SPOTLIGHT
THEORY
An Incautious Defense of Optimism
By: Dan Corjescu (Optimistically dedicated to Steven Pinker) In a world suffering from a global pandemic, it would be both
Systems of Culture: Redefining the Current Debate
By Glen Paul Hammond “The very idea that cultural practices belong to racial groups misunderstands both race and culture.” —Richard
War, Peace, Wealth, and Recognition
By: Dan Corjescu Is the world making more love than war these days? And if so why? It is a
PRACTICE
The Hidden Success of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
For the first time in international law, a credible investigation into a terrorist assassination has been followed by a credible trial proceeding. With its judgment, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) became first ever international proceeding to prosecute a terrorist crime (the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005). Although largely overlooked in the wake of the deadly Beirut port explosion, food shortages, anti-government protests, and pandemic, this is a milestone in Lebanese and judicial history.
The Ecstatic Agony of Jeffrey Toobin
Mr. Toobin is a celebrity. Therefore, he has no right (as it were) to lower himself to our level or at least not in such a way that we are made aware of it. Discretion is the better part of ardor, especially for those in the public eye. Since those who wield power (control over other people’s destinies) belong to the priestly caste of society, they must relinquish the life of the peasant in exchange for their rank as sanctified members of the hierarchy. The peasant is no better than an animal; the priest must not descend to the level of the peasant, or be witnessed doing so, lest the peasantry become disillusioned, and begin to question their lack of status, let alone, rebel against priestly authority. That violates the tacit social contract (or unstated Freudian bargain) that we make with our living symbols of supernal grace.
What Does Joe Biden’s Win Mean For Africa?
Biden’s win means that multilateralism is the new game in town. Trump preferred unilateral pursuit of American national interests through bilateral trade negotiations with individual countries on the continent. Ironically, individual countries on the continent gained great traction with the Trump administration. Now policy makers are not sure how the new administration will approach these negotiations.
JUSTICE
Collectivism & Consensus in a Post Covid-19 World
Death is a great leveler and, a virus that strikes at individuals indiscriminately, a potent reminder of just how precarious life can be and why, much like the pioneers, it might be in humankind’s best interest to re-invest in a philosophy that acknowledges man’s ability to understand the real world around him. Ayn Rand’s maxim that “nature to be commanded, must be obeyed” seems particularly appropriate (9). The question is, do we have the courage and the humility to subject ourselves to the laws of nature and identity?
Long Walk to Freedom: Xenophobia Continues Against African Migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa
South Africans need to have a national dialogue about what it means to have immigrants in their midst and what part of this falls outside the country’s earlier vision of being a Rainbow Nation. South African cannot continue to preach the gospel of African Renaissance while it practices the talk of xenophobia
Weathering the Storm: Revisiting the Hariri Resignation
U.S. policymakers must realize that Lebanon is, indeed, the “eye of the storm” in the Middle East and devise policy accordingly.
ARTS & LETTERS
A Visit From The Donald
‘Twas Election Day eve and all through the states, / Strange forces were brewing, motivated by hate; / Guards ordered to precincts in order to scare / The minority voters that might show up there. / The children, who were lying dead tired in bed, / Dreamt of zoom calls and masks and had feelings of dread. / My wife in her shirt, and I in my shorts, / Were viewing the news channel’s latest report, / When over the sound waves there came a long beep… / The news was the latest on a new POTUS tweet.
When Is The Right Time To Nominate a Supreme Court Justice After One Has Passed Away – A Flowchart by the RNC
A totally non-partisan and not-at-all-self-serving flowchart to SCOTUS nominations beginning with the question: Which Party has Control of the Senate?
A Literary Review of Sex and Technophobia in Leonard Delaney’s Digital Desires: Taken by the Tetris Blocks
Jon S. Skolnik, writing for American Institute of Technology for Sexual Linguistics in 2099, argues that Taken by the Tetris Blocks is a touchstone of 21st-century American literature, capturing the unique technophobic milieu of the 2000s by way of the emergent technology’s sexual influence.