Strengthening the ties between the United States, United Kingdom, and the English speaking world.
The Anglosphere Society
Theresa May’s Impossible Choice
By Sam Knight
The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, often strikes people as cautious, but her political career has been defined by acts of boldness, often on behalf of unfashionable causes, or in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. The misconception arises in part because she is an awkward person. May, who is sixty-one, is tall and stooped, serious and shy. Since she was elected to Parliament, in the late nineteen-nineties, she has dressed in sharp, eye-catching clothes, as if to offset the fact that she is not personally vivacious, but the effect is often to accentuate what is not there. May doesn’t say much, by anyone’s standard, let alone that of a politician. On a recent sunny afternoon, in the garden of the Prime Minister’s residence, at 10 Downing Street, I watched her being guided by an aide through the beginning of a party to mark London’s Pride celebrations. As May was introduced to a line of leaders from Britain’s gay and transgender communities, she smiled each time and then started to nod. She nodded faster, dozens of times, to encourage them to say more. She extended her neck, like a bird leaning over a pond, nodded a final time, and moved on. She scarcely said a word.
Trump’s Best Overseas Bet Is Elizabeth
By Conrad Black
On the heels of my misguided intuition, expressed on another site last week, that Judge Amy Coney Barrett was the president’s most likely selection for the Supreme Court vacancy, the president should be (but won’t be), commended for choosing the least controversial candidate, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The nomination of Judge Kavanaugh, a Bush appointee and friend, may be taken as (but again probably won’t be) a conciliatory gesture to traditional Republicans.
Whatever appearances, conservatives are placated, moderates have nothing to complain about, and an obviously highly qualified candidate is unlikely to be seriously damaged by the Democratic kamikaze attacks, which did not await the banal formality of having the name of the justice-designate before hurling themselves at the unnamed choice.
U.S. gathering on religious freedom sets up competing narratives
By Nahal Toosi and Lorraine Woellert
The U.S. will host a first-of-its-kind gathering on international religious freedom next week, an assembly being hailed by evangelical voters who helped propel President Donald Trump into office.
The three-day Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom has become the hottest ticket in Washington, with more than 80 countries sending delegations, hundreds of rights activists attending, and a number of others being shut out for political reasons as well as lack of space.
US SecState Pompeo: Religious freedom a fundamental human right
By Devin Watkins
In an interview with Vatican News, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says religious freedom is a fundamental human right and invites all faiths and countries to promote it.
The United States Department of State is hosting the first-ever international summit on the topic of religious freedom.
The event is slated for July 24-26 in Washington D.C., and will gather over 80 delegations, including more than 40 foreign ministers.
Stop the Fake News That Hungary Is Anti-Semitic
By Lee Cohen (Lee is the New York Director of TAS)
Next week Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban makes his first visit to the state of Israel. This symbolic and diplomatic event, considered against a consistent record of pro-Israel support and concrete measures to confront anti-Semitism in Hungary, should bring closure to the myth, popular among the Left, global Jewish organizations, and in the world press, of Hungary’s contemporary anti-Semitism. Instead of derision and conjecture, Orban deserves praise for his zero-tolerance policy on anti-Semitism and commitment to protecting all Hungarian citizens, including Hungary’s Jews.