'Why is the Pax Americana in decline?'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day


'The world no longer trusts U.S. promises'
Paul Krugman in The New York Times
"We may be witnessing the end of the Pax Americana," says Paul Krugman in The New York Times. Republicans say the era when U.S. power discouraged major wars is fading because President Biden is "projecting weakness." But the real reason is that the GOP's dysfunction has turned America into "a superpower without a fully functioning government," with right-wingers pushing to "betray Ukraine." Given this mess, "how much can any nation trust U.S. assurances of support?"
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'The more diversity, the merrier'
Rebecca Sugar in the Washington Examiner
The letter by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups blaming Israel for "Hamas' atrocious terrorist attack" was "stunning for its open display of moral inversion," says Rebecca Sugar in the Washington Examiner. "Perhaps we shouldn't be so shocked." This is what happens when schools let "identity politics and the Left's diversity" agenda turn campuses into controversy factories. "Rather than learning about serious civic engagement and leadership," students "divide themselves up into groups of 'us versus them.'"
'Opposition to abortion has cost Republicans'
Francis Wilkinson at Bloomberg
Republicans are "having second thoughts" about their party's anti-abortion crusade, says Francis Wilkinson at Bloomberg. Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, who "previously cheered for a 19th century Arizona law that criminalized abortion," is the latest Republican to join former President Donald Trump in softening her views as red state voters reject "abortion bans" conservative lawmakers long promised. Republicans want draconian restrictions "wherever the political price is not too high. Elsewhere, they'll dodge and duck."
'Just because we roll up the welcome mat, doesn't mean migrants will stay away'
Boston Herald editorial board
"We're all border states now," says the Boston Herald editorial board. States like Massachusetts and New York are learning the hard way what Texas has been saying all along, that President Biden's "porous border policies" are allowing a wave of migrants that is creating an unsustainable burden on shelters and social services. Democratic governors can't support Biden on immigration "now that they are facing the consequences. The challenge, and the task, is getting Biden to listen."
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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