Through personal encounters in Poland, Israel, and the United States, Jeffrey Goldfarb (The New School) reflects on the power of small acts of repair in times of political violence and moral devastation. Drawing connections between historical memory, contemporary protest, and everyday gestures of solidarity, it argues that even fragile acts of care can sustain hope and ethical responsibility in dark times.
Berit Ebert (Professor at Bard College Berlin) and Boris Vormann (Professor at Bard College Berlin) discuss the foundation of the European Democracy Institute as a new co-host of the Democracy Seminar — as well as its role as a vital center for research, public debate, and educational initiatives on democracy in the 21st century.
Time to Get Serious About Defending Democracy in the Indo-Pacific On July 31, 2025, news erupted that Taiwan’s President “William” Lai Ching-te had been denied entry to the United States by a Trump administration eager to curry favor with China. As his predecessors had done with regularity, President Lai planned to stop-over in America enroute to visiting allies in Latin America, but the Trump White House slammed the door …
So how to make sense of last Sunday’s (June 1) Polish presidential elections, in which the candidate of the far-right, Karol Nawrocki of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), defeated the liberal mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, from Civic Platform? I had a sense this would be the result, after first-round voting gave the combined far-right parties a near majority total.
Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith recently took to X to post a short video denouncing the “DEI radical revisionist history” taught by “professors at woke schools.” His target: the idea that the 3/5 Compromise “was some terrible thing in our past.” This compromise—one of the compromises through which the U.S. Constitution was established in 1787—incorporated this language into Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned …
Photo: “Cover of “La Domenica del Corriere” of February 24, 1929, signing of the Lateran Treaty.” Author: Achille Beltrame (1871–1945).Source. Via WikiCommons. “Copertina della Domenica del Corriere Anno XXXI n. 8 del 29.2.1929 illustrata da Achille Beltrame. La didascalia recita: Uno storico avvenimento. Nel Palazzo Lateranense, il Duce e il Cardinale Gasparri firmano l’accordo tra lo Stato italiano e la Santa Sede. Disegno di A. Beltrame Italiano: Anno XXXI …
Photo: “President Trump clashes with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Meeting in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, 2025.” Source: The White House. From Wikimedia Commons. February 28, 2025 My friend, Only hours ago I watched Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, the President and Vice President of my country, publicly berate and attempt to humiliate Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of your country. It was perhaps the most shameful public event …
At 9 a.m. in Bloomington, 14 hours behind Seoul, I received a message that martial law had been declared late at night and soldiers were entering the National Assembly. The news was so frightening that it felt unreal. At first, I assumed it was misinformation, much like the previous heart-wrenching disasters had initially seemed to be. But it was real. Most Korean people spent the day and night …
The Erosion of Memory Consensus The political and symbolic imaginary, the “memory consensus” regarding Georgia’s path toward Europe has come to an end. This consensus gained momentum following the “Rose Revolution” in 2003 and was built on the promise of modernizing Georgia and cutting ties with its Soviet past. Georgia’s pro-Western narrative has been systematically attacked and eroded by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party. This process began …
The few weeks of speculation are over. Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP running mate. All six of the leading candidates had strengths and weaknesses that have been endlessly discussed. Whoever Harris selected, some of her supporters were bound to be disappointed. I believe that nothing is more important in U.S. politics at this moment than defeating both Trump and Trumpism. And so …
