Paul Krugman
1/10/2011

Krugman says he is not surprised by the Arizona shooting. He cites an upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing, the frenzied crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, and a Department of Homeland Security internal report in April 2009 that warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence. The calls for violence in political rhetoric has contributed to this, and this act should not be treated as an isolated event. Decent people should shun those that are purveyors of hate, and it is up to GOP leaders to accept the reality of what’s happening and take a stand against eliminationist rhetoric, otherwise this is just the beginning of the violence.

Krugman is a New York Times columnist.

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Matthew Kaminski
12/22/2010

The surge in Afghanistan is a wager that we can make the country a less violent and more stable base for America. Kaminski notes that America’s forces aren’t leaving anytime soon and probably not in this lifetime. Where the US military has gone in robustly, the Taliban has folded. The Afghan government’s shortcomings feed the insurgency. President Karzai squandered nine years, but the Taliban is hated. Only a tenth of Afghans tell pollsters they prefer them, and their sympathy is often as much practical as ideological. Afghans want the state to protect and serve them. In the many places it fails, the Taliban steps into the gap. Kaminski argues that giving up prematurely on our Afghan surge could make the fantasy of failure real.

Kaminski is a member of the Journal’s editorial board.

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Eliot A. Cohen
12/22/2010

During Vietnam, a number of elite universities removed ROTC programs from their campuses, citing the military’s stance on homosexuals as their excuse. Now, however, the social, political, and military climate is different, and there is support among both political parties to bring ROTC back. However, academia (traditionally liberal) and the military (traditionally conservative) have been at odds for many years, and bringing them together is not without difficulties. But these differences, says Cohen, are all the more reason to mingle the two groups. Students at elite universities are intelligent and hardworking, and as America’s future businessmen and women, they “should share the burden of national defense.”

The writer teaches at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and received his commission through Army ROTC.

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Michael Skapinker
11/1/2010

Skapinker says that following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil well disaster, all companies should set aside time to discuss the implications of a catastrophe hitting their organization. A disaster can hit any firm so they should all take time to think what their potentially grave threats are and how they would deal with them. The Deepwater Horizon disaster highlighted the importance of having a well-rehearsed response ready for when things go wrong. Skapinker adds that there is little point in firms moaning about adverse media coverage should catastrophe hit. Round-the-clock news, blogs, and Twitter accounts are the way of the world now. The smart move is to prevent a disaster happening in the first place.

Michael Skapinker is an assistant editor of the Financial Times, a columnist and the editor of the FT’s special reports

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Paul Krugman
12/20/2010

Even though free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about nearly everything, Krugman says they dominate political thought now more than ever. He points out that everything the right said about Obama’s economic policies was wrong, including warnings that interest rates would rise along with a hyper-inflation. They were also wrong about politics abroad, including idealizing Ireland as a shining example of sound economic policies. Krugman says it is one thing to stay true to your ideals and goals, but it is entirely another to open the door to what he calls zombie ideas because they could kill the economy.

Krugman is a New York Times columnist.

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