About

Michael van der Galiën: Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Michael van der Galiën is the founder and Editor-in-Chief. He is a 23-year-old former law, now American Studies student at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands, where he was a member of the board of the Criminal Justice Student Organization called Simon van der Aa and he wrote for a studentmagazine about religion, politics and culture called Intensief Magazine. In January 2006, Michael founded the blog Liberty and Justice. Because of his love for the U.S, it was quite logical for him to write about international politics with a special focus on the U.S. In June 2006 he became a co-blogger and later (after quitting his own blog due to lack of time) assistant editor at The Moderate Voice. He resigned from that post in September 07.

In June 2007 Michael became Chief Political Reviewer at Monsters and Critics (section books) where his reviews are published approximately one week before they are published at this blog.

In September 2007, Michael became Correspondent in the Netherlands for Pajamas Media. He reports for them about Dutch politics, European politics and the transatlantic relationship.

Michael’s columns have been published in Turkish Daily News. For instance:

- “The Secular Elite vs. The Popular Islamists“

- “Time for a Change at the CHP“

Michael is a conservative liberal. As with every other political group, they don’t agree with each other on everything. His trademarks are: fiscally conservative, socially more liberal and hawkish on foreign policy.

Jason Steck: Assistant Editor:
Jason Steck is Resident Instructor in Political Science and International Relations at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. In his research and writing, he focuses on civil-military relations as well as the coexistence of conflict and cooperation in international security relations. Prior to his graduate education at the University of Minnesota, he served for 15 years in the United States Air Force, including 5 years at the United States Strategic Command. As a self-proclaimed “militant moderate”, Jason specializes in discussions on the nature and core principles of moderate politics and the role that centrism can play in redressing an increasingly polarized political culture. His residence also bridges the red-state/blue-state chasm, concurrently living in Omaha and in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

To read more about Jason, go to his page.

Dustin Metzger: Contributing Author
Dustin was born, 22 years ago, the eldest son (1 younger brother) to an average lower-middle-class family in a small city on the Mississippi river in Wisconsin, where he still lives. He is a full-time 3rd shift industrial equipment operator by trade and a full time robotics and electromechanical engineering student and dedicated blogger when he is not work.

O, he also has a fiancee. She and a few hours of sleep get squeezed in. Every now and then at least.

He has been interested in politics since a young age and, in fact, credits the Bill Clinton sexual indiscretions investigation and impeachment proceedings as the formative moment in my political life. His fiancee wonders what he means by that. As far as political views he is somewhat of a mixed bag - welcome to the club.

Through work he has first-hand experience with the damage illegal unskilled labor immigration is causing middle class Americans so he is strongly in favor of strong immigration enforcement. To him, it has nothing to do with race (as so many far-left liberals like to say) and everything to do with the fact that it’s his opinion America has no need, right, or responsibility to provide jobs to the rest of the world until and unless “we can take care of our own first.”

When it comes to domestic social issues (universal health care, religious freedoms, abortion, etc) he is definitely what most people would consider liberal.

He was born a Catholic but now considers himself an atheist, or more accurately simply not religious. It never really came up in his upbringing, so he takes it practically as a personal insult when people try to legislate their religious morality onto the rest of the population like it’s their right to do so.

He’s a strong proponent of the scientific method and if something can’t fit into a scientific framework (or even collapses under scientific scrutiny) ala creationism, numerology, or the like he’ against it.

Dustin’s definition of rights is entirely dependent on sentience and base opinions on abortion and animal rights accordingly.

When it comes to race and opinions on homosexuality neither has ever been a big factor in his life. A person’s a person, and he credits my mother for instilling that world view on him. In fact, he has a hard time grasping how people can even be racist or homophobic, let along act on it.

Furthermore, Dustin is a strong proponent of fiscal responsibility in government and personal life. When he first moved out of my parents shelter he made a couple of wrong moves and learned first-hand why fiscal responsibility is important.

As do we all.

Lastly, he is somewhat obsessed with generational politics. In particular the interplay between our generations’ experiences and the world, laws, and norms is something he often thinks about and, when given the chance, often writes about.

Kevin Sullivan: Contributing Author
Kevin Sullivan is the Assistant Editor of Real Clear Blogs, and the founder of his own blog, Mulling It Over From The Middle. Kevin is a frequent contributor at Donklephant, and in addition to that, has been featured on Political Derby and the RCP Blog at TIME Magazine.

Kevin’s lives and works in Washington, DC.

Marc Moore: Contributing Author
Marc Moore is a systems analyst who has worked in the software field for nearly 20 years, working in both the public and private sectors and as a consultant. In his spare time Marc is a devoted husband and father of 3 amazing children. He enjoys attending a small community church, alternative Christian music, playing Canasta, the all-too-rare good movie, hard science fiction, and the novels of Ayn Rand. Marc is a runner of no renown whatever and, on the web, is the founder of and primary contributor to Black Shards.

Meltem: Contributing Author
Meltem is a Turkish woman living in America. She is a modern woman, brought up with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s principles and, therefore, a strong defender of secularism and advocate of women’s rights. Her view on the press and, thus, bloggers can be summarized (in the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk) thusly:
“The press is the nation’s shared voice. It is an innovator, a school and a power in itself.”

Although she lives in America, she remains devoted to the wellbeing of Turkey. To inform Turks but especially foreigners about what is happening in Turkey, she runs the website Turkish Digest: an absolute must read for all those interested in this part of the world.

Pieter Dorsman: Contributing Author
Pieter Dorsman is a Dutchman currently living in Vancouver where he runs his own consulting firm, Redpeaks Management Inc. that advises early stage technology companies on their financing and business strategies. Prior to this he held a number of senior positions at UBS in Hong Kong where he was responsible for project and corporate finance mandates in Asia, primarily in Indonesia, China and Thailand. He joined UBS in 1994 after an attachment to Barclays Bank’s structured finance team in Hong Kong. Before moving to Hong Kong he lived and worked in London where he started his career at Barclays. Pieter obtained a Master’s degree in Economic and Social History at the Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

As passionate as he is about business and the markets, Pieter has had a longtime fascination with politics, history and world affairs. So, in early 2003 he launched Peaktalk, a weblog about international politics. Some of Peaktalk’s posts have appeared in the National Post, one of Canada’s largest newspapers and more recently Pajamas Media ran some of Pieter’s columns. He has also appeared on a number of radio shows in the “US and Canada to talk about European news and developments. It’s hard to label Pieter politically, yet he considers himself to be a classical liberal. On the role of government and economic policies he has strong Reaganite and Thatcherite instincts, whereas on social issues he mixes Dutch pragmatism with a libertarian outlook and he has therefore no problems with gay marriage or legalizing drugs and prostitution, and also believes that citizens should have the right to carry guns. As it has become fashionable to reveal your Iraq-war position, Pieter is not afraid to admit that he supported the 2003 invasion, a position largely shaped by the successive foreign policy debacles of the 1990s: Bosnia, Iraq, Rwanda and East-Timor, to name a few. US and Canada to talk about European news and developments.

Daniel Pawson: Contributing Author and Resident Expert
Dan is the legislative director for a state senator in a northeastern state. (We’d point out it’s a blue state, but that’s really not necessary, is it?) He is a lawyer by education but a politics junkie at heart, and is taking wagers on whether he’ll ever end up arguing in front of a judge. (As a defendant doesn’t count.) Dan runs his own blog, Last Moderate Republican, whenever he is not distracted for months by shiny coins, and has been featured on National Journal’s Hotline.

Dan is the product of a conservative Republican and a somewhat apathetic Democrat, which probably explains why he was one of three Republicans in his high school graduating class of 190. He is a socially liberal, fiscally conservative GOP’er with an unhealthy hatred of the national debt and a slight crush on Barry Goldwater. He had fantasies about John McCain being another Goldwater — McH20? — but has been sorely disabused. Ah, well. Maybe next cycle.

Marc Schulman: Contributing Author
Marc Schulman received a BS in Political Science from MIT in 1967 and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management in 1972. He is a retired Wall Street securities analyst and corporate consultant. A liberal on social issues, Marc is best-described as a Truman Democrat on matters pertaining to national security. In 2004, Marc founded the American Future blog, which focuses on American foreign and defense policy, terrorism, and international relations.

Benjamin P. Gage: Contributing Author
Benjamin Gage is an American currently living in Istanbul. He grew up in New England and graduated from the University of Chicago in 2006 with an undergraduate degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Having studied the Turkish language and traveled by bus through much of Anatolia, he is now working for a publisher of political-economy reports in Istanbul. His favorite Turkish football team is Trabzonspor.

Benjamin hosts his own blog, The Bosphorus Watch, which analyzes geopolitical issues related to Turkey and the region.

Brian Mathey: Resident Expert (Economy and Financial Markets)
After graduating magna cum laude from law school, Brian sat on the board of directors of a bank in Kansas City and currently works for a (well known) multi-national financial services company. His choice to work in the financial sector was an easy one: he has been a student of the market for as long as he can remember.

He monitors the market daily and is particularly troubled by the current fluxuations in the international currency market.

Andrew Quinn: Contributing Author

Andrew Quinn has been writing about politics since he was a sixth-grader. Now a high school junior, the writer, jazz musician, and student still spends a plurality of his free time trying to crack the issues of the day, and share his solutions with others. He remains unaffiliated with any party or set ideology, preferring a practical combination of pragmatic and idealistic positions.

Preferring vastly his high school courses in history, English, and music to those in math and science, Andrew expects to study in International Relations, Public Policy, or Law after high school though such decisions are always subject to change. Over the years, Quinn has contributed to The Moderate Voice, Blogcritics, Dean’s World, Redstate, served as the youth affairs columnist at the now-defunct Blue-and-Red, and maintained several of his own blogs in addition to remaining active in local politics. Andrew lives in suburbian Chicago, Illinois, USA with his family.

Bert de Bruin (Yonathan Dror Bar-On): Resident Expert

Bert is a historian who specialized in modern Jewish history and in history of the Middle East. In 1995 he emigrated from the Netherlands to Israel. His doctoral thesis deals with “Jews in Post-Liberation France, 1944-49″. His opinion articles have been published in Dutch and Israeli newspapers and magazines. He keeps a weblog, Dutchblog Israel which is definitely worth a daily visit. For The Gazette he will occasionally write articles and analyses, mostly about Israel/Holland related subjects.

He’s currently working on his Ph.D.