How to Say No to an Imperial President
Source: Foreign Policy
by Julian E Zelizer
“Trump’s expansion of executive power would make even Richard Nixon blush.” (06/16/26)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Green Growth: Data Show Freeing Economies Doesn’t Harm the Environment
Source: The Daily Economy
by Vincent Geloso
“Economic liberalization has often been assumed to have environmental tradeoffs. But decades of data show the incentives of prosperity and preservation are aligned.” (06/16/26)
UN-backed court opens trial of former Central African Republic president Bozizé
Source: Seattle Times
“A U.N.-backed court in the Central African Republic on Tuesday opened the trial of former President François Bozizé, who is accused of crimes against humanity for abuses committed by members of his security forces between 2009 and 2013. The trial is the sixth held by the Special Criminal Court, a tribunal created in 2015 with U.N. support to prosecute serious crimes committed during the country’s conflicts. …Prosecutors accuse Bozizé of being responsible as a military commander for crimes committed by members of his presidential guard and other security forces, including ‘murder, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other inhumane acts.’ Bozizé, 79, is being tried in absentia. He has been living in exile in Guinea-Bissau since 2023, and authorities there have refused to extradite him despite an international arrest warrant issued by the court in 2024.” (06/16/26)
Advisory Opinions, 06/16/26
Source: The Dispatch
“The Trump Administration’s Internal Arguments Over Habeas Corpus.” (06/16/26)
The King’s Rubber Empire: Democracy at Home, Terror in the Jungle
Source: Antiwar.com
by Michael Holmes
“First published in 1999 and updated in a revised 2006 edition, Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost serves as a stark historical warning at a time when Western politicians and commentators habitually frame global politics as an epic struggle between virtuous democracies and barbarous autocracies. The book shows in forensic detail how one of Europe’s most constitutional monarchies oversaw a regime of forced labor, mutilation, rape, torture and mass death on a scale comparable to the worst atrocities of the twentieth century.” (06/16/26)
The Iran War’s Biggest Loser? Definitely Netanyahu
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
“The American president’s ‘Art of the Deal’ reputation is in tatters. But the Israeli prime minister’s attempt to impose a military solution on the region makes him the war’s biggest loser—and Israel isolated and vulnerable.” (06/16/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/16/iran-war-netanyahu-trump-iran-deal/
Colombia: Texan arrested after mob accuses him of sexually abusing boy he went there to adopt
Source: New York Post
“A Texas man who was in Colombia to adopt a 7-year-old boy was arrested after a huge, angry mob accused him of sexually abusing the child in plain sight on a balcony, according to reports. The 36-year-old suspect was seen holding the boy in front of him on a balcony of a building in an upscale neighborhood in Bogota on Sunday afternoon — and an outraged crowd quickly formed below, according to viral video of the incident shared on social media. ‘He’s abusing the child, let him go!’ shouted the woman recording along with others before the man eventually took the child inside, the dramatic clip shows. The otherwise unidentified suspect was arrested at the scene …. the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare later said there were no physical signs of sexual violence, while stressing that the investigation is ongoing because ‘there are other factors involved in sexual abuse,’ according to Bogota-based newspaper El Espectador.” (06/16/26)
The Dispatch Podcast, 06/16/26
Source: The Dispatch
“State Corporatism on the Rise.” (06/16/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/state-corporatism-on-the-rise/
Fiscal Dominance and the Politicization of Money
Source: EconLog
by Leonida Zelmanovitz
‘Much of the contemporary debate about monetary policy focuses on technical questions: whether reserves should be scarce or abundant, whether fintech companies should have master accounts at the Federal Reserve, whether those accounts should resemble the accounts held by banks, or how far the Fed’s independence should extend. These are not unimportant questions. Yet these questions are secondary to the central issue shaping American monetary policy today: the fiscal needs of the federal government.” (06/16/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/fiscal-dominance-and-the-politicization-of-money
Romania: PM-designate loses party support as political crisis deepens
Source: Politico
“Romania’s latest prime minister-designate failed to secure the backing of his own party on Tuesday, impeding the path to forming a new government. Adrian Veștea — a former mayor, county council president and development minister from the center-right National Liberal Party (PLN) — was announced on Sunday as Romanian President Nicușor Dan’s second prime minister-designate in two weeks, after previous candidate Eugen Tomac failed to win enough support to form a technocratic government. But on Monday evening, PNL chair and former Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan — who was forced from office when the government collapsed in May — announced that his party would not support Veștea as he seeks to form a governing coalition in Romania’s parliament. … Veștea is expected to rely on dissident PNL lawmakers to reach the parliamentary majority needed to form a government. But Bolojan has also threatened to expel PNL lawmakers who vote for Veștea.” (06/16/26)