Economics

What Bill Gates Got Wrong About Why Nations Fail

Did the Microsoft founder even read our book before he criticized it?

BY DARON ACEMOGLU , JAMES ROBINSON | MARCH 12, 2013

Hugonomics

Was Chávez good for Venezuela?

BY DANIEL ALTMAN | MARCH 11, 2013

The Empire Makes Nice

Is it time for a Venezuela reset?

BY MICHAEL SHIFTER | MARCH 11, 2013

Gray Matter

How to fight Chinese cyber attacks without starting a cold war.

BY JOEL BRENNER | MARCH 8, 2013

A Tale of Two Chávezes

For those who loved and reviled Venezuela's president in equal measure, El Comandante leaves behind two very different legacies.

BY PETER WILSON | MARCH 8, 2013

Who's Winning the Great Energy Rat Race?

China just passed the United States as the world's leading oil importer. America should be happy to be No. 2.

BY ROBIN M. MILLS | MARCH 8, 2013

Round One Goes to the Budget Hawks

How the neocons lost the sequester battle -- but maybe not the war.

BY CHRISTOPHER PREBLE | MARCH 7, 2013

Hugo's Banker

How China propped up Chávez.

BY HENRY SANDERSON, MICHAEL FORSYTHE | MARCH 7, 2013

The House That Chavez Built

Hugo Chávez subordinated the needs of Venezuela’s economy to the imperative of keeping himself in power. Now the job of cleaning up falls to his successor.

BY JAVIER CORRALES | MARCH 7, 2013

Why Being So Right Feels So Bad

Why did it take the State Department 10 years and billions of dollars to figure out that Iraq reconstruction was a massive failure?

BY PETER VAN BUREN | MARCH 6, 2013

The Democracy Boondoggle in Iraq

The U.S. spent billions promoting democracy in Iraq. Now the official verdict is in: It was all for nothing.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | MARCH 5, 2013

Russia's New Vigilantes

How anti-immigrant passions are shaping Russia's political scene.

BY ANNA NEMTSOVA | MARCH 4, 2013

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Democracy is in retreat. And there's a surprising culprit.

BY JOSHUA KURLANTZICK | MARCH 4, 2013

Going South

They've helped bail out southern weaklings. Now Europe's northern countries may be doomed too.

BY MOHAMED A. EL-ERIAN | MARCH 4, 2013

Frontier Markets

How second-generation emerging markets became today's hottest investment story.

BY TY MCCORMICK | MARCH 4, 2013

Epiphanies from Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Nigeria's finance minister on resource curses, African growth, and why America shouldn't be so smug about corruption.

INTERVIEW BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MARCH 4, 2013

The Case for Big Brother

A little government monitoring can be a good thing.

BY CHARLES KENNY | MARCH 4, 2013

A Country Unto Itself

There’s no place like India. Which is precisely why its politics and economy are such a contradictory, beautiful mess.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 1, 2013

The Kenya Puzzle

In Kenya, progress and dysfunction go hand in hand.

BY DANIEL BRANCH | FEBRUARY 28, 2013

While America Slept

How the United States botched China's rise.

BY KISHORE MAHBUBANI | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

There is no Indonesia Model for the Arab Spring

Yes, Muslim-majority Indonesia has made a successful transition to democracy. But no, that doesn’t make it an example for the Arab Spring.

BY TOM PEPINSKY | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Morales Walks the Populist High Wire

Morales talks big populist talk. Here's how it's actually working out. 

BY ROBERT LOONEY | FEBRUARY 26, 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

The United Petrostates of America

Ordinary Americans are about to find out why they call it the “resource curse.”

BY DANIEL ALTMAN | FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Cutting Off Your Nose

The impending sequester won't just do short-term damage to the U.S. government. In fact, it's already hurt it more than you think.

BY NORM ORNSTEIN | FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Circus Maximus

The upcoming Italian election has everything a casual observer could want. But Italians themselves might not be so lucky.

BY GIANNI RIOTTA | FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Sneaking in the Back Door

Did Hugo Chávez quietly slip back into Venezuela to die?

BY PETER WILSON | FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Putin Declares War on Sleaze

Vladimir Putin is vowing to make a dent in the eternal Russian problem of corruption. Skepticism is warranted.

BY ANNA NEMTSOVA | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Venezuela's New Era

Venezuelans are contemplating the possibility of a new life without Hugo Chávez. But can the existing system continue in the absence of its creator?

BY PHIL GUNSON | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Will China Ever Be No. 1?

If you want to know the answer, ask Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew.

BY GRAHAM ALLISON, ROBERT D. BLACKWILL | FEBRUARY 16, 2013