A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TURKISH COUP: (1) It seems to have caught the U.S. government by surprise. We get caught by surprise a lot, but I wonder if in this case it means that Putin’s behind it? (2) If Putin’s behind it, there’s probably a backup plan to liquidate Erdogan; (3) If the coup fails, as with Venezuela in 2002, the dictatorship will come back much worse; and (4) At least this is good timing for my paper on coups in America.

Also, I guess it’s a good time to plug Austin Bay’s book on Kemal Ataturk and the foundations of the secular Turkish state.