International Affairs
Old Propaganda and New
Why Bush is wrong to use the Cold War’s covert tactics in the new twilight struggle
Reason - March 2006
The War on Sedition
"Anglosphere" Allies Crack Down on Speech in the Name of Fighting Terror
Reason - February 2006
The Second Romanian Revolution Will Be Televised
The TV Show Dallas Helped Overthrow Ceausescu. Now Gangsta Rap and Pop Culture Are Driving out Corrupt Post-Soviet Thugs
Reason - October 2005
Capturing Tom Friedman
The Times Columnist Does Foreign Policy Punditry by Cliché
Reason - August 2005
Quien Es Libre?
Cut Off From Cuba
Reason - August 2005
Friendly Tyrants
Saudi Censors
Reason - August 2005
Sympathy for the Vampire
Priests May Crucify Nuns, People May Rip out the Hearts of the Dearly Departed... But Romania Is a Country on the Upswing That Deserves our Help
Reason Online - June 22, 2005
Welfare Queen
Farm Subsidies for the Filthy Rich
Reason - July 2005
Cuba Spring, or Trap?
Cautious Optimism About Castro's Opponents
Reason Online - May 25, 2005
G.W. and the Bear
Bush Pushes Putin in Russia's Near Abroad
Reason Online - May 10, 2005
The Rubes in L.A. City Hall Have Swallowed Hollywood's Hard-Luck Story
Why We Should End Hollywood Welfare Before We Know it
Los Angeles Times - April 28, 2005
The Pope of Relativism
Ratzinger and His Fans Should Know Better Than to Confuse Western Society
With a "Dictatorship"
Reason Online - April 26, 2005
Cold Warriors in Heaven
Why We're Still Arguing Over Who Beat the Commies
Reason Online - April 5, 2005
Bad Host
Cutting off Iranian Dissidents
Reason - May 2005
The Pentagon's Secret Stash
Why We'll Never See the Second Round of Abu Ghraib Photos
Reason - April 2005
C'est Rien
The Great Transatlantic Rift May End With a Shrug, not a Bang
Reason Online - January 25, 2005
Who's Tortured?
What Prominent Conservative Commentators Have Said About Prisoner Abuse
Reason Online - December 27, 2004
Fly the Frugal Skies
How Low-cost Airlines Have Transformed Europe -- and What it Means for America
Reason - January 2005
America Unbound ... or Insolvent?
Bush Knows That Anti-Americanism Is Costly; He Just Doesn't Care
Reason Online - November 15, 2004
The Great Divide
A Country Passionately Divided, and Utterly Certain, Goes To Vote
National Post - October 30, 2004
President of 8th Grade
Three Years After Sept. 11, Republicans Are Running Against 'Girlie-Men'
National Post - September 11, 2004
On War, John Kerry Is All Vietnam, No Iraq
Reading the Foreign-Policy Tea Leaves at the DNC
Beirut Daily Star - August 19, 2004
Rapping the Commies Away
A New MTV Generation in Romania Tries to Drive out Corruption
National Post - July 17, 2004
Editing the Enemy
Censorship: The Next Generation
The Walrus - June 2004
Flaming the Messenger
Looking for a Fifth Column in the Media? Try Try Again
Reason Online - May 27, 2004
Confessions of a Multilateralist
Two Cheers for the EU's Historic Expansion
Reason Online - May 4, 2004
Temporary Doves
Why Are the Architects of Kosovo So Down on Gulf War II?
Reason - May 2004
Bush's Dangerous Escape From the Truth
Republicans Trash the 9/11 Commission
Beirut Daily Star - April 26, 2004
How Bush Fosters Bad Intelligence
Secrecy and Stonewalling Do Not Help National Security
National Post - April 24, 2004
Cracked Paneling
When Bush Fights To Keep Information Secret, National Security Suffers
Reason Online - April 16, 2004
A Petty Superpower in Baghdad
Why Using Iraq Contracts as a Diplomatic Weapon Is Folly
Beruit Daily Star - December 19, 2003
Open Season on 'Open Society'
Why an Anti-Communist Holocaust Survivor Is Being Demonized as a Socialist, Self-hating Jew
Reason Online - December 8, 2003
Journalists Expelled, Terrorists Let in
How LAX Border Guards Undo Billions of U.S. PR for No Good Reason
National Post - December 6, 2003
France's Young Contrarian
A 22-year-old Leads the Revolt Against Strike-addled Culture
National Post - October 25, 2003
Minority Report
California Latinos Confound Pre-Election Predictions
Reason Online - October 8, 2003
L'etat, C'est George W.
Plame Affair Reveals Bush Team's Worst Pathologies
National Post - October 4, 2003
Liberty Belle
France's New Libertarian Youth Leader
Reason - October 2003
The Iraqi Babies Scam Is Still Alive
How Sanctions and Propaganda Go Together ... and Kill Innocents
Beruit Daily Star - September 3, 2003
Intervention Logic
Do We Always Need to Send More Troops Abroad?
Reason Online - August 28, 2003
Re-Propping 187
California's Controversial 1994 Measure Makes a Comeback
Reason Online - August 14, 2003
Reporters Sans Entree
Dept. of Homeland Scrutiny
Reason - August/September 2003
They Keep Coming, Again
Immigration Rhetoric Heats up in California
National Post - July 12, 2003
The Bright Side of Merde
Hopeful Thoughts About France's National Strikes
Reason - June 12, 2003
Keeping Journalists Out
Homeland Security Saved From Insidious European Tech Reporters
Reason - May 20, 2003
Velvet President
Why Vaclav Havel Is Our Era's George Orwell and More
Reason - May 2003
The Limits of French-Bashing
Like Eating Oysters, Today's Pleasure May Be Tomorrow's Pain
National Post - April 26, 2003
Is 'Bandar Bush' Above the Law?
Saudi Ambassador and Wife Should Be Deported for National Security
National Post - April 19, 2003
Operation 'Finish the Job' Defies Prediction
12 Years of Hindsight Doesn't Make Gulf War I Much Clearer
National Post - March 22, 2003
Bush and the Art of Rope-a-Dope
Is Dubya as Fast on his Feet as Mohammed Ali?
National Post - February 8, 2003
Let Them Eat Bagels
Grumpy Herald-Tribune Swallowed Whole by the New York Times
National Post - January 25, 2003
America's Secret Weapon: The Facts
Pointing out the Lies Could Help Quell the Latest Frenzy of U.S.-Bashing
National Post - January 11, 2003
Havel's Amazing Swan Song
NATO Expansion is Czech President's Ultimate Achievement
National Post - November 23, 2002
The U.S. Version of Adult Supervision
Washington Thwarts Allies' Aspirations at Great Peril
National Post - October 19, 2002
Deals With the Devil
What Horses Will the U.S. Trade to Gain Support for an Iraq War?
National Post - October 5, 2002
'Runaway' Strain
The American Politics of Runaway Film Production in Canada
National Post - September 21, 2002
'Death of Dissent' a Myth
American Debate Since Sept. 11 Has Been Vigorous, not Quashed
National Post - September 7, 2002
Shilling for the House of Saud
Former U.S. Ambassadors Have Become Saudi Arabia's Apologists
National Post - August 24, 2002
Iraqi Death Toll Doesn't Add up
Sanctions Imposed 12 Years Ago Blamed on a Million Fatalities
National Post - August 10, 2002
Hahn Failed Truth Test in LAX Shooting
Be Very Worried When the Mayor and the FBI Downplay 'Terrorism' in Case Involving Egyptians or Saudi Arabians
Los Angeles Daily News - July 14, 2002
Dubya Losing Benefit of the Doubt
Moratorium on Bush-bashing is Over
National Post - July 6, 2002
Manufacturing Dissent
Noam Chomsky Calls the U.S. a Terrorist State. Much of the World, it Seems, is Listening
National Post - June 8, 2002
Foul Ball
How Castro and the Embargo Have Silenced a Cuban Baseball Historian
Reason - June, 2002
Speaking Lies to Power
Ralph Nader Fudges the Truth Just Like a Real Politician
Reason - May 2002
The Cuban Senators
Julio Becquer and the Last-Place Cuban-Flavored Teams of 1950s D.C.
ESPN.com - March 11, 2002
The Politics of Dead Children
Have Sanctions Against Iraq Really Murdered Millions?
Reason - March 2002
Weaning Europeans from the U.S. Teat
After Euro, Let Next Project Be Military, Defense Spending and Maturity
NewsForChange - January 15, 2002
The Power of 'I'm Sorry'
How the U.S. Apologizes for Past Misdeeds, and why it Must Do More
NewsForChange - January 10, 2002
Online Resources for the Iraqi-babies Question
Where to Begin Figuring out Whether Sanctions Have Killed Millions
Online Journalism Review - December 28, 2001
Expatriates and War
How Monolithic Enclaves Create Feedback Loops and Quell Debate
mattwelch.com - December 18, 2001
Tough Love?
Saudis Have an Odd Way of Being Allies
Los Angeles Daily News - Nov. 11, 2001
The Case Against Saudi Arabia
Defanging the House of Saud is a Bipartisan Matter of Self-defense
NewsForChange - Nov. 6, 2001
Optimism or Propaganda? An Exchange
My Debate with a Chomskyite Reader Over U.S. Foreign Policy
NewsForChange - Nov. 1, 2001
Hyperbole in Wartime is Immoral
Now More Than Ever, Beware the Language of Equivalence
Los Angeles Daily News - Oct. 28, 2001
Optimists and Pessimists: Switch Sides!
You Don't Know What You're Missing, Until You Try
NewsForChange - Oct. 25, 2001
That's Why They Call it Realpolitik
Time for all of us to Make Tough Calls About Undemocratic Countries
NewsForChange - Oct. 11, 2001
Buck Up, Lefties!
You're Already Having an Effect; Now Go Make Some War Aims
NewsForChange - Sept. 22, 2001
Go Gently Into That Good Argument
Precautions You Should Take Before Arguing About the War
NewsForChange - Sept. 19, 2001
A Little Less Absolute Power
Supreme Court Chips Away at the Anti-Immigrant Frenzy of '96
NewsForChange - July 5, 2001
Be Careful Lefties, You Might Turn French
Notes on the Drawbacks of Creating a Naderite Country
NewsForChange - May 14, 2001
Enjoy the Dollar Bubble While it Lasts
Travel is Crazy-Cheap, but Eventual Damage to Economy Could be Dear
NewsForChange - April 30, 2001
Chocolat's Gooey Euro-Pudding
Where's the Pop Culture That Reflects Our Globalized World?
NewsForChange - February 16, 2001
Looking Inside Ashcroft's INS
How Will Bush's 'Compassionate Reform' Square with Atty. General's Anti-Immigrant Record?
NewsForChange - February 2, 2001
The Bushites' South Africa Skeletons
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Baker and Others Were on the Wrong Side of History When Americans Rejected Apartheid in 1986
NewsForChange - January 16, 2001
Ambivalent Anniversary
If Seattle and Nader Were All About Anti-Globalization, Then They Were Both Wastes of Time
NewsForChange - December 4, 2000
A Season to Remember
New Book by Texas Prof Does Admirable Job of Chronicling the '97-98 Cuban Baseball Crisis
Sportsjones - November 17, 2000
Give Us Your Poor, Leave the Rich Home
Nader's One-of-a-kind Immigration Policy Would Crack Down on H1-Bs, Offer Full Rights to Farmworkers, and Cut Off Support for 'Dictatorships' Like India and Mexico
NewsForChange - October 24, 2000
Gore 'Cowardly' on Mideast, Says Nader
Lebanese-American Candidate Says Israel Needs to 'Back Off;' Arab-American Support Swells to 15%, and Michigan May Hang in the Balance
NewsForChange - October 23, 2000
The President of Seattle
In Front of 10,000, Nader Makes Play to Lead Post-WTO Movement
NewsForChange - September 24, 2000
Communists Shut Down Broadway
Mao-Maoing Cubatistas March Down L.A.'s Most Capitalist Street
NewsForChange - August 14, 2000
Cloning Barbie
Today the Genome, Tomorrow the Eugenics Factory
NewsForChange - June 28, 2000
The Loneliness of the Free-Trade Left
Seattle Gang's Anti-China Debaters Can't Acknowledge Some People Actually Believe Trade is Good
NewsForChange - May 25, 2000
The Perils of Nostalgia
New Book on Cuban Baseball Doesn't Let Facts
Stand in the Way of a Good Ideological Rant
Sportsjones - April 11, 2000
Spin City for Troubled BMG Music
Boss Strauss Zelnick Downplays Botched Firing of Clive Davis,
The Threat of MP3, and the Mergers That Left Him Behind
Wired News - February 4, 2000
Kosovo Illustrates Journalism's Failings
This Is What You Get When You Abolish International Bureaus
PLUS: Honor Roll of Balkan Bureau Vets
Online Journalism Review - April 9, 1999
24 Alternative Sources of Kosovo News
Sites Broken Down by Reliability, Type and Political Slant
Online Journalism Review - March 30, 1999
Hack-work on Hackers: Two Case Studies
How Do You Maintain Your Nerd Cred and Professional Skepticism at the Same Time, and How Do You Handle Your Mistakes?
FEATURING: The 'Anti-Porn Hacker' Who Wasn't
PLUS: Techies Slam Paper's Report, Wrongly
AND: Plagiarism or 'Background Research'?
Online Journalism Review - March 25, 1999
New Utopia to Rise From the Sea!
Prince Lazarus Building Tax-free Island of Polygamy and Eternal Youth
Tabloid - December 9, 1998
Castro Cracks Down on Sex, Drugs, Rock
Vice Raids Nab One of the Last Remaining Original Revolutionaries
Tabloid - November 2, 1998
Where Are the New Stephen Cranes?
Writer/Lout Did More in 28 Years Than Anyone Does in a Modern Lifetime
Tabloid - September 11, 1998
Nonsense Index Soars 141.06!
Profit-Flaking Jitters Rout New Infestors! Rally up as Drop Points to Weird!
Tabloid - September 4, 1998
The Savage Lust for Business News
Reporters Now All Work for Fund Managers, Who Don't Bother to Read
Tabloid - August 14, 1998
Flesh-Eating Maggots Attack U.S.!
Carnivorous 'Screw-Worm,' With Insidious Ties to Nixon and CIA, Reappears in the South
Tabloid - August 10, 1998
Net Censorship in Central Europe ... Not
Ex-Commies Too Distracted to Bother With Stifling Internet Speech
PLUS: Mitteleuropa's Best English-Language News Sites
Online Journalism Review - May 6, 1998
Non-Political Dispatch From Havana
Self-censored Impressions of Communist Cuba, Sent by Illegal E-mail
Tabloid - February 24, 1998
Belgrade's Student Protesters
A Street-Level Account of Milosevic's Biggest Challenge Yet
Written for Pozor Magazine - January 15, 1997
The Prague Curse
The Promise and Pitfalls of the Czech Music Industry
Velvet - September 1995
Rats & Runaways
A Post-Mortem on Prognosis
Budapest Business Journal - March 7, 1995
Inside Vladimir Meciar's Three-Peat
Scenes From the Latest Bizarre Election to Set Slovakia Back
Prognosis - October 6, 1994
How Havel Finally Found God
A Dissident-President's Spiritual Journey
Prognosis - July 28, 1994
Anatomy of a Hype Machine
Hey, Visiting Hacks! Looking for a Story Idea? How About Young Americans in Prague!
Prognosis - January 7, 1994
Slovak President Names New Coaltion
Kovac Takes Upper Hand in Showdown With Meciar
UPI - November 10, 1993
Slovak Government Collapses
Political Crisis Wracks Europe's Newest County
UPI - November 9, 1993
Car Crash Kills Controversial Minister
Zelenay Wanted 'Information Ministry' to Combat 'Anti-Slovakism'
UPI - November 2, 1993
Slovakia, Ukraine Sign Military Agreement
Still Oriented Toward NATO, Government Insists
UPI - October 29, 1993
Meciar Forms Nationalist Coalition
After Allies Defect, PM Woos SNS to Save Government
UPI - October 20, 1993
Culture Minister Loses Defamation Suit
Children's Author Had Criticized Slobodnik's 'Fascist Past'
UPI - October 18, 1993
Comments, questions, bad links? Send e-mail to Matt Welch.
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