Sometimes societies become so used to certain outbreaks of violence that they lose sight of what they really represent. We name the events lightly, soften concepts, or reduce them to convenient explanations. But in doing so, we also dilute our ability to understand the true scope of what we are facing. When a government refuses to call terrorism what—by definition—is terrorism, it ends up defenseless against those who have decided to use fear as a tool of power.
The post reflects on various literary works that explore philosophical and human conditions. It highlights Voltaire’s “Candide,” Michael Ignatieff’s “Finding Solace in Dark Times,” and other significant writings, including those by Stefan Zweig, Marcus Aurelius, and Václav Havel. Each offers unique insights into resilience, history, and existential reflection.
Wars, polarization, and uncertainty reign in the immediate future. None of the forecasts at the beginning of the year* alerted us to the outcomes we experienced. The widely anticipated recession didn’t happen; the U.S. economy is growing with low unemployment and decreasing inflation. Growth across …
Juan Villoro Espionage is inseparable from English literature. Daniel Defoe, Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, and, of course, David Cornwell, better known as John Le Carré, were secret agents. The enigmas of loyalty and betrayal fascinate a profession that depends on conceiving and manipulating the lives …
Today, I begin my letter with an issue that has been worrying me for some time, which seems even more serious today. The new generation of young people known as Generation Z, the next generation of millennials, seems not to find its way and is …
U.S. Inflation To read the whole document, the controls for turning pages and zooming in or out are at the bottom left corner above. Further Reading:
“I don’t believe in the ‘soft landing’ story,” said historian and author Niall Ferguson in a conversation with Andy Serwer at Barrons on Sept. 12, 2023. He discusses the risks to the West, U.S. politics, what happens if Trump wins, what if he was a …
This documentary of the British presence in Palestine from 1917 to 1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions that defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The …
Antonio Navalón If When the Berlin Wall fell, the book that best reflected this episode of history was Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History and the Last Man”. After the Hamas attack on Israel that began on October 7, the title that best defines this …
Antonio Navalón No war is like any other. If one looks at the prelude to the war of 1914 or 1939, one will realize that in both cases, one of the only constants was the denial or omission of reality by the countries that ended …