By Alexandros Ntaflos In a few weeks, EU elections will take place. For many pundits, the main question of this election is how big far-right (Eurosceptic) parties will be. The idea is that an increase of the radical right parties electoral power (coming either from the ECR or ID party families) could lead to fundamental... Continue Reading →
By Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr. (Retired) and David Bernell Former President Trump has asked the federal courts for sweeping immunity for virtually all actions he took as president. He says that acts committed in the White House are automatically official acts. His case reached the Supreme Court in April 2024 and a hearing was held... Continue Reading →
by David Bernell and Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (Retired) There is a story told about Benjamin Franklin that describes his interaction with a group of citizens at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. When asked by a woman named Elizabeth Willing Powel what type of government the delegates had established, a monarchy or... Continue Reading →
Happy and Free by Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (Retired) and David Bernell The death of Alexei Navalny in one of Vladmir Putin’s terrible prison camps in the Arctic Circle is a tragedy for the world. It is also a marker and a reminder of the competing political forces of our time. When the Cold War... Continue Reading →
Seize Russian Assets and Send the Money to Ukraine By David Bernell and Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (Retired) The war in Ukraine is changing. Russia is seeing gains, and Ukraine is facing increasing challenges and shortages, particularly with regard to soldiers and weapons, which have resulted in the recent loss of territorial control to the... Continue Reading →
By Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (Retired). and David Bernell “The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States,” said Governor Greg Abbott of Texas on January 24, 2024. His claim is that the Biden Administration has failed to carry out the requirements of the Constitution, which says that the federal... Continue Reading →
A Response to Kurt Weyland by Jeffrey Hallock Near the end of the January 9, 2024, episode of Democracy Paradox, host Justin Kempf probed a recurrent theme in his conversations with Dr. Kurt Weyland—that overreacting to anti-democratic threats can, paradoxically, further democratic erosion. Kempf asked, “Why is it so dangerous to overreact to democratic threats?”... Continue Reading →
By David Bernell and Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. (Retired) There are many things we have learned since Donald Trump declared in 2015 that he was running for president. One of them is that no election in which Donald Trump is involved is normal. The election in 2024 is the fifth (including midterm elections) in which... Continue Reading →
By Justin Kempf This list is different than most. What sets it apart is not simply that it focuses on books about democracy, but that it looks for ones that will challenge our assumptions and expectations. For those of us who have read extensively about democracy for years, this becomes very difficult. But quite a... Continue Reading →
Considerations and Reconsiderations on Constitution Making, Part 1 By Sumit Bisarya On December 17, Chileans – for the second time in two years - voted to reject a draft constitution bringing to an end the long constitution making process which emerged from the social uprisings of November 2019. On the same day, Chad held a... Continue Reading →
