May-June 2009

The Last Temptation of Risk

Barry Eichengreen
Eichengreen explains the origins of the economic crisis.

Essays

A Thousand Envoys Bloom

David Rothkopf
Obama has assembled a crack national-security team, filled with sharp minds and even-sharper personalities. Our economic wise men too may be sharp, but with a groupthink typical of a team of...

Detention Nation

Karen J. Greenberg
George W. Bush’s policies toward terror detainees were perhaps some of his most jaw-dropping. Barack Obama came to office promising to change course. So far, he has done little. It remains to be seen...

Manchurian Paradox

Stephen S. Roach
The America-China symbiosis cannot be overstated. Beijing’s willingness to buy U.S. debt allowed us to live on credit, while our purchase of Chinese goods propelled their meteoric rise. But as the financial markets have soured, some in the United

Sanctum FATA

Anthony Cordesman
The United States has allowed the Afghan War to slip from apparent victory to possible defeat. Kabul is no longer the center of battle. The fulcrum has shifted to Pakistan.

Slouching Toward Jerusalem

Aaron David Miller
The United States has been a surprisingly ineffectual Middle East peacemaker. Clinton’s overenthusiasm and Bush’s lack of interest caused us to lose our credibility with both Israel and Palestine.

Two-Part Czar

Peter Reddaway
The Russian leadership lives in a tension-ridden house. Putin and Medvedev’s tandem system is beginning to falter. The recession has exposed frictions between the two men and revealed Putin’s inadequacies...

First Draft of History

A Subversive on a Hill

Lawrence Freedman
With America mired in two wars and our economy in shambles, the chorus of declinists has returned. But the United States will endure because it is an elastic power.

Books & Reviews

On Morals & Tigers

Paul Collier
The Obama administration has finally decided to do something about climate change. Yet the assumptions of environmental policy are informed by a flawed morality that has all the religious hallmarks of sin and guilt.

Parthian Shot

Paul R. Pillar
Iran was a glorious empire, but has also been a conquered nation. This complex mixture of pride and insecurity continues to define the Republic.

The Realist

The Road to Moscow

Gary Hart
Dimitri K. Simes
Since the end of the cold war, American foreign policy toward Russia has been dismissive of Russian interests. Acknowledging that a country has separate aims does not mean we cannot work toward common goals.

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May 23, 2013