Stanley Kurtz

Senior Fellow

Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Beyond his work with Education and American Ideals, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates on a wide range of issues from K–12 and higher education reform, to the challenges of democratization abroad, to urban-suburban policies, to the shaping of the American left’s agenda. Mr. Kurtz has written on these and other issues for various journals, particularly National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor).

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Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. On a wide range of issues, from K–12 and higher education reform, to the challenges of democratization abroad, to urban-suburban policies, to the shaping of the American left’s agenda, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates. Mr. Kurtz has written on these and other issues for various journals, particularly National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor).

Mr. Kurtz has published two influential books on President Obama’s political history and policy agenda: Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism (Threshold) and Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities (Sentinel). He has also led the campaign to reform federal subsidies to academic programs of “area studies” under Title VI of the Higher Education Act, and has co-authored model campus free speech legislation adopted by several states.

Mr. Kurtz’s latest book, The Lost History of Western Civilization (National Association of Scholars), offers both a critique of deconstructionist history and a new way of looking at America’s cultural conflicts. (A free pdf of the book can be downloaded here.)

Mr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University. He later taught at Harvard, winning several teaching awards for his work in a Great Books Program. He was also Dewey Prize Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chicago.

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Left in Church

Stanley Kurtz

Since repudiating his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., at an April 29 news conference, Barack Obama has…

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National Review Online / May 20, 2008

Jeremiah Wright's 'Trumpet'

Stanley Kurtz

To the question of the moment–What did Barack Obama know and when did he know it?–I answer, Obama knew everything,…

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‘Context,’ You Say?

Stanley Kurtz

What we’ve got here is failure to contextualize. If nothing else, Jeremiah Wright’s defenders and enablers are right about that….

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The Audacity of the Real "Audacity"

Stanley Kurtz

What did Jeremiah Wright actually say in the “Audacity of Hope” sermon that so famously led to Barack Obama's conversion?…

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National Review Online / April 21, 2008

I and My Brother Against My Cousin

Stanley Kurtz

Culture and Conflict in the Middle East (Humanity Books, 224 pages, $34.95) On the morning of August 29, 1911, a…

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/ April 14, 2008

Following the Foreign Money

Stanley Kurtz

Through Freedom of Information Act requests and discussions with officials at the Department of Education, I have obtained a comprehensive…

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National Review Online / March 26, 2008

Pakistan Votes 'No' on the War on Terror

Stanley Kurtz

Everyone, from the editorial board of the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to President Bush, seems to…

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National Review Online / February 21, 2008

Taking Down the NIE

Stanley Kurtz

The biggest story of the 2008 campaign so far may not be the fall or rise of any candidate, but…

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National Review Online / February 7, 2008

Original Sin

Stanley Kurtz

The collapse of Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid is surely one of the most striking developments of the 2008 campaign. Strategic…

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National Review Online / January 30, 2008

Tribal Tension in Kenya

Stanley Kurtz

Call it the democracy delusion. We believed democracy was spreading. It was not. Now we worry democracy is retreating. It…

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National Review Online / January 24, 2008

After Bhutto

Stanley Kurtz

***National Review Online asked a group of experts on the region to gauge what the assassination of former Pakistani prime…

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National Review Online / December 28, 2007

Taking Sides on Title VI

Stanley Kurtz

In “Saudi in the Classroom,” I explained how the Saudis are using federal subsidies to university programs of Middle East…

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National Review Online / December 12, 2007