By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Among the comments heard in connection with the imploding of the Greek economy and politics is the prospect that emigration will increase. With unemployment estimated at above 50 percent among young Greeks, and a long history of exporting surplus population, the outflow appears to be a natural response to economic [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — This column is immodest, and is likely to provoke condemnation. It makes an appropriate nod in the direction of Jonathan Swift’s classic of a slightly different name. It also fits within my concern for politics, and the plight of Americans, old enough to vote and do other things, who are not [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM—Among the glories of a professor emeritus is a capacity to wander the stacks of a good library in search of something that looks interesting, without worrying how it will fit into this semester’s courses. I found by chance FDR, the Vatican, and the Roman Catholic Church in America, 1933-1945, Edited by [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The country once riled (and still so in some localities) on the subject of alcohol and which has pursued a war against drugs since the 1970s is now beginning a presidential campaign with same-sex marriages as a central issue. Its difficult to decide between ridicule and laughter, sadness and tears [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The affiliation of Kadima to the Likud-led coalition came in the middle of the night, at the 11th hour before a Knesset vote to dissolve and begin the onset of an election campaign. It triggered not only the surprise and wonder of commentators, but shrill criticism of Shaul Mofaz for [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israelis went to bed expecting the Knesset to finalize arrangements to dissolve itself and declare a national election for September 4th. We woke to the news that Benyamin Netanyahu and Shaul Mofaz (who recently defeated Tzipi Livni in a party election to be the leader of Kadima) had agreed [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Benyamin Netanyahu is sitting pretty with Israeli voters. Recent polls make him a sure bet to repeat as prime minister. Not so simple is his standing within his own party. While his leadership is likely to be secure, there are enough signs of right-wing opposition to provide some worry. They [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Years ago, at the beginning of my career as a political scientist, I learned about incrementalism. That describes the gradual changes that generally occur in government. I made my contribution to the subject by examining government spending. I found that governments that spent more or less, and were more or less [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israeli voters appear ready to renew the lease of Benyamin Netanyahu on the Prime Minister’s Office. A poll reported in Ha’aretz shows a near majority (48 percent) favoring him as Prime Minister. The aggregate support of his three nearest competitors do not match him: 15 percent prefer Shelli Yehemovich of Labor, [...]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –There is a lesson in the reports of Barack Obama’s visit with the President of Afghanistan a year after bin Laden’s killing. As reported by the BBC: “US President Barack Obama has pledged to ‘finish the job’ and end the Afghan war, addressing the US public live from a military base [...]
