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Ideology

Commentary

How to Keep Afghanistan Secure

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

The Future of Middle Eastern Christians

The Arab Spring and the rise of Islamist parties present both opportunities and threats to the region's religious minorities.

The Dilemma of American Terrorists

U.S. citizens who raise arms against us commit an extra offense compared to other terrorists. They should be treated accordingly.

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

The Soft Power of Equal Opportunity

America, like China, will suffer from the inequality fostered by nepotism and cronyism. 

Good Policy and Bad Politics

European voters moved the economic debate in the right direction, even if they did so for the wrong reasons.

Did Stalin Murder Lenin?

Lenin may have been a victim of the very system he helped construct. 

Books & Reviews

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.

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.

Schemes That Set the Desert on Fire

After WWI, Britain and France made the Arab world the object of history, not its subject. James Barr’s new book shows that the Middle East was born crazy. Later misunderstandings and manipulations were laid atop well-worn grooves.

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May 26, 2012