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National Columnists

What is purpose of NATO in 2026?

One month into Operation Epic Fury against the Islamic Republic of Iran, a long-overdue conversation has finally broken into the open: What, exactly, is the enduring rationale for NATO? For decades, this question has been treated in Washington foreign policy circles as heretical. But it isn't. ...

Iran’s other enemies

It's not just Israel. One of the least convincing arguments of opponents of the Iran war is that it is a conflict initiated by the Jewish state for its own benefit — the U.S. is just along for the ride. This view not only discounts the U.S. interest in defanging Iran, but neglects that ...

Bombeck’s legacy is humor, belonging

Last week's Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop in Dayton, Ohio, celebrated 25 years of the conference. The University of Dayton held the first workshop in 2000 as a one-time event to commemorate the Bombeck family's gift of Erma's papers to her alma mater. It turns out once just wasn't enough, and ...

Easter weekend time to pause, reflect, rediscover

There are moments in history when the noise of the world grows so loud that it drowns out the quiet truths we most need to hear. War dominates headlines. Moral confusion clouds judgment. Division becomes the language of public life. And in such moments, Good Friday and Resurrection ...

Foolish NATO was big loser in Iran war

NATO members are not legally required to join any member's military operations that are not formally sanctioned by the alliance or not aimed at protecting the homelands of the membership. But they often do just that. Some NATO members joined the Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq on the theory ...

Distance, perspective of America

There is something clarifying about being far from home. In Cape Town, South Africa, where the mountains meet the sea and the horizon feels endless, distance creates a kind of stillness that invites reflection. But even here, halfway across the world, America is never far away. It lives ...