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Politics

Commentary

O'Malley's Tax Misstep

The Maryland governor's tax scheme won't solve the state's problems, but it will send businesses packing.

Serbian Transition Worries West

The new Serbian president's nationalist politics and checkered past worry Brussels and Washington. Why they should take a pragmatic approach.

A Second-Best President for Egypt

Two certainties about Egypt's elections: the winner won't be anyone's first choice, and he will have a hard road ahead.

Essays

Unfinished Mideast Revolts

The era of U.S.-approved, iron-fisted Arab dictators is over. Washington must get used to a Middle East in which public opinion matters to a much greater extent, anti-Western sentiment abounds and political Islam emerges as a major force.

America's Civic Deadlock and the Politics of Crisis

Congress is paralyzed. National debt is skyrocketing. America’s political consensus can no longer address the country’s most basic problems. We must resolve the question of what will replace it.

Nigeria's Battle for Stability

Despite a veneer of democracy, this oil-rich nation has suffered from dysfunctional governance for decades, and tensions between the Christian South and the Muslim North are rising. Nigeria needs creative American diplomacy.

Iraq's Federalism Quandary

Iraq faces major questions about the power-sharing agreements between Baghdad and Iraq's various regions. A solution may require granting greater autonomy to the country's Kurds than to other regions.

The False Neocon View of Reagan

There's a dangerous illusion in the  legend that Reagan changed course in Cold War policy and set the country on a path to expansive overseas adventurism. Beware of false lessons about his stewardship.

Why We Exist

The National Interest stands for realism in U.S. international relations, a conviction that foreign policy should be based upon real-world considerations—forces, pressures and passions emanating from factors of culture and geography.

Books & Reviews

The Hagiography of Mr. Holbrooke

Richard “The Bulldozer” Holbrooke left a deep mark on U.S. foreign policy. Yet this collection of essays by his friends and admirers, which gushes with praise, leaves out significant elements of the story.

Beinart's Quest to Save Zionism

How can an Israeli PM mobilize U.S. politicians against a U.S. president committed to Israeli interests? Beinart's provocative answer: U.S. Jewish leaders commandeered Jewish organizations and turned them into agencies for Likud interests.

Even Academics Like Ike Now

Dwight D. Eisenhower was a paradoxical man—warm in groups but frosty in person; not an intellectual but steeped in history; a simple man who dominated giants. Jean Edward Smith's tome offers insight into this self-effacing yet effective man.

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May 26, 2012