Sept-Oct 2007

A Conservative Continuum

The sharp divides within the conservative movement are more imagined than real. Any conservative—whether "paleo" or "neo"— would object to a foreign policy bereft of values.

Essays

Appetite for Construction

Nation-building always looks so easy on paper. Time to let reality be a harsh teacher.

Arab Spring Fever

All hope is not lost for democracy in the Middle East. Political pluralism may be taking root, but real change will not emerge on any U.S. administration’s timetable.

Castro and the Caudillo

Francoism in Spain did not survive its namesake. Cuba’s brand of communism is likely to suffer a similar fate.

Fear and Loathing in Tehran

By meddling in Iran’s internal affairs, the United States has inflamed Iranian fears and made a muddle of U.S. policy.

Iran, the Rainmaker

Forecast for the War on Terror: Sunni, but with a chance of Shi‘a.

Lessons from the Bloc

What the collapse of the Soviet Union should have taught us about Iraq.

Perestroika Cubana

Rather than using the Chinese model of gradualism, the Castro brothers should look to Eastern Europe for cues.

Radioactive Hype

Public enemies are unlikely to obtain nuclear weapons, despite widespread fears to the contrary.

The Big Ten: The Case for Pragmatic Idealism

James Baker endorsed Republican presidential hopeful John McCain today. In September, he gave his decalogue for foreign policy in The National Interest.

The Right Stuff

The CIA’s estimate of WMD in Iraq is in the spotlight, but it was their assessments of post-Saddam Iraq that were dead-on and deserve attention. David Ignatius highlighted Paul Pillar’s story of how the agency

Books & Reviews

État Terrible

We see ourselves as an insular nation, but other countries know otherwise—and are attempting to undermine U.S. global hegemony.

Man of Steel, Re-forged

Geoffrey Roberts treads through morally hazardous territory portraying Stalin as a great statesman.

Piecing Life Together

HBO’s new documentary provides an evenhanded and riveting picture of wounded veterans’ struggles.

Remember Prussia?

The improbable ascent, sudden collapse and subsequent re-imagination of Prussia.

Report and Retort: Man of Steel, Re-forged

Geoffrey Roberts, the author of Stalin's Wars, responds to Andrew J. Bacevich's review of the book in the September/October issue of The National Interest.

The Realist

A Realist Symposium: Partisans Reviewed

Responding to Dimitri K. Simes’s assertion that we aren’t having a real debate over foreign policy, Derek Chollet argues the Democrats are providing genuine alternatives; Grover G. Norquist looks at the structural reasons inhibiting both parties f

Follow The National Interest

February 12, 2012