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Ian Buruma

Ian Buruma

Writing for PS since 2001
223 commentaries

Ian Buruma is the author of numerous books, including Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance, Year Zero: A History of 1945, A Tokyo Romance: A Memoir, The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, From Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit, The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II, and, most recently, Spinoza: Freedom’s Messiah (Yale University Press, 2024).

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  1. Israel’s Blind Spot
    buruma226_Picture AllianceGettyImages_tel _aviv_antiwar_protests Picture Alliance/Getty Images

    Israel’s Blind Spot

    Apr 1, 2025 Ian Buruma explains the lack of sympathy, even among the country’s many anti-war protesters, for Palestinian suffering.

  2. Who Will Lead the Democratic World?
    buruma224_WPA PoolGettyImages_europe_summit WPA Pool/Getty Images

    Who Will Lead the Democratic World?

    Mar 5, 2025 Ian Buruma thinks the onus of defending our political freedoms will be on two countries that once tried to destroy them.

  3. Ian Buruma on Gaza, Trump, authoritarianism, and more
    GettyImages-1821262767

    Ian Buruma on Gaza, Trump, authoritarianism, and more

    Feb 25, 2025 Ian Buruma says there is no chance US democracy will emerge from Donald Trump’s second administration unscathed, explains why the left is losing the culture war in the US and Europe, touts the enduring importance of the humanities, and more.

  4. Breaking US Democracy Beyond Repair
    buruma222_Anna MoneymakerGettyImages_donald_trump_cross Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Breaking US Democracy Beyond Repair

    Feb 5, 2025 Ian Buruma warns that Donald Trump’s efforts to tear down America’s “civic religion” will be difficult to reverse.

  5. Ukraine’s Existential Culture War
    buruma221_DIMITAR DILKOFFAFP via Getty Images_ukrainerussiastatues Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images

    Ukraine’s Existential Culture War

    Jan 7, 2025 Ian Buruma thinks the country is justified in banning Russian art, even though it runs counter to humanist principles.

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  1. gebert5_Amir LevyGetty Images_netanyahuprotest Amir Levy/Getty Images
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    Will Qatari Gold Sink Netanyahu?

    Konstanty Gebert

    Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision to fire the country's internal security chief has raised suspicions, given that the move comes just after the launch of an investigation into a new scandal involving his own aides. Israelis are right to worry that they could now be heading for a constitutional crisis.

     explains the latest scandal to hit Israel's increasingly illiberal, norm-breaking government.
  2. khrushcheva191_Anna MoneymakerGettyImages_steve_witkoff Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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    The US and Russia Are Negotiating in Bad Faith

    Nina L. Khrushcheva thinks the Kremlin is laying the groundwork for a highly favorable deal on the Ukraine war.
  3. schaake12_Thierry MonasseGettyImages_henna_virkkunen Thierry Monasse/Getty Images
    1

    Europe’s Tech Sovereignty Demands More Than Competitiveness

    Marietje Schaake & Max von Thun warn that the European Union’s deregulatory push could undermine its autonomy and fundamental values.
  4. nsofor11_GUY PETERSONAFP via Getty Images_africadoctors Guy Peterson/AFP via Getty Images
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    How Should Africa Respond to Foreign-Aid Cuts?

    Ifeanyi M. Nsofor touts the potential of foreign remittances to sustain public services as external support shrinks.
  5. huang6_Sawayasu TsujiGettyImages_china_tariffs Sawayasu Tsuji/Getty Images
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    How Should China Respond to Trump’s Tariffs?

    Huang Yiping urges Chinese policymakers to fill the leadership vacuum created by America’s protectionist turn.
  6. oneill132_Feature ChinaFuture Publishing via Getty Images_chinashopping Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images
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    Who Will Drive the Post-American Global Economy?

    Jim O'Neill considers what other large economies can do to offset the effects of the Trump administration's trade warfare.
  7. op_fofack4_Irwin Wong for The Washington Post via Getty Images_elderlypersonworking Irwin Wong for The Washington Post via Getty Images
    1

    Health Is Wealth in a Geriatric World

    Hippolyte Fofack

    The Global South is increasingly at risk of growing old before becoming rich, which implies huge social and economic costs. To avert this outcome, the Hevolution Foundation, a nonprofit backed by the Saudi royal family, has begun to support research focused on lengthening healthspans – the period of life spent in good health.

     explains why increasing “healthspans” to match lifespans is a moral and economic imperative.
  8. przybylski2_Alexander KoernerGetty Images_germanyarmy Alexander Koerner/Getty Images
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    Europe’s Democrats Must Forge a Will to Fight

    Wojciech Przybylski & Goran Buldioski think European leaders' most urgent security task is to nurture citizens' resolve to defend their countries.
  9. mazzucato81_Tomas CuestaGetty Images_javiermileichainsaw Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images
    2

    Governments Are Not Startups

    Mariana Mazzucato & Rainer Kattel explain why ongoing efforts to run the state like a business are doomed to fail.

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