This must be required reading for anyone interested in
international affairs. Roger Cohen offers a brilliant assessment of Middle
Eastern affairs –
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A few other notable columns written by Roger Cohen:
Roger Cohen’s clever dissection of Mideast Politics
Roger Cohen highlights fundamental differences between
the US and Europe:
Roger Cohen on US and European Approaches to Bankers Pay
Cohen’s summation:
“The essential
difference between the United States and Europe endures. It is over risk and
reward. The American experience begins with risk, that of immigrants who went
there in the first place. The European experience ends with solidarity, the
insurance policy an old and war-scarred Continent has taken out against the
worst. America yearns to be free, Europe to be free of want: politicians must
pitch their appeals accordingly. These are core characteristics, written into
the respective DNAs on each side of the Atlantic.”
Roger Cohen examines the German approach in his NYTIMES
opinion piece:
“Germany, I said, does not believe in quick fixes. It
is worth repeating because it is an idea that sets the country apart in an age
where a quick killing, tomorrow’s share price, instant gratification and
short-termism are the norm. …
If you talk to business leaders of the German
Mittelstand, the small and medium-sized companies at the heart of the country’s
economy, you are transported to another world. You sit in stark boardrooms, so
devoid of indulgence they resemble classrooms, with unassuming people leading
billion-dollar companies, and they speak of loyalty, 10-year plans, prudence
and quality. If one word induces a look of horror, it is debt. The notion of
making money with money, of financial engineering rather than engineering
itself, is alien.”
NYTIMES columnist, Roger Cohen, makes a great point:
“… But safety
should not be paramount; it is not a supreme value; it should not be the altar
at which freedom is sacrificed. Just because more and more tools exist to
control people does not mean authorities should use them, and just because
accidents happen does not mean life should be lived as if they are always
imminent.”