After the 9/11 attacks, the United States threw out international law and established a surveillance society, writes Margot Patterson. Covid-19 calls for a less heavy-handed approach, but will we realize that?
Margot Patterson
Margot Patterson has written for a variety of newspapers and magazines in the United States and abroad. Most recently, she worked for the National Catholic Reporter for seven years as Senior Writer and then Opinion and Arts Editor. She lives in the Kansas City area and is the author of Islam Considered: A Christian Perspective (2008).
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
U.S. sanctions against Iran continue a decades-long failed policy
The long-term objective of the Trump administration’s campaign against Iran is unclear, writes Margot Patterson, raising comparisons to U.S. failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
U.S. belligerence toward Iran is a failure of moral leadership
A U.S. war with Iran would be far costlier than our disastrous invasion of Iraq, writes Margot Patterson, but it may be the outcome of the Trump administration’s draconian economic sanctions and reckless saber-rattling.
Posted inLast Take, Politics & Society
America’s anti-Islam problem didn’t end with the cancellation of ‘Roseanne’
Two of the most influential anti-Muslim organizations have direct ties to the Trump administration.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The end of the Iran deal means more violence for the Middle East
Why did Mr. Trump choose to leave the agreement at a time when he is negotiating a similar agreement with North Korea?
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The U.S. has interfered enough in Syria
The U.S.-led missile strikes on Syria are a show of force that will accomplish nothing in a country that has seen nothing but war for seven years.
Posted inArt, Arts & Culture
How art can deepen our experience of Lent and Holy Week
This Croatian artist Ivan Mestrovic taught me how art can be used for prayer.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Are N.G.O.s in Haiti doing more harm than good?
Leaving Haiti should be a goal of every N.G.O.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
How can fiction help us during polarized times?
In the wake of my reading The Dark Is Rising, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to try to keep pace with time, not lag behind it as I usually do.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
With Jerusalem announcement, Trump isn’t ‘recognizing reality.’ He’s making it worse.
The ‘chaos candidate’ is now our pyromaniac president.