Culture

China’s Michelle Obama

Peng Liyuan is the first prominent Chinese first lady in decades. But does she matter?

BY PAUL FRENCH | MARCH 26, 2013

The Beatified Game

How the new pope has blessed the long suffering soccer fans of Argentina’s Club Atlético San Lorenzo.

BY HALEY COHEN | MARCH 15, 2013

Hot Pants

A visit to ousted Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh’s new presidential museum.

BY ADAM BARON | MARCH 14, 2013

The Geopolitics of 'Girls'

How Lena Dunham explains the world.

BY DANIEL W. DREZNER | MARCH 13, 2013

North Korean Pastoral

The Hermit Kingdom as you've never seen it.

PHOTOS BY ROGER SHEPHERD | MARCH 11, 2013

Wanted: Ph.D.s Who Can Win a Bar Fight

How to reform the Pentagon for "light footprint" interventions.

BY FERNANDO M. LUJÁN | MARCH 8, 2013

'Homeland' in the Holy Land

A TV thriller taps into Israel's collective subconscious.

BY DEBRA KAMIN | MARCH 4, 2013

Insecurity Camera

Homeland and the Israeli show that inspired it aren't the only thrillers that tackle their countries' deepest national security concerns. Here are five other programs that tap into national psyches.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MARCH 4, 2013

Mind the Gap

Charles Kenny is too quick to call off the clash of civilizations.

MARCH 4, 2013

Stalin Lives

The Soviet dictator died six decades ago. But Russians have yet to say farewell.

BY MASHA LIPMAN | MARCH 1, 2013

A Place of One's Own

Land is more than real estate. In many parts of the world, it’s the key to survival, belonging, and identity.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Rolling out the Red Carpet

Why is Hollywood kowtowing to China?

BY DAMIEN MA | FEBRUARY 22, 2013

Israel's Script Turns Sour

Hollywood used to portray Israelis as heroic and brave. Today, it's films about the brutality of the occupation that make it to the silver screen.

BY LISA GOLDMAN | FEBRUARY 22, 2013

Does Hollywood Have a Foreign Policy?

Tinseltown’s biggest films tend to be highly critical of American power, but also reinforce the idea that the rest of the world is a place best avoided.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | FEBRUARY 22, 2013

The KGB Oscars

In Putin's Russia, it's the spies that are handing out the awards for the year's best movies.

BY SIMON SHUSTER | FEBRUARY 22, 2013

It's Not About Us

Forget about the “war on terror.” The next few decades will be dominated by the bitter divide within Islam itself.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Marianne in Tunisia

How Delacroix's famous painting explains the troubled North African revolution.

BY ROBERT ZARETSKY | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Military Brain Drain

The Pentagon's top brass is driving away all the smart people.

BY DAVID BARNO | FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Scotch This Plan

Scotland’s decaying capital city shows why this country is not ready for independence.

BY RICHARD J. WILLIAMS | FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Gay Paris

What has taken France so long to step up to the altar of equality?

BY ERIC PAPE | FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Israelis Love to Argue...

And four other tips for Barack Obama’s first presidential visit to Israel.

BY NATAN SACHS | FEBRUARY 6, 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

Love Is a Battlefield

Are the Taliban using sex to fight America?

BY MUJIB MASHAL | FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Tehranimal Farm

How George Orwell explains Iran.

BY ROLAND ELLIOTT BROWN | FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Marching Through the Monarchies

Two years after the Arab Spring awoke demons and democracy in the Middle East, I went to see whether changes had roiled the lands of royals.

BY EMMA SKY | FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Live, from Beirut...

Watching TV with Hezbollah.

BY MITCHELL PROTHERO | JANUARY 31, 2013

Not Just Another Movie

Zero Dark Thirty lies. End of story.

BY AMY ZEGART | JANUARY 30, 2013

France vs. Lance

The French aren't surprised by the fall of America's cycling hero. They knew he was cheating all along.

BY ERIC PAPE | JANUARY 17, 2013

Does the NRA Want to Turn America Into Afghanistan?

Because that's where we're headed.

BY JASON DEMPSEY | JANUARY 16, 2013

Party in the KSA

Behind high walls, the kingdom's restrictive Islamic laws don't apply.

BY AHMED AL OMRAN | JANUARY 14, 2013