History

The Iraq War That Might Have Been

Ten years on, newly published secret documents shed new light on potential turning points the United States missed.

BY MICHAEL R. GORDON, BERNARD E. TRAINOR | MARCH 12, 2013

Smaller Is Smarter

Military drawdowns have driven innovation for millennia.

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | MARCH 11, 2013

How Not to Repair a Broken Pot

The lesson of Iraq isn't that American intervention only makes things worse; it's that there's a smarter way to do it.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 8, 2013

Military Review

How Chuck Hagel can show the generals who's boss.

BY GORDON ADAMS | 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

It's Not You, It's Me

America's nukes are designed to comfort us, not scare the enemy.

BY JEFFREY LEWIS | MARCH 8, 2013

A Very Special Envoy

Why Obama should make Dennis Rodman his man in Pyongyang. Seriously.

BY JOEL WIT, JENNY TOWN | MARCH 7, 2013

A Clear View from Foggy Bottom

How State Department analysts  -- and no one else -- foresaw the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

BY WILLIAM BURR | MARCH 5, 2013

Caveat Preemptor

How Obama has adopted the Bush doctrine.

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | MARCH 5, 2013

Alone in the Desert

How Camus explains France's troubling intervention in Mali.

BY ROBERT ZARETSKY | MARCH 5, 2013

The Evolution of Uncle Sam

How U.S. military recruitment posters have changed over the past 150 years.

MARCH 4, 2013

Pilgrims and Idiots

How celebrities should handle visits to authoritarian countries in today's world.

BY ARCH PUDDINGTON | MARCH 1, 2013

Stalin Lives

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

BY MASHA LIPMAN | MARCH 1, 2013

What Is Egypt?

As America's new secretary of state arrives in Cairo, it's still not clear the United States knows what it's dealing with.

BY STEVEN A. COOK | MARCH 1, 2013

While America Slept

How the United States botched China's rise.

BY KISHORE MAHBUBANI | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Power Shot

A rare photograph sheds new light on China’s most important social network.

BY JOHN GARNAUT | FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Cleaning up a Dirty War

What America's anti-torture advocates can learn from Argentina's darkest days.

BY ALEXANDRA STARR | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Vatican Insider

Though rumors of gay scandal are swirling around Pope Benedict’s retirement, it’s larger concerns that will test the Vatican as the Conclave begins.

BY PAOLO MASTROLILLI | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Real Genius

Does the Pentagon need a creative director?

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | FEBRUARY 25, 2013

The New Westphalian Web

The future of the Internet may lie in the past. And that's not a good thing.

BY KATHERINE MAHER | FEBRUARY 25, 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

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

Iran Can’t Agree to a Damn Thing

Let's face it: The Islamic Republic is just too dysfunctional to cut a nuclear deal.

BY PATRICK CLAWSON | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Marianne in Tunisia

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

BY ROBERT ZARETSKY | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

The Cool War

Cold War technology made war unthinkable. Cool War technology makes it irresistible.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Why America Reserves the Right to Nuke You First

And why it shouldn't.

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

House of Cards Is a House of Cards

Why can't Americans do political intrigue like the Brits?

BY EMMA G. KELLER | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

28 games for your President's Day weekend.

BY MICHAEL PECK | FEBRUARY 15, 2013

The Terrible Twos

Can Washington prevent the turbulent Arab Spring countries from going the way of the post-Soviet states?

BY JAMES TRAUB | FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Hate Obama's Drone War?

Blame the bleeding-heart human rights crusaders.

BY ROSA BROOKS | FEBRUARY 14, 2013