By Ian Buruma A certain percentage of voters will not vote for a black man, whatever he says, or however good he looks in a debate What is the point of a presidential debate? In the context of American presidential elections, “debate” is something of a misnomer. When former French …
Read More »Post-national football?
By Ian Buruma The contest of devoted nationalism and enlightened self-interest is what made the European Championships so beautiful to watch Some of the more hysterical German newspapers blamed Germany’s defeat against Italy in the semi-finals of the European championship on the fact that few players bothered to sing the …
Read More »Ladies First, Women Last
By Ian Buruma The two things that get people most excited in cultural conflicts are religion and sex Many people still believe that the attacks of September 11, 2001, were not just acts of political terrorism, but part of a cultural war, a clash of civilizations. The two things that …
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