In Box

Requiem for a Russian Spy

A CIA veteran remembers his Soviet counterpart.

BY MILTON BEARDEN | JULY/AUGUST 2012

The Science of Ballot-Box Stuffing

What's the best way to detect electoral fraud? You may want to follow the numbers.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JULY/AUGUST 2012

Please, Don't Send Food

A new study suggests that food aid could actually prolong conflict rather than resolve it.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JULY/AUGUST 2012

'American Exceptionalism': A Short History

How did a phrase initially used dismissively by Joseph Stalin become shorthand for who loves America more?

BY URI FRIEDMAN | JULY/AUGUST 2012

Still the One

Muammar al-Qaddafi may be history in Libya, but in this remote African kingdom he reigns supreme.

BY ANDREW GREEN | MAY/JUNE 2012

The Things They Carried: The War Reporter

ABC News senior foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz reveals what's inside her carry-on bag.

INTERVIEW BY BENJAMIN PAUKER | MAY/JUNE 2012

Smart Sanctions: A Short History

How a blunt diplomatic tool morphed into the precision-guided measures we know today.

BY URI FRIEDMAN | MAY/JUNE 2012

Work Hard, Pray Hard

Do Muslim Americans embody the Protestant work ethic better than their Protestant counterparts?

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MAY/JUNE 2012

A Better Dictator

If you have to live under an authoritarian regime, which kind is best?

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MAY/JUNE 2012

The Qatar Bubble

Can this tiny, rich emirate really solve the Middle East's thorniest political conflicts?

BY BLAKE HOUNSHELL | MAY/JUNE 2012

How to Beat Obama

The president is far more vulnerable than he thinks on foreign policy.

BY KARL ROVE AND ED GILLESPIE | MARCH/APRIL 2012

Hotels for Hacks

Six of the world's most notable "war hotels," in the words of journalists who spent time cooped up in them.

MARCH/APRIL 2012

The Ritz-Carlton of Failed States

Welcome to the Serena Hotels, outposts of multi-star luxury in countries with zero-star conditions.

BY MICHAEL Z. WISE | MARCH/APRIL 2012

Within Our Grasp

U.S. presidents try, try, try to make peace in the Middle East.

MARCH/APRIL 2012

The 'Peace Process': A Short History

Chronicling Israel and Palestine's path to becoming a catchphrase.

BY URI FRIEDMAN | MARCH/APRIL 2012

Fear Factor

Why is distrust of immigrants so universal?

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MARCH/APRIL 2012

After America

How does the world look in an age of U.S. decline? Dangerously unstable.

BY ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI | JAN/FEB 2012

Epiphanies from Austan Goolsbee

President Obama's former economic advisor speaks out.

INTERVIEW BY BENJAMIN PAUKER | JAN/FEB 2012

Energy Independence: A Short History

A century and a half of an idea whose time has never come.

BY CHARLES HOMANS | JAN/FEB 2012

The Apathy Curve

The world's unhappiest and most content are on the move. What about those stuck in the middle?

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JAN/FEB 2012

The Post-Colonial Hangover

Some empires really were worse than others.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JAN/FEB 2012

The Things They Carried: The Russian Oligarch

What does a Moscow billionaire take on vacation?

BY JULIA IOFFE | JAN/FEB 2012

South Africa's Awkward Teenage Years

The Rainbow Nation has finally arrived on the world stage -- but did its conscience stay at home?

BY EVE FAIRBANKS | JAN/FEB 2012

The World's Most Controversial Cultural Sites

Where ancient history meets modern politics.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | NOVEMBER 28, 2011

The New New Europe

How the crisis is reshaping the continent.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | NOVEMBER 28, 2011

The Stories You Missed in 2011

10 events and trends that were overlooked this year, but may be leading the headlines in 2012.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Obama the Hawk

It may be hard to remember now, but America's current president first distinguished himself as an anti-war candidate, winning a Nobel Peace Prize after only a few months on the job. But as president, Barack Obama has more often than not played the tough guy.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | NOVEMBER 28, 2011

The Things They Carried: The Afghan Policewoman

A BlackBerry knockoff, a pocket knife, and salt to throw in the eyes of bad guys.

INTERVIEW BY ANNA BADKHEN | NOVEMBER 2011

Money Market

How the West was won -- in the Middle Ages

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | NOVEMBER 2011

Strange Trade

Recent research reveals the surprising unintended consequences of free trade

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | NOVEMBER 2011