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In Praise of Borders

Borders are a substitute used by less fortunate lands for the sea and the mountains behind which happier countries shelter. No great civilization has grown and endured except behind the shield of ocean, mountain, or desert. How different Poland’s history would be if it had a few dozen miles of . . . . Continue Reading »

While We’re at It

♦ Michael Novak died in February. He was a pillar of First Things for more than two decades. Like our founder, Richard John Neuhaus, Michael had been an ardent proponent of a number of progressive causes. Some of his early books about post–Vatican II Catholicism can make you blush. But in the . . . . Continue Reading »

Green Card Holders in the City of Man

Many commentators on both right and left agree that President Trump’s recent executive order temporarily banning refugee resettlement and immigration from certain countries was an incompetently written and poorly executed snafu. The underlying issues are more contested: To what degree can the . . . . Continue Reading »

Vetting the Executive Order

There are many things in our government that are “broken,” but our refugee vetting system isn’t one of them. We needn't, and therefore we shouldn't, shut out refugees who are fleeing terrorism in places such as Syria and Iraq, even temporarily. Because it isn't necessary to do it, it is, in my opinion, necessary not to do it. Continue Reading »

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