Anthropology of an Idea

Energy Independence: A Short History

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

BY CHARLES HOMANS | JAN/FEB 2012

Responsibility to Protect: A Short History

Just what is a just war?

BY CHARLES HOMANS | NOVEMBER 2011

War Games: A Short History

How ancient Greek amusements became an indispensable 21st-century military tool.

BY CHARLES HOMANS | SEPT/OCT 2011

Track II Diplomacy: A Short History

How the left-field idea of diplomacy without diplomats became an essential tool of statecraft.

BY CHARLES HOMANS | JULY/AUGUST 2011

BRICs: A Short History

How did a Wall Street buzzword coined by Goldman Sachs become a powerful new bloc in world affairs?

BY BLAKE HOUNSHELL | MARCH/APRIL 2011

GDP: a brief history

One stat to rule them all.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

Womenomics

A brief history of women in the workplace.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | NOVEMBER 2010

Strategic Dialogue

It's a long journey from U.S. enemy to ally, but for the last half-century, there has been one sure-fire sign that things are moving in the right direction: holding a "strategic dialogue" in Washington. Think of it as the foreign-policy equivalent of a meeting of mafia dons: There's no love lost, but there's mutual advantage to be won from breaking bread together. These days, though, everyone wants a strategic dialogue -- from close friends to wary adversaries -- and increasingly, they're looking to Beijing.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | SEPT. / OCT. 2010

Dangerous Weakness

Somalia is the quintessential "failed state" -- and not just because it has topped Foreign Policy's Failed States Index since 2008.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JULY/AUGUST 2010

Brainier Brawn

"Smart power": a brief history

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | MAY/JUNE 2010

Capping It Off

How a concept became an environmental policy catchphrase.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | MARCH/APRIL 2010

New Order

How "the multipolar world" came to be.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

Anthropology of an Idea: 'Behavioral Economics'

Calculating the cost of human foibles.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | MAY 1, 2009