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Commentary

Burma Comes in from the Cold

Burma is finally taking tentative steps toward reform. Washington should reward it accordingly.

Is Burma Turning On China?

How Burma's pivot away from its longtime economic partner debunks the myth of China's diplomatic prowess.

The Maliki Dilemma

Sectarian tensions in Iraqi politics have reached a boiling point. Washington's response will make a bad situation worse.

Essays

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.

We Bow to the God Bipartisanship

Bipartisanship: the Holy Grail of American politics. Long the go-to buzzword for presidents, elusive cross-aisle support at home has all too often been purchased at the price of good policy abroad.

Something Is Rotten in the State of Iraq

Sunni vs. Shia. Kurd vs. Arab. Nationalist vs. Islamist. Iraq circa 2011 is looking an awful lot like Iraq circa 2004. The country is headed back to the anarchic depths from which it ever-so-briefly emerged.

A Critique of Pure Gold

The gold standard is making a comeback! Tea partiers looking to push the government out of the monetary-policy-making business would have all of us carting bullion-laden trolleys to the grocery store.

Ahmadinejad vs. The Ayatollah

A battle royal between the president and the supreme leader has engulfed Tehran. The result? Khamenei and his allies are methodically and ruthlessly establishing the planet’s most unabashed theocratic despotism.

Conservative Nation

Declarations of conservatism's demise after the 2008 election were greatly exaggerated. As the opposition, American conservatives are in their element—can they draw upon their intellectual tradition to solve what ails America?

Blogs

The Truth Is Out There

An age of partisanship and zealotry may spell the end of agreement on the facts. 

Egypt’s Pragmatic Islamists

The Arab Spring may not bring secular democracy, but religious parties like the Muslim Brotherhood may be willing to compromise. 

Foolish Suspicion of Political Islam

Fear and Islamophobia drive Western media to misrepresent the largely peaceful, moderate Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

Books & Reviews

Death by Irrelevance

Rockefeller, Lindsay, Scranton—just three of the “moderates” who failed to keep the GOP from the clutches of Goldwater and Nixon. Geoffrey Kabaservice laments their defeat with a wistfulness that obscures from him their true frustration.

Eyes and Ears of the Arab Spring

The English-language news channel of Al Jazeera consistently is first on the scene of Mideastern developments, and its journalists provide smart analysis of global events. It may be today’s most influential television-news operation.

The Mind of an Israeli Maverick

Benny Morris reviews Gilad Sharon's biography of his father, Ariel Sharon.

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February 12, 2012