Recent Columns - From Richard Francis Burton in Boy Brothels to an American ambassador's parting shots

A Spy In the Brothels of Karachi 

Dec 17, 2016 12:13 AM EST

Before he was a world-famous spy and translator, Richard Fr.... MORE

—An expanded version of my earlier post on Burton's appendix to "The Thousand Nights and a Night"



Iran's Selective Crackdown on Christians

Dec 27, 2016 12:00 AM EST

Iran tolerates some Christians but not others—and converting from Islam can cost you your life. MORE

—It's the converts who are in the greatest danger



John Kerry's Last Warning to Israel

Dec 28, 2016 2:54 PM EST

With just 23 days remaining in office, President Obama's secretary of State tries to deliver 'hard... MORE

—Almost certainly a futile gesture.

Inside Turkey’s Terror ‘Santa’ Attack

Jan 1, 2017 8:43 AM EST

As video emerges of terrorists mowing down least 39 people at a popular Istanbul nightclub, a... MORE

—Apparently he wasn't a Santa at all ... and as far as I know he is still on the run, although the Turks are rounding up Uighurs. 
—On Jan 16 the Turks announced they had arrested (and apparently beat the shit out of) an Uzbek named Abdulkadir Masharipov.

Wary of Trump, Le Pen Embraces Putin

Jan 6, 2017 2:15 PM EST

While cautious about fully embracing Donald Trump, France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen is... MORE

—And apparently Trump is wary of her, declining to receive her on her trip to New York last week. We reported she was on her way there after our sources texted us from the American Airlines plane she was on out of Paris. But it seems Trump's buddy Nigel Farage may have nixed a meeting.



Obama, Terror, and Trump: Parting Shots

Jan 13, 2017 3:12 PM EST

U.S. Amb. Jane Hartley leaves France on Jan. 19, the day before Inauguration Day.... MORE

—She was guarded in her remarks, and then she wasn't.

My latest: An exclusive interview with Bob Gates about Obama, Trump and Madman Theory, plus other columns from the last three months

Dear Friends, 

The columns, stories and essays below run from last November to this week.

I found fascinating Gates's take on the bully, Trump, and on the role of emotion in international affairs that No Drama Obama seems to miss. (On that score, also take a look at the obituary for Benedict Anderson, whose writings about Indonesia may hold the real key to Obama's personality.)

I am also quite proud of the "Have Terrorists Won" story, which centers on an interview with Gilles Kepel (the answer is no, but the West could still lose); and the stories in the aftermath of the November 13 attacks. 

I think the articles about Le Pen go a way toward helping us understand the woman who may be the next president of France, and the essay on guns and slavery in America, which grew out of solid research for my book, Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South, surprised and shocked many readers. 

All the best, Chris

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  Sec Def Gates Slams Trump

  Jan 25, 2016 12:13 AM EST
  

  The former CIA director and defense secretary isn't saying who he likes in the current presidential... MORE

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  The Global Marauders of ISIS

  Jan 14, 2016 10:01 AM EST
  

  They may not be an 'existential threat,' but attacks like the ones that hit Indonesia have been... MORE

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  Have Terrorists Won Since Charlie Hebdo?

  Jan 5, 2016 12:01 AM EST
  

  A year after the 'Charlie Hebdo' slaughter, France is a different place.... MORE

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  Marine Le Pen's Gruesome Twitter War

  Dec 17, 2015 5:19 PM EST
  

  Comparing extremists of ISIS to extremists of Le Pen's National Front is a stretch.... MORE

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  Mass Murderer Confesses on the Radio

  Dec 16, 2015 1:00 AM EST
  

  Chilean man tells the nation that he disappeared bodies for General Pinochet.... MORE

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  The Man Who Foresaw 'No-Drama Obama'

  Dec 14, 2015 1:05 PM EST
  

  Benedict Anderson, the scholar famous for 'Imagined Communities' who died this weekend, detected... MORE

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  Has Marine Le Pen Been Trumped?

  Dec 14, 2015 8:47 AM EST
  

  Not a single French region fell to the National Front, but its momentum remains strong and the...MORE

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  How Le Pen Becomes France's President

  Dec 7, 2015 9:06 PM EST
  

  The stunning victories of Marine Le Pen's National Front in regional elections could point her... MORE

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  America's History of Guns and Slavery

  Dec 6, 2015 8:31 AM EST
  

  The grim history of gun violence in the United States goes way back, aided and abetted by the same... MORE

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  How ISIS Profits From Climate Change

  Nov 30, 2015 2:33 PM EST
  

  The Paris climate summit is also about national security, with jihadist groups snatching up land...MORE

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  ISIS's Voice of Death Hiding in France?

  Nov 22, 2015 12:01 AM EST
  

  Fabien Clain may have been the real brains behind the attacks, and he may still be hiding out in... MORE

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  The ISIS Poster Boy Is No Mastermind

  Nov 18, 2015 8:21 AM EST
  

  Belgian fanatic Abdelhamid Abaaoud has been named as the brains behind the Paris terror attacks.... MORE

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  Why Is NATO a No-Go in ISIS War?

  Nov 16, 2015 5:05 PM EST
  

  France might invoke NATO's Article 5 calling for a common response to an act of war. But then what? MORE

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  ISIS Targeted Muslims in Paris

  Nov 15, 2015 6:42 PM EST
  

  The so-called caliphate has a special hatred for 'apostate' Muslims who adopt Western ways—and... MORE