I was in New Zealand when Rolf Kaufman passed away a couple of weeks ago. The Folkmoot international dance festival that Rolf and many others made a signature event for 30 years in Western North Carolina helped feed in me what was already an intense interest in foreign travel, always searching for the shared compassion and humanity that is often the bedrock of international connections. 

In 1983, when Rolf Kaufman attended a small meeting at the Waynesville home of his neighbor Dr. Clinton Border, he couldn’t have known that he was stepping into his life’s work. He’d simply said yes to an invitation, but not long after, Folkmoot USA would become inseparable from his name. 

Kaufman, who passed away on Feb. 15 at age 95, was more than a founding board member. Over four decades, he became the festival’s ambassador, diplomat, fundraiser, strategist and quiet guardian. To many, he was simply “Mr. Folkmoot.” 

To the Editor:

I volunteered to serve during wartime. We had experienced the Cuban Missile Crisis and had military advisors training foreign nationals in Vietnam. Things escalated quickly and we found ourselves, “Neck deep in the big muddy ....” to quote the song by Pete Seeger. Our nation slowly slid into commitments that would cost thousands of young Americans their lives. 

To the Editor:

I write you as Western North Carolina's regional director for the Alliance for American Leadership. I am horrified by US actions undermining the autonomy of the Venezuelan people.

The United States should not be putting its hands into Venezuela’s oil production or revenues. Our country should not be making military strikes with the goal of pillaging resources of sovereign nations. 

Grace Church in the Mountains in Waynesville will host a daylong series of worship services, presentations and artistic offerings focused on peace, education and action in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

The Christmas season, dreaded by some, beloved by others, especially children. Already you’ll find houses festooned with lights and yards dotted with inflatable Santas, “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night” on the radio and grocery store shelves stuffed with cards, chocolates and holiday cookies. 

The recent history of international relations is fraught with examples where the sanctity of law has been compromised for political expediency. Among the most troubling instances is the Trump Administration’s alarming approach to countering drug cartels — a response that not only skirts the boundaries of legality but also risks undermining the United States’ long-standing commitment to the rule of law on the global stage. 

When you think “politician,” what picture pops into your mind? In today’s world, regardless of party, it is likely a bald or gray-haired old man, fixated on power and money, loyal only to his corporate sponsors. 

Enter Jacinda Ardern. Prime Minister of New Zealand. Elected at age 37 to lead her country. What kind of young woman could handle such a task, survive the opposition and pull her country together? 

(Editor’s note: This is the second part of Anne Bevilacqua’s review of “The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order.” The first part can be found at smokymountainnews.com.)

Until 2014, no U.S. adversary, including Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, had managed to achieve even 60% of American GDP. In that year, China became the first, and did so “quietly,” says Rush Doshi, political scientist and author of “The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order.”

(Editor’s note: This is the first section of a two-part review. See next week’s SMN for the second part.)

Does China seek to replace the United States in its position as global leader? This is the question that political scientist Rush Doshi answers in “The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order” (Oxford University Press, 2021, 339 pp).