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November 27, 2018|A Covert Action, Central Intelligence Agency, information warfare, Martial Law in Poland, Ronald Reagan, Seth G. Jones, Solidarity trade union, Soviet Communism, U.S. aid

Helping the Poles Throw off Moscow’s Yoke: A Conversation with Seth G. Jones

by Seth G. Jones|3 Comments

Workers at the Lenin Shipyard, Gdansk, Poland, carry Solidarity leader Lech Walesa on their shoulders, August 30, 1980. (Agence-France Presse)
The overlooked story of CIA aid to the Solidarity trade union movement.

January 3, 2018|Leo Tolstoy, Rule of Law, Russian Revolution, Soviet Communism, Vasily Maklakov

The Doomed Cause of a Russian Liberal

by Kenneth D.M. Jensen|1 Comment

Maklakov’s story is one of political moderation, coupled with an acute appreciation of the difficult concept of rule of law.

May 18, 2015|Jesus, Josef Stalin, Mikhail Bulgakov, Pontius Pilate, Soviet Communism

Didn’t You Know that Manuscripts Don’t Burn?

by Joseph Bottum|2 Comments

You might think the greatest literary assault on Soviet communism is Animal Farm, George Orwell’s fast-paced 1945 allegory—and you wouldn’t be far wrong. Although it satirizes the specifics of Stalin’s triumph over Trotsky, Bukharin, and the others in the wake of Lenin’s revolution, the book drives toward the more universal conclusion that the swinish elements of human nature will always snuffle their way toward power. All animals are equal, as Orwell famously put it, but some animals will quickly attempt to prove that they’re more equal than others. For that matter, you might think the most important account of Soviet communism…

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September 15, 2014|Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Gulag, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Soviet Communism

Telling the Truth about Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

by Daniel J. Mahoney|22 Comments

http://traffic.libsyn.com/libertylawtalk1/Daniel_Mahoney.mp3

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Comes now the great Daniel J. Mahoney, author of penetrating intellectual biographies of Bertrand de Jouvenel, Raymond Aron, and Charles de Gaulle, among other books, to discuss his latest work, The Other Solzhenitsyn. Mahoney, coeditor of The Solzhenitsyn Reader, offers in this discussion a tremendous introduction to the Russian dissident writer’s oeuvre and a rebuttal to his many critics.

We might say that some Western writers who, from their position of faux outrage, frequently critique their governments, societies, and cultures have Solzhenitsyn envy, earnestly wishing their work had even a fraction of the impact of the Russian anticommunist’s corpus of writings. Not that they admire Solzhenitsyn’s political or moral philosophy, or his belief that freedom is ultimately born of spiritual commitment. They only yearn to have it said that their words put a “sliver in the throat of power.” Such was the praise given Solzhenitsyn in 1962 after the publication of One Day in the Live of Ivan Denisovich.

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March 17, 2013|Cold War, Eastern European Communism, Hungarian Revolution, Polish Revolution, Really Existing Socialism, Soviet Communism, Under a Cruel Star

The Weight of Totalitarian Ideology

by Peter Mentzel|3 Comments

Twenty years have passed since the downfall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and its satellites in Eastern and Central Europe.  Most of those countries are now members of the European Union and NATO, and the half century of “Really Existing Socialism” has already been relegated by the region’s young people to the realm of ancient history, the subject of memorials, museums, and school curricula, but of little apparent relevance to their own lives.  Anne Applebaum’s book is an important, if not crucial, reminder of just how devastating those years were.  The history she recounts, though filled with appalling…

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Book Reviews

A Compelling and Compassionate Book about Epilepsy

by Theodore Dalrymple

Our knowledge of the human brain is limited, but neuroscientist Suzanne O’Sullivan’s observation of her patients yields astute insights.

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Andrew Roberts Takes the Measure of the “Populist” Aristocrat, Churchill

by Joao Carlos Espada

Yes, there is something new to be learned about Winston Churchill, and it's in the new 1,105-page biography by Andrew Roberts.

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Liberty Classics

Bringing Natural Law to the Nations

by Samuel Gregg

If sovereign states ordered their domestic affairs in accordance with principles of natural law, the international sphere would benefit greatly.

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Belloc’s Humane Defense of Personhood and Property

by James Matthew Wilson

Perhaps the memory of that metaphysical right to property informs our fears, and could lead to a restoration of human flourishing.

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Podcasts

Born-Again Paganism: A Conversation with Steven Smith

A discussion with Steven D. Smith

Steven Smith talks with Richard Reinsch about his provocative thesis that a modern form of paganism is becoming public orthodoxy.

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"Slouching Towards Mar-a-Lago:" A Conversation with Andrew Bacevich

A discussion with Andrew J. Bacevich

Andrew Bacevich discusses his new book Twilight of the American Century

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Bureaucracy, Regulation, and the Unmanly Contempt for the Constitution

A discussion with John Marini

John Marini unmasks the century-long effort to undermine the Constitution's distribution of power.

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Beautiful Losers in American Politics: A Conversation with Nicole Mellow

A discussion with Nicole Mellow

Nicole Mellow on the beautiful losers in American politics who have redefined the country.

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Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

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