Justin McCauley

The Black Swan, which opened in Austria on Jan. 21, tells a tale that is at once breathtaking and terrifying. The story of Nina, a perfectionist ballerina who’s decent into psychosis exposes the audience to a nightmarish cascade, blurs the lines between reality and psychotic trance. After the forced departure of his prima ballerina, Thomas, the company’s artistic director, chooses the ambitious but fragile Nina to star in his new, “stripped down, visceral” production of Swan Lake, requiring her to portray both the white swan and her evil sister, the black swan.

Before even addressing the mendacious political treachery that is probably the point of this contemporary fable, let’s get one thing straight: Whatever else it is, Fair Game is a fantastic spy movie – suspenseful, engaging, a tantalizing tale of cloak and dagger well told.

“Where is the dividing line between what is appropriate for the public to know and what is helping extremist politics?“ ruminated Miroslav Lajčák, former Slovak Foreign Minister and former EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Where is the dividing line between what is appropriate for the public to know and what is helping extremist politics?“ ruminated Miroslav Lajčák, former Slovak Foreign Minister and former EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Heinz-Christian Strache mingled with party supporters after addressing a Freedom Party (FPÖ) rally last March, signing autographs across a temporary metal guardrail typical of any outdoor event. While he was chatting, the FPÖ leader was approached by two young men; apparently skinheads. Strache, a talented politician, was courteous, but it was clear he was apprehensive. After a brief exchange, Strache continued on among the crowd, but then became alarmed and immediately asked for the police.

Around 11 p.m. on Jul. 11, 2010, sports fans were packed into the Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala, Uganda, eagerly watching Spain and the Netherlands duke it out in the FIFA World Cup Final. Minutes before the culmination of the 90-minute match and the commencement of overtime, an explosion detonated directly in front of the large screen where the football was being telecast. In planned succession, a second blast immediately rocked the club.

Questions of ethics in journalism often teeter at the top of a slippery slope. In the post-New Journalism world, the parameters for what qualifies as “journalistic” treatment are wide; take Gay Talese’s 1966 profile in Esquire, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” which was written without a personal interview. Add in the issues of free speech, and a lot a mischief – like Fox News – slips under the wire.

Let me preface this: The Israeli actions that resulted in the deaths of activists on May 31 were wrong. However, so are the judgments and actions of many others, including well-intentioned activists who seem to act without any common sense.

At the moment of truth, the Israelis messed up – maybe they just didn’t care; but the blame for creating such a dangerous and volatile situation does not rest solely on their shoulders. Those intellectuals who like to say that you should never simplify an issue, that everything is complex, usually break their own rule when it involves Israel. The evil Israelis are at it again, an open-and-shut case.

“Sanctions are not Iran’s main problem, the economic incompetence of the government is,” insisted Prof. Ali Ansari, head of Iranian Studies at St. Andrews and one of the world’s leading experts on the Islamic Republic. Along with dozens of academics, journalists and experts, he had come to the event hosted by the Liechtenstein Institute in Viena (LIVA) at the Diplomatic Academy on Jun. 12 to discuss the phenomenon of the Green Movement in Iran.