Turkmenistan's Record-Setting Repression
The most oppressive of the former Soviet countries is run by a dictator with a strange cult of personality.
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The Baltic Way
How Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania ended up with relatively high degrees of economic freedom and political stability
Meet the New Boss in Azerbaijan
A look at Azerbaijan’s rampant corruption, unfair elections, and flimsy institutions
The Sick Man of Central Asia
Tajikistan remains economically underdeveloped despite plentiful natural resources.
A Glimmer of Success in Miserable Moldova
Maia Sandu, Moldova's new president, has cleverly positioned her new government as being in thrall neither to Moscow nor to Brussels.
Leaving Uzbekistan
Why is it so hard for Uzbek citizens to get permission to travel abroad?
Ukraine Still Hungers for Independence
For two years in the 1930s, the people of Ukraine were forced to starve in service of a political idea.
Watching Mikhail Gorbachev Resign in Moscow
The day the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time
Kazakhstan Kleptocracy
Authoritarianism and abundant natural resources make a treacherous combination in Kazakhstan.
Soviet Ethnic Policies Split Kyrgyzstan
Conflict between minority groups still lingers today
Remittances Bolster—and Limit—Armenia's Potential
Remitting took off during the Soviet period and has remained high over the years due to lack of domestic economic opportunity.
Barely Legal Strippers Now Illegal in Texas
Under S.B. 315, it is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, to employ 18- to 20-year-olds at any sexually oriented business.
Are Democrats Serious About Legalizing Marijuana?
Democrats need to decide whether they want to legalize marijuana or just want credit for seeming to try.
Biden Reverses Trump's Showerhead Deregulation
"You have showers where I can't wash my hair properly. It's a disaster!" said Trump in 2015.
Public Defenders vs. Gun Control
A Supreme Court decision against New York's gun control scheme would be a victory for both criminal justice reform and the Second Amendment.
Biden, Like Trump, Uses the Pandemic To Expel Migrants
Title 42 expulsions are a cruel and indiscriminate pandemic mitigation measure.
A Drone Whistleblower Goes to Prison
Too often, the government punishes citizens who reveal the state's true behavior to their fellow Americans.
New York Shouldn't Treat the Unvaccinated as Second-Class Citizens
De Blasio should honor expectations of medical privacy, not threaten government retribution for those who make choices he dislikes.
The First Semiconductor Trade War
What Reagan's tariffs in the '80s can teach us about today's foreign-made semiconductors
FDA Vaccine Approval Delays Are Deadly
The vaccines seem to be working well, but the FDA isn't.
The Unexpected, Predictable End of the War in Afghanistan
The bloody, tumultuous withdrawal from Afghanistan was a predictable disaster. It was also an incredible, surprising anti-war victory.
A Good Day for the Fourth Amendment
"We are not eager—more the reverse—to print a new permission slip for entering the home without a warrant," declared Justice Kagan in Lange v. California.
DEA Still Insists Marijuana Has No 'Accepted Medical Use'
In the DEA's view, the fact that most states allow patients to use marijuana for symptom relief is irrelevant.
Supreme Court Dodges Another Religious Liberty Fight
Justices have mostly demurred on the question of whether anti-discrimination laws trump religious freedom.
California Is Clueless About Homelessness
Both Los Angeles and San Francisco struggle with restrictive land use regulations that raise the costs and completion times of housing projects. That same red tape is now hobbling projects aimed at helping alleviate homelessness.
Walking the Delicate Line Between Reporter and Activist
Telling a century's worth of stories about the people who had done creative things on the radio dial—and their opponents
America on the Dole
Biden's American Families Plan would put most working-age American households on the dole.
Let's Play Horseshoe Theory
Extremists on the left and the right are much closer to each other than either side would like to admit.
Cubans Rose Up. America Should Step Up.
Economic freedom is the key to other kinds of freedom.
Leaving Afghanistan
The U.S. did not leave behind a safe and stable situation, but it was never capable of creating one.
Britney Is Not the Only One Who Needs Freeing
While Spears' case is the most high-profile example of alleged conservator abuse, there are similar stories from all over the country.
Biden's Total Financial Surveillance
What if every one of your noncash financial transactions was automatically reported to a beefed-up, audit-hungry IRS?
Photo: Hong Kong
In June, police stormed the offices of Apple Daily, one of the last pro-democracy newspapers and an unapologetic defender of Hong Kong's autonomy.
Afghan Helpers Left Behind
Slow processing of SIV applications has led to an average wait time of three years and a backlog of roughly 18,000 primary applicants (and 52,000 family members).
Biden's Justice Department Goes After Police Misconduct
A sharp departure from the Trump administration's approach
How Many Union Members Does It Take To Operate a Train?
Labor unions have been lobbying federal regulators to mandate that all freight trains operate with two-person crews in the cab. But automation renders this largely pointless.
Plastic, Perfected
Researchers have developed a promising and "infinitely recyclable" plastic called polydiketoenamine.
Net Neutrality Is Far From Necessary
Remember, the "open internet" that regulatory rules purportedly preserve emerged from a world without net neutrality rules.
Even COVID-19 Couldn't Kill REAL ID
The ID overhaul, presented as a national security safeguard more than 15 years ago, still hasn't been fully implemented.
COVID Power Proves Tough To Kick
Politicians and bureaucrats are addicted to foisting their arbitrary reopening rules on everyone else.
Why Welfare Reform Worked
Work, not dependency, was what lifted many people up out of poverty.
Six Marijuana Legalization Lessons
What have policy makers learned since Colorado became the first state to allow recreational use in 2012?
America's Forever War Sputters Out
It is easy to be indifferent to a war if you are oblivious to its costs.
Biden Continues Trump Seizures of Private Land for Border Wall
"We thought President Joe Biden would protect us. Now we've lost our land. We don't even know what comes next," says Baudilia Cavazos.
