Editor’s note: Guest columnist Richard Gowan is filling in for Stewart Patrick.
The holiday season should be a good time to forget about work and take comfort in classic Christmas stories. Foreign policy analysts, with half an eye on events in Ukraine and Afghanistan, may struggle to relax this year. It’s hard to avoid noting echoes of world events.
A few years ago, I rewrote the tale of the Three Wise Men and the baby Jesus as a parable about international negotiations for World Politics Review; a lot of the story revolves around the wise men haggling with Herod about where to find the Messiah. This year, I’ve been thinking about “The Nutcracker,” which packs ballet houses worldwide at this time of year.