The MAGA base has entered a new social contract, not with the Constitution but with Trump himself as sovereign, trading liberty and truth for the security of belonging to his camp. The horror is precisely that the destruction of American democracy is being carried out not only by a “madman” but by ordinary functionaries who know better and choose not to act.
Child sex trafficking is not just another societal problem waiting for legislative tinkering or bureaucratic reform. It is a moral outrage—a fundamental rupture in the ethical fabric of our world. The measure of our humanity will be taken not by how we treat the powerful, the wealthy, or the competent, but by how fiercely we protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Today’s podcast guest is Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Previously, he worked as senior Gulf analyst at the Gulf Center for Strategic Studies and as codirector of the Kuwait Program on Development, Governance and Globalization in the Gulf States at the London School of Economics.
In this episode, we discuss the still-ongoing war on Iran, the impact the war has had on the Gulf States, Trump’s ability or failure to negotiate an end to the conflict, and whether or not we may see further escalation of the conflict.
Listen now; link in bio.
In my latest podcast episode, I speak with Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Founding Director of the Center for Governance and Markets and Professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public and International Affairs, about the impacts on women that this current Taliban regime has had in Afghanistan. Listen to this and more in my latest episode; link in bio.
Between March 18 and the end of August, Iranian authorities executed at least 29 people arrested in connection with January 2026 protests, according to Human Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center. Some were only 18 or 19. Many faced vague national-security charges, rushed proceedings, denial of independent legal counsel, and allegations of torture used to extract “confessions.” Some were executed publicly, while scores more remain at risk. This is more than punishment—it is a message designed to terrorize a population into silence. When protesting can lead to the gallows after proceedings that fail basic standards of justice, repression has reached an extreme level. The international community must urgently press Iran to halt these executions and demand accountability for torture, enforced disappearances, and other serious abuses. Silence now risks allowing executions to become a routine instrument for crushing dissent.
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The MAGA base has entered a new social contract, not with the Constitution but with Trump himself as sovereign, trading liberty and truth for the security of belonging to his camp. The horror is precisely that the destruction of American democracy is being carried out not only by a “madman” but by ordinary functionaries who know better and choose not to act.
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This upcoming Tuesday, September 15, at 10:00am EDT, I welcome to my podcast Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy. Between 1978 and 2003, Miller served at the State Department as an historian, analyst, negotiator, and advisor to Republican and Democratic secretaries of state, where he helped formulate U.S. policy on the Middle East and the Arab-Israel peace process, most recently as the senior advisor for Arab-Israeli negotiations.
Listeners can register for the live podcast recording with Aaron David Miller on Zoom at the following link:
us06web.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir, featuring Aaron David Miller. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Nearly two years after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Syria is struggling with a fundamental question: can a country devastated by decades of dictatorship build a future based on justice rather than repeat the abuses of its past? Hundreds of thousands were killed or disappeared under the Assad regime, yet accountability remains painfully limited. Meanwhile, revenge killings, including attacks against minorities, have raised new fears about Syria’s direction. The death of young health worker Muhammad Ghamira after reportedly suffering injuries in police custody has further intensified those concerns, prompted protests, and demanded that the new authorities not reproduce the repression Syrians fought to escape. Syria’s transition cannot succeed through impunity or collective revenge. Justice must protect every Syrian, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation.
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