Mourning the West’s deteriorating memory of the past, Jonathan Sacks warns against losing sight of the founding principles on which liberal democracy rests. These can be found both in European and in Jewish history:

In a little remarked-upon statement in May, James Jeffrey, the State Department’s envoy for Syria policy, said that his goal was to turn the war-torn country into “a quagmire for the Russians.” By using economic leverage, this policy has achieved modest success, writes Jonathan Spyer: