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Dr. Brendan Szendrő
Faculty Lecturer, Political Science
McGill University
Blog
Dec 7, 2023
Carrots and Sticks, Without Carrots
For two months now, war has raged in the Gaza Strip. Ever since the brutal terror attack on Israeli civilians on October 7th, the Israel...
Feb 12, 2021
In Defense of Bruce Springsteen
Why Bruce Springsteen is still my favorite musician, warts and all. Regardless of what really happened the night of Bruce Springsteen’s...
Jul 30, 2020
Is American Democracy Backsliding?
When you start looking into it, The United States doesn't compare favorably to other democracies. In fact, we have all the warning signs...
Jun 4, 2020
Protecting Property, Not People
Recent events show us that the United States' legacies of wealth and racial inequality continue to reverberate in unison. So far I’ve...
Apr 6, 2020
Autism Awareness Day, 2020
It's not such a strange thing to search for belonging. Every year I write something in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, but given the...
Jan 12, 2020
Iran Illiteracy
The Iran crisis has demonstrated that Americans are geographically, historically, and politically illiterate. There could be terrible...
Oct 18, 2019
The Global Ideological Shift
The United States is taking the wrong side in a three-way standoff between democracy, illiberalism, and dictatorship. With all the fervor...
Apr 17, 2019
The Catalans and the Church
Why do some Catalan protesters oppose the Catholic Church? A true account from Barcelona. In the confines of Barcelona’s gothic quarter,...
Apr 11, 2019
Israel and the Viability of Democracy
Can Israel's left-wing and centrist parties work together amidst a burgeoning crisis of democracy? Israel is not an apartheid state -...
Mar 31, 2019
Political Opportunism in Israel-Palestine
The Israel-Palestinian Conflict escalates like clockwork - and there's a reason for that. As throngs of Palestinians rushed the Israeli...
Feb 7, 2019
Israel and the Psychology of Perpetual War
Israel's latest election shows the problem of maintaining civil society against the backdrop of a never-ending conflict. The ongoing...
Nov 17, 2018
Confronting the Culture of Violence
It’s time to think differently about mass shootings. These events aren’t random. Mass shootings, and public violence in general, are...
Aug 23, 2018
The Presidency and the Rule of Law
Supposedly being good at your job does not mean you can commit crimes. Trump's been trying to build a case all summer for keeping him...
Jul 26, 2018
ממפלגת כ״ך עד לחוק הלאום
הדיונים האחרונים על חוק הלאום מפגינים שהימין דוחה את הלקחים של העבר - ונוטש תכנית לעתיד ב1994 מפלגת כ״ך הייתה אסורה מהכנסת בגלל ההערות...
Apr 13, 2018
Four Mini-Essays About The News
In lieu of my usual walls of text, here’s some scattershot thoughts. - World War III isn't happening, guys. Russia knows better than to...
Mar 9, 2018
Country Music and the Volk
Do Ernest Gellner's theories of nationalism explain the rural consciousness movement? Given the political climate I want to make a pitch...
Dec 7, 2017
On The Subject Of Jerusalem
Moving the embassy means the two-state solution is dead. 'Cause people keep asking me how I feel about the Jerusalem embassy issue: For...
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