Sharpening Contradictions: Why al-Qaeda attacked Satirists in Paris by Juan Cole "The horrific murder of the editor, cartoonists and other staff of the irreverent satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, along with two policemen, by terrorists in Paris was in my view a strategic strike, aiming at polarizing the French and European public."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants students to learn the Ottoman language by Nick Danforth Erdogan’s critics condemned his decision as yet another heavy-handed attempt to promote a conservative version of Ottoman nostalgia.

UCLA's Embarrassment: Prof. Abou El Fadl by Daniel Pipes The once-promising career of UCLA law professor Khaled Medhat Abou El Fadl, once regarded as a moderate, has faded over the past decade.

Mario Cuomo: Don’t Ask What Might Have Been by Jim Sleeper Cuomo famously declined President Clinton’s offer of nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Religious nationalism finds a footing in the Middle East by Brian A. Catlos The breakdown of religious tolerance in today’s Middle East is not a manifestation of some particularly Islamic barbarism. It is a symptom of what we call modernization, and its political framework: nationalism.

Where de Blasio Is Right by Amity Shlaes How Calvin Coolidge handled a 1919 police strike in Boston holds lessons for New York today.

The Tragedy of the American Military by James Fallows " [The] reverent but disengaged attitude toward the military—we love the troops, but we’d rather not think about them—has become so familiar that we assume it is the American norm. But it is not."

Penn Station: A Place That Once Made Travelers Feel Important by Michael Beschloss Completed in 1910, the original Penn Station was intended to symbolize not only its powerful corporate owner but also New York’s status as the most vital city in a nation that was becoming a political and economic superpower.

A Self-Perpetuating Machine for American Insecurity by Tom Engelhardt Welcome to the National Security State of 2015

Mario Cuomo Had the Most Divided Mind in Politics by Sidney Blumenthal The confessions of St. Mario