How will Americans know when we have lost our democracy? Authoritarianism is harder to recognize than it used to be. Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. Rather than violently suppress opposition like Castro or Pinochet, today’s autocrats convert …
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Democrats Have Been at War With Oil Barons for Too Long
It’s been a brutal three months for the American oil and gas industry. Oil prices have dropped to their lowest level since 2021, below what most shale companies need for new drilling to be profitable. China recently halted imports of American …
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Immigration Has Always Been Complex. Just Ask the People Who Built U.S. Railroads.
In “Strangers in the Land,” Michael Luo tells the story of the Chinese workers lured to the United States and expelled when 19th-century politicians turned against them.
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100 Days. That’s All It Took to Sever America From the World.
In 1941, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt marshaled support for the fight against fascism, his chief antagonists were isolationists at home. “What I seek to convey,” he said at the beginning of an address to Congress, “is the historic truth that …
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How I Describe Myself Politically These Days
I struggle these days whenever someone asks me for my political affiliation. But if you really force me, I’d describe myself as a “Waymo Democrat.” Waymos are the self-driving electric taxis started by Google. My party’s bumper sticker would read, “A …
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I Caught a Glimpse of the New World Order in Greenland
It’s hard to avoid America these days in Greenland. In downtown Nuuk, the capital, an electronic news ticker streams near-constant updates on the Trump administration’s fixation on acquiring this Danish territory. Even before retaking office in …
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Trump’s Tariffs Will Pay Off, for China
No part of the world will be hit harder by President Trump’s barrage of “reciprocal” tariffs than the Asia-Pacific region. Despite his 90-day pause in imposing them, some of Mr. Trump’s steepest tariff rates still hang over developing economies such …
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