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Ian Buruma

Ian Buruma

Writing for PS since 2001
217 commentaries

Ian Buruma is the author of numerous books, including Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance, Year Zero: A History of 1945, A Tokyo Romance: A Memoir, The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, From Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit, The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II, and, most recently, Spinoza: Freedom’s Messiah (Yale University Press, 2024).

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  1. The Laugh Is on the Democrats
    buruma219_AngelaWeissGettyImages_hinchcliffe_trump_rally2 Angela Weiss/Getty Images

    The Laugh Is on the Democrats

    Nov 8, 2024 Ian Buruma sees Donald Trump’s victory as a rebellion of the culturally dispossessed who relish his insult comedy.

  2. Warrior Nations of the Middle East
    buruma218_ JACK GUEZAFP via Getty Images_crisis israel JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

    Warrior Nations of the Middle East

    Oct 8, 2024 Ian Buruma shows how shame and humiliation have shaped national identities that countenance further killing.

  3. The Greatest Show on Earth
    buruma217_Kevin DietschGetty Images_dnc Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    The Greatest Show on Earth

    Aug 28, 2024 Ian Buruma describes the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a remarkable performance of authenticity.

  4. War Games and Tribal Passions
    buruma216_Mark LeechOffside via Getty Images_euro1988football Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images

    War Games and Tribal Passions

    Aug 9, 2024 Ian Buruma argues that sports nationalism is driven more by a desire for community than notions of blood and soil.

  5. Democracy, What Democracy?
    buruma215_ Octavio JonesGetty Images_trump supporters Octavio Jones/Getty Images

    Democracy, What Democracy?

    Jul 4, 2024 Ian Buruma warns that Donald Trump’s supporters have a different understanding of government by the people.

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  1. tyson121_Anna MoneymakerGettyImages_musk_ramaswamy Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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    Why DOGE and Musk Will Fail

    Laura Tyson & Lenny Mendonca identify a fundamental flaw in the design of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”
  2. barfi28_AnadoluGettyImages_hafez_alassad_statue_downed Anadolu/Getty Images
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    Syria’s House of Cards

    Barak Barfi

    External factors surely contributed to the Syrian regime’s vulnerability in the face of a new rebel advance. But the primary cause of President Bashar al-Assad’s downfall is that he presided over a disintegrating social contract, enabling his enemies to forge new coalitions organized around meeting the everyday needs of Syria’s people.

     explains why Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsed so quickly, placing most of the blame on Assad himself.
  3. gregorova1_Carol YepesGetty Images_messagesencryption Carol Yepes/Getty Images
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    Will Your Encrypted Messages Remain Private in Europe?

    Markéta Gregorová worries about a proposed regulation that would undermine a fundamental right in the digital domain.
  4. benami220_AnadoluGettyImages_damascus_celebration Anadolu/Getty Images
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    The Fall of the House of Assad

    Shlomo Ben-Ami

    The Middle East’s geopolitical landscape has been transformed by the swift collapse of Syria’s al-Assad dynasty. While the Iranian-led “axis of resistance” now appears hollowed out, an Islamist regime in Damascus may prove deeply unsettling not only to Israel, but also to the region’s Arab states.

     agrees with Iran’s former vice president that the Syrian regime’s collapse will transform the Middle East.
  5. gortiz3_Eyepix GroupGettyImages_sheinbaum_pressconf Eyepix Group/Getty Images
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    How Trump’s Return Could Benefit Mexico

    Guillermo Ortiz thinks the country and its new president could benefit from going back to the negotiating table with the US.
  6. singer237_Carl CourtGettyImages_pro_euthanasia_protest_london Carl Court/Getty Images
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    Choice in Dying Comes to the UK

    Peter Singer welcomes the approval of a bill that promises to empower terminally ill patients in England and Wales.
  7. bp trump neoliberalism Photo by Saul Martinez for The Washington Post via Getty Images
    3

    Did Neoliberalism Kill American Democracy?

    As US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to make good on his threats to upend American institutions, the pressure is on his opponents to figure out how to defend, and eventually strengthen, US democracy. But first they must understand how the United States reached this point.

  8. patten170_YUICHI YAMAZAKIAFP via Getty Images_japan Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP via Getty Images
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    The Sources of Japanese Resilience

    Chris Patten emphasizes the country’s ability to avoid the divisive politics currently plaguing other liberal democracies.
  9. bremmer27_AAREF WATADAFP via Getty Images_syria Aaref Watad/AFP via Getty Images
    2

    The Global Power Vacuum Comes to Syria

    Ian Bremmer explains how external dynamics led to renewed fighting in the country's 13-year-long civil war.

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