Past presidents could shed light on Randel’s successor

By George Anesi / March 7, 2006

The announcement of the 13th president of the University of Chicago may be around the corner, prompting theories about who could make the short list. The 11 members of the Board of Trustees and the seven faculty members who form the search committee have been in their “silent phase” since fall, meaning that they will...

It has truly been an honor

By George Anesi / March 7, 2006

It is always difficult to sum up in a few hundred words what an important experience has meant to you, especially when that experience has been something you have been so invested in for so long. I would much prefer to point everyone to our archives, and the more than 150 Maroon issues I have...

Second-term advice for the returning president

By George Anesi / November 5, 2004

Dear President Bush: Congratulations. You now bear the responsibility of a second-term president. This means you are responsible for both the future of our country, and are also accountable for the baggage that your administration will bring with it from its first four years in the White House. As someone who both supported and opposed...

The Gaza pullout plan: Another opportunity for the Palestinians

By George Anesi / October 31, 2004

It’s right up there with the U.N. Partition Plan of 1947 and Ehud Barak’s offer at Camp David in 1998—that is, it’s another golden opportunity for the Palestinians to get what they say they’ve always wanted, autonomy and then a state. Of course, it still seems obvious that what the Palestinians really want—or want first,...

Are all Bush-Bashers Democrats?

By George Anesi / September 18, 2004

Unlike most New Yorkers, I didn’t hightail it to the Hamptons for the week that by chance contained the Republican National Convention, the beginning of the U.S. Open, and NYU move-in day. I decided to stick around not because I was planning to protest or attend the convention—I did have tickets to the Open—but because...

Meet Janet Rowley, legendary researcher and hero to biophiles everywhere

By George Anesi / March 2, 2004

Dr. Janet D. Rowley, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago, is a member of President George W. Bush’s Council on Bioethics. Rowley entered the University of Chicago in 1940 as an undergraduate at the age of 15, as a member of President...

America is winning the war on terror

By George Anesi / February 17, 2004

This past week, the New York Times reported its account of a 17-page memo sent by terrorist mastermind Musab al-Zaqwari to other Al Qaeda operatives. If genuine, the memo is the most comprehensive and instructive look into the world of anti-Western Islamic terrorism to date, and removes much of the uncertainty surrounding terrorist activity and...

The great American security debate

By George Anesi / February 3, 2004

America is on the verge of a great security debate. The 9/11 commission’s preliminary findings and the recent David Kay report on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq have raised significant questions and doubts about America’s security apparatus. Of course we’ve had these doubts for some time—9/11 was a big wakeup call—but we also missed...

Inspectors will find WMD in Iraq

By George Anesi / October 6, 2003

Those who read my columns last year know that I was an outspoken supporter of the war in Iraq. It was not a stance that I came to lightly, nor one that I refused to re-evaluate every so often. Recently, I forced myself to once again revisit the case I made one year ago. I...

Palestinian priorities must change

By George Anesi / October 2, 2003

In negotiating and peace-making, compromise is necessary. In history, there has been no successful or sustainable peace agreement in which one side was forced to give up nothing and yet received everything it requested. That said, anyone who claims to want peace in the current situation between Israelis and the Palestinians must also be willing...

Antiwar and anti-Semitic?

By George Anesi / May 8, 2003

For those who have read this column before, it is no secret that the anti-war movement and I disagree on many issues. However, one issue that we should agree on is support for Israel. But we don’t. The messages and programming being produced by groups such as No War In Iraq and Not In Our...

Israeli-Palestinian peace?

By George Anesi / May 1, 2003

The past few days have been witness to some interesting developments in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. After much negotiation within the Palestinian government, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was appointed as the first Palestinian prime minister, and the Bush administration turned its attention to the conflict in Israel and presented both parties with...

The time bomb of Saudi Arabia

By George Anesi / April 17, 2003

Although I am a Democrat, I have been a staunch supporter of the Bush administration?s foreign policy since September 11, 2001. I supported the campaign in Afghanistan, the 14-month ?rush to war? with Iraq, and the subsequent 20-day ?quagmire.? However, Saudi Arabia is where my allegiance to President Bush ends. The U.S. government has made...

Changes on the global level

By George Anesi / February 25, 2003

The world is changing. Perhaps September 11 prompted this transformation, or maybe that day just put it in better light. It doesn’t really matter. Either way, these changes have arrived, and as the world’s only superpower, America is in the center of it all. These changes do not simply contain the growing threat of terrorism...

U.N. risks its own irrelevance

By George Anesi / February 14, 2003

Secretary of State Colin Powell just laid down the latest and perhaps most convincing case to date for going to war with Iraq. The war to disarm Iraq is necessary, since Iraq has refused to disarm itself. Ideally the war would have U.N. approval. However, after the U.N.’s behavior over the past few months, I...

Democracy’s disadvantage

By George Anesi / January 10, 2003

The current conflict brewing between the West and the Arab World terrifies me. I said in a previous article that this war, whether fought diplomatically, militarily, or by a combination of the two, will dominate the beginning of the 21st Century just as the Cold War dominated the second half of the 20th Century. This...

Worldwide human rights

By George Anesi / December 3, 2002

Ever since America declared a war on terrorism, it has found itself face-to-face with an Arab world containing a rapidly rising level of anti-American sentiment. America is looked upon as an aggressor with imperialistic goals for the region. On November 11, the Iraqi foreign affairs minister Naji Sabri sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi...

Reflecting on the Mideast

By George Anesi / November 22, 2002

In any serious and long-lasting conflict, it is sometimes necessary to take a step back. The goal of doing so is to remove the tunnel-vision effect that tends to plague both participants and observers of such a conflict. In the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis, we must stop examining the seemingly endless cycle of an Israeli invasion...

Before a Palestinian state

By George Anesi / October 24, 2002

Many, including members of the Bush Administration, are favoring what has been called a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This implies that the end goal should be two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian, living side-by-side in peace. I am a strong advocate of this solution. It is important to remember, however, that the...

Preempt problems in Iraq

By George Anesi / October 14, 2002

Anyone who is entirely against war with Iraq must not have known anyone in the air or on the ground in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. Those who knew someone who perished that fateful day have felt the true horror and consequence of paying no attention to a growing threat that seemed...