Portside

Heightened rhetoric about Russia and China seeking to undermine American influence will only reinforce Washington’s support for repressive regimes. The consequences of that could, in turn, prove to be potentially disastrous.

When Russian bombs are destroying Ukrainian cities, there's reason to focus on oligarchs supporting the Kremlin. But do American multi-billionaires and Saudi princes enjoy less political clout, stash less money abroad, and use influence any better?

Jamaica in the 18th century was described by Charles Leslie as a “constant mine, whence Britain draws prodigious riches.” More Africans arrived in Kingston to become plantation slaves than arrived in any other place in the British empire.

The father of game theory helped develop the atom bomb—and thought he could calculate when to use it.

Israel cannot wholeheartedly join sanctions against Russia or denounce its war crimes while leading a diplomatic campaign against the Palestinian-led BDSanctions Movement, or against proceedings in the International Criminal Court.

The Sacramento school district is pleading poverty in the face of demands for more student support and a pay raise to keep up with inflation. Teachers and school workers aren’t buying the district’s excuses and now they’re on strike to make change.

In WeCrashed, it isn’t just that the Neumanns were so charismatic or that people looked the other way. People wanted to believe in changing the world.

Israel is not my birthright writes a U.S. Jewish author, raised to think the country was ours by divine right. But this horror in Gaza has challenged even my deepest beliefs. The Haaretz' Gaza reporter, daughter of Holocaust survivors, writes, 'If victory is measured by the success at causing lifelong trauma to 1.8 million people (and not for the first time) waiting to be executed any moment - then the victory is yours.'

In my visits to Israel I've met with and been at demonstrations with the thousands of both Palestinian and Israeli activists who know that Israel is at a turning point, that it faces a clear choice. They assert that it is exactly with one's enemies that one negotiates to find peace. Americans - Jewish or not and whether we wish to or not - have the opportunity and the responsibility to ensure that Israel makes the right choice. The United States is not a bystander.

Kids who identify with the hero of J.K. Rowling's popular fantasy novels hold more open-minded attitudes toward immigrants and gays.