Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“During a visit to the United States this week, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman achieved much of what he sought, mainly access to advanced American fighter jets and microchips and ‘major ally’ status with the U.S. He also received a reputational redemption of sorts, when President Donald Trump dismissed questions about the prince’s suspected involvement in the murder of a Saudi journalist. And thanks to diplomacy by Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Trump also got something he wanted (and needed): approval from the U.N. Security Council for his Gaza peace plan. Soft-power persuasion by these Arab states helped avert potential vetoes by China and Russia. It underscored the value of keeping doors open to even potential foes – and to the institutions that maintain multilateral relationships. The Gulf States are playing a growing role in many global standoffs and bring unique perspectives to international mediation.” (11/19/25)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/1119/Lessons-in-multilateral-mediation

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler

“Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Spain has been celebrating all year, with a calendar of educational and cultural events intended ‘to highlight the great transformation achieved in this half-century of democracy.’ Inaugurating the ‘Spain in Liberty’ program in January, Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez said: ‘You don’t need to have a particular ideology, to be on the left, in the center, or on the right, to regard with enormous sadness and terror the dark years of Francoism.’ You don’t, but it certainly helps. ‘Liberty in Spain’ deserves praise for innovatively addressing a complicated issue; but it has also highlighted deep-set disagreement over how Spain should confront its past—and even whether doing so is necessary.” (11/20/25)

https://fee.org/articles/francos-legacy-at-50/

Source: Independent Institute
by Thomas D Howes

“An increasing amount of public attention has been drawn to an obscure ideological movement called ‘postliberalism,’ which argues that free markets, individual liberty, and limited government handicap a societal commitment to what they call the ‘common good.’ Until just a few years ago, postliberalism hovered around the extreme periphery of the political right. That is no longer the case. The most obvious reason is that Vice President J.D. Vance self-identifies as a postliberal. And more recently, the postliberal movement has found itself at the center of a string of controversies.” (11/20/25)

https://www.independent.org/article/2025/11/20/postliberal-carl-schmitt-authoritarianism/

Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato

“Rather than continuing to pretend that we’re in an agreement or mutually beneficial relationship with a predatory ruling class, we could start to put facts ahead of abstractions and thought experiments. We could reimagine the social contract in Proudhonian terms, as working from the bottom-up, first relationships of equality and solidarity between individuals, then between their cooperative bodies, and outward from there in federations and agreements as may be needed for specific times and purposes. This is precisely the reverse of Rawlsian social contract philosophy in that it does not take the state as a given: it begins with contract where it can be found as a social fact and insists that any social arrangement must harmonize with genuine contract. But I don’t want to suggest that this reversal of Rawls is in method only.” (11/20/25)

https://dsdamato.substack.com/p/thoughts-on-oligarchy-xvi

Source: Town Hall
by Larry Elder

“No, this isn’t a satirical Babylon Bee headline: ”Black Women Can’t Swim Because of Societal Expectations’: Michelle Obama’s Viral Claim Sparks Controversy.’ The former first lady, in a live podcast, recently said, ‘Let me explain something to white people. Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern. So, when we’re straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness. That’s why so many of us can’t swim, and we run away from the water. People won’t go to the gym because we’re trying to keep our hair straight for y’all. It is exhausting, and it is so expensive, and it takes up so much time!’ Who knew that black women straighten their hair to conform to the expectations of whites? Even worse, who knew this oppressive white standard of beauty, according to Obama, has the real-world effect of preventing black kids from learning to swim?” (11/20/25)

https://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2025/11/20/michelles-hair-raising-theory-white-folks-stop-blacks-from-learning-how-to-swim-n2666727