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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Democracy Myth

Stanley Kurtz

Pakistan is not a democracy. Pakistan has never been a democracy. Should Pakistan adopt the electoral trappings of democracy in…

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National Review Online / November 26, 2007

The Best We Can Expect?

Stanley Kurtz

“Pakistan…compared to what?” That is the question lurking beneath our struggle to make sense of unfolding events in this troubled…

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National Review Online / November 19, 2007

Nukes First

Stanley Kurtz

The situation in Pakistan right now is disturbingly unstable. I won't try to summarize events in detail, since they are…

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National Review Online / November 16, 2007

Tribes of Terror

Stanley Kurtz

Lord Curzon, Britain’s viceroy of India and foreign secretary during the initial decades of the 20th century, once declared: No…

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Al-Qaedastan

Stanley Kurtz

What is to become of Pakistan? In the wake of President Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency, any number…

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National Review Online / November 5, 2007

Raid Revelation

Stanley Kurtz

If people had known how close we came to World War III that day there would have been mass panic….

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National Review Online / October 23, 2007

Deterrence Lost

Stanley Kurtz

The danger of terrorist nuclear attacks on American soil is not only very real, but disturbingly likely. Based on current…

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National Review Online / October 15, 2007

Cultural Cluelessness

Stanley Kurtz

The trouble with conservatives is that they don’t understand other cultures. Conservatives naively see the world through American eyes. On…

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National Review Online / September 7, 2007

Saudi in the Classroom

Stanley Kurtz

Unless we counteract the influence of Saudi money on the education of the young, we’re going to find it very…

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National Review Online / July 25, 2007

Doc Jihad, Part II

Stanley Kurtz

Terrorist doctors? There’s nothing unusual here, I’m sorry to say. On the contrary, in the universe of Islamist radicalism, professional…

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National Review Online / July 11, 2007

Doc Jihad

Stanley Kurtz

How could doctors, pledged to heal, conspire to murder and maim? In the wake of the foiled British terror plots,…

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National Review Online / July 10, 2007

Immigration Crackdown

Stanley Kurtz

In a move that will surprise — maybe even shock — America’s conservatives, the president has apparently decided to put…

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National Review Online / June 25, 2007