy in Southern Iraq

Iraq’s oil-rich southern provinces are considering plans to set up an autonomous region – a move that reflects their growing frustration with the central government in Baghdad. Members of the municipal council of Basra, Iraq’s second largest city, have been holding talks with officials from councils in two neighbouring provinces on establishing a federal region [...]

The Canadian Philosopher and the “Great Republic”

George Grant was a professor of philosophy (mostly at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario) who had a wide audience through his public lectures and contributions to mass circulation magazines. He disliked the narrow analytic approach of his discipline and ignored fashionable trends in favor of the grand picture. Grant was a Christian, a deep thinker, [...]

So Long For Now

On Monday I will be returning to graduate school, so I will be contributing and replying significantly less often over the next few months. I wanted to thank you all, and especially Jon, for the warm reception you have all given me and for the stimulating discussions we have had over the past several months. [...]

The Perpetual Hypocrites on Terrorism

By the same token, the BBC and other media sources are putting it about that Russian TV played down the Beslan crisis, while only western channels reported live, the implication being that Putin’s Russia remains a highly controlled police state. But this view of the Russian media is precisely the opposite of the impression I [...]

The Disgusting James Taranto

In December 2002, we coined the phrase vicarious terrorism to describe people–in that case it was George McGovern–who ascribe their own political views to al Qaeda and then argue that the Osama bin Laden & Co. would be appeased if only America adopted those views as policy. It’s worth noting in passing that Buchanan/bin Laden’s [...]

The American Interest

But supposing once more that we were able to cut off every regiment that Britain can spare or hire, and to destroy every ship she can send – that we could beat off any other European power that would presume to intrude upon this continent: Yet, a republican form of government would neither suit the [...]

The Suffering Russian People and the Suffering Georgian Land

Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze told reporters on September 6 that the Georgian special services are investigating possible link between the Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia and the terrorist act in Russia’s North Ossetian town of Beslan.~ Civil Georgia It might be that the terrorist outrages in Beslan this week, where over 300 died and at [...]

The Importance of Canada

Grant’s main arguments deal with the forces manipulating Canada’s destiny both in a North American perspective and in a global perspective. He argues that the nineteenth century ideological conflict between liberalism and conservatism still resonates today in the forces that are shaping Canada’s fortune. Liberalism, the ideology of the free market and American republicanism, is [...]

One Man’s Liberation Is Another Man’s Crime

Obviously, it is a wicked thing to attempt violently to overthrow a sovereign head of state, even if he is as corrupt, murderous and loathsome a monkey as Obiang. We’re clear where we stand, morally, about regime change, aren’t we? Even when the regime to be changed is unspeakably foul?~ Rod Liddle, The Spectator The [...]

Conditioned Conservatives

The rank-and-file conservatives have been trained in much the same way as the Russian psychologist Pavlov trained his dogs — to salivate on cue. The cue this year is Kerry and the specter of a Democratic victory. As long as the strategists for Bush can wiggle that flag in front of conservative noses, they need [...]