Solution to Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’ Give Hope for US Politics

Tom Foley, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (PA), writes:  Almost 50 years ago, I first set foot in Belfast, Northern Ireland, filled with the confidence of the young athlete fresh from a Dublin rugby field. When I arrived at the train station, the heavy hand of a British soldier landed on my shoulder, and he demanded to know my business. His other hand rested on the trigger guard of an automatic carbine. Getting frisked was par for the course then. I landed on that island in the midst of the last and bloodiest cycle of its “Troubles,” a cycle of sectarian violence that lasted from the 1970s almost to the eve of the 20th century.