History Lesson
Detroit’s Quixotic Bid to Host the United Nations
What if the U.N.'s headquarters had been on Lake St. Clair instead of the East River?
BY CHARLENE MIRES | APRIL 2, 2013
'Face' and Something 'Delicious'
What Mao and Stalin’s first awkward meeting tells us about Xi Jinping’s confident trip to see Vladimir Putin.
BY SERGEY RADCHENKO | MARCH 27, 2013
What Richard III Can Teach Us Today
The world is grown so bad that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch. Can Shakespeare’s fallen tyrant help us set it to rights?
BY JOHN WATKINS | FEBRUARY 6, 2013
The Songs of Angry Men
Can Les Misérables help us understand why some revolutions succeed and others barely get off the ground?
BY ERIN M. SIMPSON | JANUARY 3, 2013
North Korea Does Not Believe in Unicorns
But it does believe in promoting a fanciful version of its own history.
BY ISAAC STONE FISH, ADAM CATHCART | DECEMBER 27, 2012
Egyptian Idol
The Salafi threat to blow up the pyramids is nothing new: Egypt's ambivalence toward its past dates back centuries.
BY IAN STRAUGHN | NOVEMBER 15, 2012
Lessons From a Forgotten War
How America’s first foray into the modern Arab world can help solve its current entanglements.
BY ROBERT SATLOFF | NOVEMBER 2, 2012
China's Military Moment
A window of opportunity is closing in the South China Sea. Will Beijing strike?
BY JIM HOLMES | JULY 26, 2012
Requiem for a Russian Spy
A CIA veteran remembers his Soviet counterpart.
BY MILTON BEARDEN | JULY/AUGUST 2012
Command and Control
Don’t read too much into the pronouncements of former Israeli security officials on Iran: Israel’s civilian leadership overrules the generals all the time.
BY DAVID MAKOVSKY, OLIVIA HOLT-IVRY | MAY 23, 2012
How to Outsmart China
In its naval clash with Beijing, Manila seems to be taking its cues from a third-century Roman dictator.
BY JAMES HOLMES | MAY 15, 2012
The Politics of Sorry
Six stations on the road to forgiveness -- and why there's no harm in President Obama apologizing to Afghanistan.
BY KARL E. MEYER | MARCH 12, 2012
When Assad Won
A bloody six-year civil war fought against Bashar al-Assad's father presents a cautionary tale for Syria's modern-day rebels.
BY DAVID KENNER | FEBRUARY 22, 2012
Mock Homs at Your Own Risk
The epicenter of Syria's revolt has long been the butt of jokes. But Homs may get the last laugh.
BY OMAR ADAM SAYFO | FEBRUARY 17, 2012
The Unknown Unknowns
If the past half-century of American political history has taught us anything, it's that we can't possibly know the consequences of bombing -- or not bombing -- Iran.
BY FRANCIS J. GAVIN AND JAMES B. STEINBERG | FEBRUARY 14, 2012
The End of the Innocents
How America's longtime man in Southeast Asia, Jim Thompson, fought to stop the CIA's progression from a small spy ring to a large paramilitary agency -- and was never seen again.
BY JOSHUA KURLANTZICK | NOVEMBER 3, 2011
Waiting for Bushehr
The long wait for Iran's first nuclear power plant is finally over. It's now online, but is it ready?
BY ALI VAEZ | SEPTEMBER 11, 2011
The Road to Tahrir
The roots of Egyptians' rage can be traced back to bad economic advice from the IMF -- and the crony capitalism it left behind.
BY TY MCCORMICK | AUGUST 18, 2011
Life After Debt
In this month's market upheavals in the United States and Europe, we are witnessing the end of a seven-decade economic experiment. But does anyone have any clue what comes next?
BY JAMES MACDONALD | AUGUST 18, 2011
Assassin Nation
After more than three decades of targeted killings, is there anyone left alive who can actually run Afghanistan?
BY EDWARD GIRARDET | JULY 18, 2011
Fading Legacy
Yelena Bonner and Andrei Sakharov were giants. Why do so few Russians remember them?
BY DAVID E. HOFFMAN | JUNE 20, 2011
Driven
The campaign to allow Saudi women behind the wheel has been a generation in the making.
BY EBTIHAL MUBARAK | JUNE 17, 2011
Osama's Oil Obsession
Al Qaeda wants to hit Americans where it hurts: in their gas tanks.
BY DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS | MAY 23, 2011
Is Ahmadinejad Islamic Enough for Iran?
Why the Iranian president's latest fight with the supreme leader could be his last.
BY ABBAS MILANI | APRIL 29, 2011
America Has Beaten Qaddafi Before
I know, because I helped supply the weapons.
BY CHARLES DUELFER | MARCH 11, 2011
Why We Can't Rule Out an Egyptian Reign of Terror
A historian's look at revolution and its discontents.
BY DAVID A. BELL | FEBRUARY 7, 2011
What Would Marx Say about Cairo?
History repeats itself -- revolutions even more so.
BY DAVID ARMITAGE | FEBRUARY 7, 2011
Lie of the Tiger
How the United States really tamed the Japanese economy -- and why China's a much meaner cat.
BY CLYDE V. PRESTOWITZ | NOVEMBER 2010
In Praise of Laziness
An investigation into 14th-century heresy explains why the French refuse to get off their derrières.
BY ROBERT ZARETSKY | SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
How these Burmese rebels got big on Weibo
BY PATRICK BOEHLER
10 signs you may be a liberal imperialist
Does North Korea have a pirate problem?
BY ISAAC STONE FISH
Yes, Karzai is an ingrate -- but the Afghans need us.
By MARC CHRETIEN
Caption Contest: What's happening in this photo of Kim Jong Un?
Is it safe to fly on a U.N. helicopter?
BY COLUM LYNCH
May/June 2013
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