Roundup

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants students to learn the Ottoman language

by Nick Danforth

Erdogan’s critics condemned his decision as yet another heavy-handed attempt to promote a conservative version of Ottoman nostalgia.

Sharpening Contradictions: Why al-Qaeda attacked Satirists in Paris

by Juan Cole

"The horrific murder of the editor, cartoonists and other staff of the irreverent satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, along with two policemen, by terrorists in Paris was in my view a strategic strike, aiming at polarizing the French and European public."

UCLA's Embarrassment: Prof. Abou El Fadl

by Daniel Pipes

The once-promising career of UCLA law professor Khaled Medhat Abou El Fadl, once regarded as a moderate, has faded over the past decade.

Mario Cuomo: Don’t Ask What Might Have Been

by Jim Sleeper

Cuomo famously declined President Clinton’s offer of nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Religious nationalism finds a footing in the Middle East

by Brian A. Catlos

The breakdown of religious tolerance in today’s Middle East is not a manifestation of some particularly Islamic barbarism. It is a symptom of what we call modernization, and its political framework: nationalism.

Where de Blasio Is Right

by Amity Shlaes

How Calvin Coolidge handled a 1919 police strike in Boston holds lessons for New York today.

The Tragedy of the American Military

by James Fallows

" [The] reverent but disengaged attitude toward the military—we love the troops, but we’d rather not think about them—has become so familiar that we assume it is the American norm. But it is not."

Penn Station: A Place That Once Made Travelers Feel Important

by Michael Beschloss

Completed in 1910, the original Penn Station was intended to symbolize not only its powerful corporate owner but also New York’s status as the most vital city in a nation that was becoming a political and economic superpower.

A Self-Perpetuating Machine for American Insecurity

by Tom Engelhardt

Welcome to the National Security State of 2015

Mario Cuomo Had the Most Divided Mind in Politics

by Sidney Blumenthal

The confessions of St. Mario

America’s best New Year’s Eve parties happened in 1865

by Christopher Wilson

New Year’s Day 1865—and those in the two years previous—were among the most poignant and pregnant with new beginnings in American history.

Roundup Top 10!

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

The Triumph of Core American Values in the Epic Battle for a Grocery Store Chain

by Louis Ferleger and Matthew Lavallee

The Market Basket conflict illustrates why recognizing the contributions of workers is the key to success.

The Year Iraq Ceased to Exist: Will it ever Again?

by Juan Cole

In 2014, Iraq was said to lose 42% of its territory to Daesh (the Arabic acronym for what our press calls ISIS or ISIL).

History of New Year's Celebrations in Russia

The new year in Russia formerly started on March 1, then on September 1, and only since 1700 has it been marked on January 1.

Henry Kissinger’s still got plenty new to say about foreign policy

by Niall Ferguson

A review of his new book.

A family survives the Armenian genocide and its long aftermath

by Raffi Khatchadourian

A century after the Armenian genocide, many details of its origins remain obscure. The pervasive state denial has corrupted access to official archives—with some closed, and others open in limited ways—and forced upon the research the distortions of politics.

America: Australia's Dangerous Ally

by Malcolm Fraser

Australia should not embrace America, writes its former prime minister, but preserve itself from Washington’s reckless overreach.

Did Drought and Climate Change cause Middle Eastern States to Collapse in 2014?

by Juan Cole

Climate change not only makes agricultural problems worse, it has a direct negative affect. When it is hot, people fight more.

New Attack on the ‘Comfort Women’

by Nogawa Motokazu

The Abe Cabinet continues its attempts to distort the ‘comfort women’ issue, making the most of Asahi Shimbun’s 5th August retraction of its past articles that employed the late Yoshida Seiji’s ‘testimonies.’