Quick Links

From Stephen Walt, the case for empathy in foreign relations. (Well worth checking out, if only for the links at the bottom of the article.)

Via Ezra Klein, on what issues does the Supreme Court rule most often each year?

TNR sizes up the competition in "Taking Stock of the Intellectual Right in the Age of Obama."

Students, take note: Wikipedia has found favor with as venerable an institution as the London Review of Books.

Modern-day Stoicism

"The realm is in prosperous state, thy house is strong, flourishing under the smile of Heaven."

 The Nurse to Phaedra, shortly before the unchecked desire of the latter brings ruin to her household. 

- Seneca's Phaedra

Alain de Bottom, whose "The Art of Travel" once cheered me up quite a bit, makes the case against optimism:

"Attempts to trust that the worst is over and to stop frightening ourselves seem doomed to propel us into yet worse disappointment. We are not only unhappy, but—believing calm and happiness to be the norm—unhappy that we’re unhappy." 

Jonathan Yardley

I'm behind the times.  After reading this short, delightful interview of "Cleopatra and Antony," I decided to learn more about its author, Jonathan Yardley.  Unfortunately, it appears I missed the boat; Yardley retired from the Washington Post Book Review a few years ago.  On a side note, Yardley once received a Pulitzer Prize for his works in criticism, and he's credited with having dealt Michael Chabon a favorable hand early in Chabon's career.  But my favorite bit about Yardley?  He's a huge fan of Horatio Hornblower.  

Roberto Benigni

I love the simplicity of romance as it is portrayed in the movies of Roberto Benigni.  My dad took me to "Life is Beautiful" when it was first in theaters.  I must have been eleven or twelve, and even though I was still very much afraid of girls, which meant that I hadn't even begun to think about a family of my own, the film left an impression.  More recently, I saw the movie "The Tiger and the Snow," which, in its own way, is just as tragic and surreal as "Life is Beautiful."  Is it strange, then, that the real-life Roerto Benigni conducts himself as I imagine he would if he were one of his character on a visit to New York?   

Portland, OR

Times are tough in Portland.  An influx of young folks, hipster and otherwise, only makes finding a job that much more difficult.  But I love it here, and so I wanted to share some gorgeous photos from the Wall Street Journal.  An article on the city's demographics was also published in the print edition.  Lastly, the Frugal Traveler recently wrote a great (capital G) piece about the City of Roses for the New York Times.  

Oh Portland...     

Conservatism

Whether out of desperation or resolve, conservatives are grappling with their political identity in a way not seen since Goldwater or Buckley.  In point of fact, not a day goes by without some mention of Cheney and the media, Michael Steele and GOP infighting, or Gingrich and the glory days of Reagan.  The selection of Jon Huntsman as ambassador to China only served to demonstrate how much of concern the state of the Republican party is to those both within and without.

The most interesting movement within the party, at least to me, can be found over at newmajority.com.  Check it out.  Even though I might not agree with all of his talking points, I've been enjoying the work of David Frum.  Perhaps this article, in which Frum reviews three books on the end of the Roman empire, will serve as a interesting introduction.

On a side note, George Packer wrote a short article on General David McKiernan's forced retirement.  The Accidental Guerrila anyone?  Excellent background reading from the Council on Foreign Relations on Afghanistan and Pakistan can be found here.

Last but not least, a call for toleration by the controversial realist Stephen M. Walt.

Recommended

Every so often, I miss my New Yorker subscription - it was one of the simple pleasure left behind in my move to Portland.  I try to survive by following the magazine online.  But this week, more than most, I considered renewing:

• Steven Coll, one of my favorite foreign affairs commentators, on the Obama administration's Af. Pak. strategy 
  
  
• A beautiful, dark poem by Philip Levine
  
  
• A short story by the novelist currently at the top of my reading list, Jonathan Letham
  
  
• Lastly, perhaps provoked by Souter's retirement, a piece on Chief Justice Roberts by that most avid follower of the Supreme Court, Jeffrey Toobin

Perhaps

Bleeker Street, a poem by Phillip Schultz

Perspective on Europe

Russell Shorto, the author of the recently published "Descartes' Bones," has written a thoughtful little piece for the New York Times on his experience living abroad.  In the article, he compares and contrasts a European social model, in this case Holland, with his experiences back home in the states.  His argument isn't particularly novel.  T.R. Reid makes similar assertions in "The United States of Europe," and there are similar sentiments in Adam Gopnik's "Paris to the Moon."  But I think that Shorto's piece is still worth reading, not only because of its brevity, but also because I think the author does his best at an even handed approach.  

Given how often the word socialism has been tossed about by the right and left, I think it's worth our time to consider the implications of America's social model as it stands at the beginning of the 21st century.  Shorto's article is an excellent introduction.