Roundup

Divided We Fall

by Ganesh Sitaraman

The Founders knew that economic inequality would destroy America's democracy. So why can't the Constitution save us?

Washington’s demonization of Foes jumps Shark with Sean Spicer on Hitler

by Juan Cole

But Spicer’s problem was not in misspeaking. He got himself into trouble because he just did what Washington does. He demonized the enemy du jour.

Breaking the Palestinians' Will to Fight

by Daniel Pipes

So long as rejectionism runs rampant, debates about one-, two-, and three-state solutions, about carving up the Temple Mount into dual sovereign areas, or about electricity grids and water supplies, are for naught.

Video of the Week: "Citizen Jane: Battle for the City”

A film about the battle between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses

Donald Trump, Jews and the myth of race: How Jews gradually became “white,” and how that changed America

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Until the 1940s, Jews in America were considered a separate race. Their journey to whiteness has important lessons.

The Myth of Main Street

by Louis Hyman

Don’t listen to President Trump. Going back to the good old days will cost us.

Why Black Lives Matter Still Matters

by Peniel E. Joseph

Three years after BLM launched a nationwide uprising against police violence, what's next for the movement? 

How ‘Mr. Wilson’s War’ Shaped the World Order

by Arthur Herman

While Woodrow Wilson may have entered World War I in part for the wrong reasons — to fulfill utopian dreams — 100 years later his decision stands as the right one. In the final analysis, it has made the world, and the U.S., safer.

Obsession With the Russia Connection Is a High-Risk Anti-Trump Strategy

by Greg Grandin

It lets Democrats off the hook for their own failures—and betting the resistance on finding a smoking gun is a fool’s game.

Could 'America First' Lead to War?

by Graham Allison

China and the U.S. are each intent on greatness. Those visions may not be compatible.

Trump doesn’t have authority to order strikes against Syria

by Andrew J. Bacevich

That authority rests with the Congress.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

Democratizing U.S. Foreign Policy

by Daniel Bessner and Stephen Wertheim

In order to restore public trust, foreign policy experts must engage citizens in different, more democratic ways. Fortunately, American history offers guidance for bringing experts and the public back together.

Resurrecting Another ‘Big Lie’: The Myth of Social Security as ‘Ponzi Scheme’

by Bernard A. Weisberger

This especially ugly lie resurfaces periodically like the Loch Ness Monster and the Abominable Snowman and is just as devoid of proof, but at least those fakes are harmless.

Democratizing the Great Books

by Casey N. Blake, Roosevelt Montás and Tamara Mann Tweel

At a time when many of the values that underpin our democracy are under threat, educators of whatever political disposition should introduce students to the history of ideas that have shaped our contemporary world.

The Missing Link: Conservative Abolitionists, Slavery, and Yale

by Eric Herschthal

The fortunes of our nation’s universities depended not only on slaveholders, but on their strange and sometime allies, conservative abolitionists.

The Importance of National Myths

by Steven Conn

What "Make America Great Again" encapsulated managed to fire up just enough people in just enough places that it won the election.

Did Obama err in not outing Russian meddling?

by Kyle Longley

He made the same decision LBJ did a generation earlier when evidence surfaced that Nixon had exploited foreign ties to manipulate the election. 

After Health Bill’s Defeat, What Trump Can Learn From L.B.J.

by Michael Beschloss

Unlike Donald Trump, Lyndon Johnson had years of political experience that enabled him to pass his landmark Medicare legislation.

Trump may not be a fascist, but teachers should have the freedom to ask students the question

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Teachers are the public servants who are charged with cultivating an informed public. The question is whether the rest of us will let them do it.