It’s a cliché to say that everything’s connected. But we live in a world where this is clearly true. Ideas, goods, services, workers, tourists, commerce, communications, drugs, crime, migrants, refugees, weapons, climate impacts… and, of course, viruses: They all cross borders constantly. This is one reason I’ve come to believe that drawing a distinction between “foreign” and … [Read more...]
Why I’m optimistic about the future
By Lee Hamilton One of the great privileges of teaching and working on a university campus is the chance to be in regular touch with young people. Even better, I sometimes get asked to give talks elsewhere and to meet with young people of all kinds and descriptions—sometimes one on one, sometimes in small groups, sometimes with as many as 50 or 60 people. Over the past few … [Read more...]
What does it mean to be an American?
I’ve been thinking recently about what it means to be an American, to have a shared stake in this country and its fortunes. In some ways the question is unanswerable: We are a diverse country, and we each answer the question in our own way. Yet there are traits in common that resonate across communities and political beliefs. You could start, for instance, with a belief in the … [Read more...]
Lessons from 9/11 that Congress could learn
Most Americans alive 20 years ago remember where they were on September 11, 2001. They remember the airplane hijackings, the attacks, and the collapse of the Twin Towers. They remember the nearly 3,000 who perished. As our nation refocuses on that searing event, it will be tempting to pay attention to the lessons we’ve learned in the decades since when it comes to dealing … [Read more...]
Why voters vote as they do
Maybe it’s just a professional preoccupation, but I’ve always been intrigued by why voters cast their ballots as they do. I’ve never made a formal study of it, but have talked with plenty of them over the years, and one thing sticks with me from those conversations: There’s no one thing. People find a myriad of interesting — and sometimes idiosyncratic —r easons for voting this … [Read more...]
Whatever you think of it, we’re global
No matter how hard we try, we really can’t avoid one another. We live in a world where what takes place somewhere else on the globe has a very good chance of affecting us – along with many others. The pandemic, of course, is a useful – if sobering – example. A virus that infected humans in one city in China spread with breathtaking speed around the world, beyond the power of … [Read more...]
Can the U.S. sustain the international order?
We don’t often think that how the U.S. conducts itself at home has much impact on how we face the world, but it does. You’d be amazed at how closely people in countries all over the globe follow events here and count on the United States to lead the way. When it’s messy at home, it’s hard to sustain the strength and readiness to turn our attention outward. Doing so is … [Read more...]
We’re stronger as a country when more people vote
There is a fight going on over the heart of our democracy, and I worry that democracy is losing. Over the last few months, several states have moved decisively to make it harder for their citizens to vote, and more are on tap. It’s hard to tell yet whether this is just a blip or an actual reversal of the US’s long trend of expanding voting access. Either way, it’s cause for … [Read more...]
What do we mean when we talk about the “common good”?
I’ve always been impressed that the preamble to the Constitution begins, “We the People of the United States.” We’ve heard the phrase so often that we don’t even stop to think about it. But as the proposed constitution was being debated in 1787, there were people who did — notably, Patrick Henry, who in a famous speech to the Virginia ratifying convention asked why the drafters … [Read more...]
Why reforming the filibuster matters
As Washington turns its attention to infrastructure and other matters of policy, the Senate filibuster isn’t commanding quite the same headlines as it did a few weeks back. But that’s only because the issue is percolating behind the scenes. At some point, it will return to the limelight. And when it does, you should understand what’s at stake. Because as obscure as it seems, … [Read more...]