Perhaps the most famous border in the world is the one along the Rio Grande that separates Mexico from the United States. It is almost…

Xi Jinping has it all: general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, chairman of the Central Military Commission, commander-in-chief of the People’s Liberation Army, and…

On first hearing about U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned visit to Taiwan it struck me as a rather, shall we say, stupid…

Macho men have throughout history dominated societies—kings, warlords, military leaders and assorted demagogues. Despite the advance of democracy in the past few centuries, modern societies…

If anything scares China’s formidable president, Xi Jinping, it’s probably democracy. The idea of the Chinese people choosing their own president must be nightmarish to…

Now would seem to be the moment for China’s star to shine. It has gained control of the coronavirus pandemic rapidly and effectively, and it…

As a committed democrat, I would dearly love to be able to convince doubters of democracy’s superiority by pointing to its leaders. And in the…

Reading The Guardian last week, two articles captured my attention. Set side by side were “A ‘tyrant-clown’ has destroyed my love affair with America” by…