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Commentary

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.

Spinning the Realities of the Reset

Weak reporting in The Washington Post attempts to mask the sad state of U.S.-Russia relations.

How to Keep Afghanistan Secure

Washington has been repeating the same mistakes in Afghanistan for 30 years. Obama is poised to continue the cycle.

Essays

The Global Power Shift from West to East

Pax Americana and the age of Western dominance are fading. Washington can manage this decline, but first it must acknowledge its reality. History moves forward with a crushing force and does not wait for the unprepared.

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.

Does Libya Represent a New Wilsonism?

Three leading thinkers respond to the bold thesis of Nikolas K. Gvosdev and Ray Takeyh.

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.

Blogs

General McChrystal and Academic Freedom

How to foster free, unbiased discourse in the classroom and beyond.

535 Secretaries of State

Congress running foreign policy. The president usurping war powers. This is not what the Founding Fathers intended.

Books & Reviews

A Singular Empire

In his excellent study of the Roman Empire, Greg Woolf provides sharp insights while wisely avoiding simplistic comparisons, instead mixing a broad perspective with telling details to provide a fascinating picture of the empire par excellence.

The Better War That Never Was

The "better-war" thesis blames generals for failed wars and misses the crucial role of faulty strategies. William Westmoreland's Vietnam ordeal offers a case in point. He deserves better than this latest assault by Lewis Sorley.

Great Catherine's Many Dimensions

With his usual literary lilt, Robert K. Massie captures Catherine the Great's stirring story. But by focusing on her personal life, he slights her role as absolute monarch obsessed with the enlightenment and power of her adopted Russia.

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May 26, 2012