President Joe Biden announced last month that the United States will host African leaders late this year for a summit focused on food security, climate change and other pressing matters. That’s a positive development. Africa doesn’t get near the attention it deserves. Africa faces many challenges, and there’s a lot the United States can and […]
Lee H. Hamilton
Posted inOpinion
Why good investigative journalism matters
Recently, a couple of reporters at The New York Times published an intriguing story about conversations between House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and other members of his leadership team. It was shortly after the events of Jan. 6 at the Capitol, and they were talking about what to do about then-President Trump. His conduct, McCarthy […]
Posted inOpinion
What does it take to be important in America?
Maybe it’s the perspective a long life brings, but I find myself eyeing with some skepticism the glut of “personal brands” that assault us every day on television, in print and through social media. Entertainers, celebrities, politicians striving for acclaim, artists and writers who’ve mastered the public-relations game, journalists and media stars who are building […]
Posted inOpinion
How’s Joe doing?
It’s been a little over a year since Joe Biden took office as president, and though it’s still too early to draw firm conclusions about his performance, it’s not too early to discern some trends. Especially in light of how Biden positioned himself in the 2020 campaign and, I believe, how he still sees himself: […]
Posted inOpinion
Reining in government spending will be tough
With a $1 trillion infrastructure package on the books and the Biden administration’s $1.8 trillion “Build Back Better” measure preoccupying the Senate after passing the House, government spending is very much on Americans’ minds. In public meetings, I frequently hear people say that government’s share of the economy is too big, and it’s likely that […]
Posted inOpinion
What does it mean to be an American?
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it means to be an American, to have a shared stake in this country and its fortunes. In some ways, I suppose the question is unanswerable: We are a vast, diverse country, and we each answer the question in our own way. Yet I also think there […]
Posted inOpinion
What do we mean by the “common good”?
I’ve always been impressed that the preamble to the Constitution begins, “We the People of the United States.” We’ve heard the phrase so often that we don’t even stop to think about it. But as the proposed constitution was being debated in 1787, there were people who did – notably, Patrick Henry, who in a […]
Posted inOpinion
Good foreign policy is good domestic policy, and vice-versa
There was an interesting moment in Washington at the end of January, on Antony Blinken’s first full day as secretary of state. Meeting with the press corps that covers the State Department, he called an independent press “a cornerstone of our democracy,” and told the assembled reporters, “You keep the American people and the world […]
Posted inOpinion
It is time to show our resilience
If you pay attention to global affairs, you know that increasing numbers of people believe U.S. leadership in the world is coming to an end and the West more broadly is being eclipsed. I think these predictions are exaggerated, but they are not without some basis. Our challenges have grown. It is time for us […]
Posted inOpinion
Pandemic lays bare disinformation damage
When the history of this era is written, special attention should be reserved for the prominent U.S. politicians who dismissed or misrepresented the COVID-19 pandemic for political purposes. The coronavirus has wreaked untold suffering and damage to this country through the deaths it’s caused, the illness it’s produced, the strain it has placed on the […]
Posted inOpinion
How did voters decide?
Like any American who cares about this country, I have a deep interest in the results of this election. But as a politician (I think one never really retires from that job), I take a professional interest, as well. Not only for policy or partisan concerns, but because I’m always interested in how people make […]
Posted inOpinion
The power of the minority
As the Senate held hearings and debated the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, attention understandably focused on the policy implications of a sixth conservative vote. What got less notice was an important political fact: If she’s confirmed as expected, it will mean a majority of the court will have been […]
