Law

Why Iran Can't Reform

Many commentators are hailing the results of the Iranian presidential election as a victory for popular choice. But that feel-good narrative misses the bigger story.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JUNE 19, 2013

Comey Don't Play That

How Obama's pick to lead the FBI tried to put the brakes on the NSA's surveillance dragnet.

BY MARC AMBINDER | JUNE 18, 2013

Evil in a Haystack

How do you find a terrorist hidden in millions of gigabytes of metadata?

BY J.M. BERGER | JUNE 17, 2013

Secret Police State

What’s worse: the NSA or the East German Stasi?

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JUNE 14, 2013

One Era's Traitor Is Another Era's Whistle-Blower

How the media covered national-security leaks in Daniel Ellsberg's day.

BY J. DANA STUSTER | JUNE 12, 2013

'Freedom' Island

Is Hong Kong free, or does Beijing really call the shots?

BY ADAM ROSE | JUNE 12, 2013

To Protect and Defend...

No, Mr. President, your top job is not to 'keep the American people safe.'

BY MICAH ZENKO | JUNE 11, 2013

Hoovered

How J. Edgar laid the groundwork for the NSA's surveillance state.

BY DAVID GOMEZ | JUNE 11, 2013

Why the NSA Needs Your Phone Calls…

… and why you (probably) shouldn't worry about it.

BY STEWART BAKER | JUNE 6, 2013

Mission: Assassination

The CIA's a lot better at targeted killing now than it used to be.

BY MALCOLM BYRNE, JEFFREY RICHELSON | JUNE 6, 2013

Authorize This

Can Obama put the war on terror on a new legal footing?

BY ROSA BROOKS | MAY 23, 2013

The War Professor

Can Obama finally make the legal case for his war on terror?

BY ROSA BROOKS | MAY 23, 2013

Gitmo's Fallen Czar

Daniel Fried was the perfect man for the hardest job in Washington, but even he couldn’t close Guantanamo.

BY MICHELLE SHEPHARD | MAY 22, 2013

Smart Phones, Dumb Laws

Is technology outpacing our ability to regulate it?

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | MAY 22, 2013

And You Thought the IRS Was Bad?

The world's five most out-of-control tax agencies.

BY J. DANA STUSTER | MAY 21, 2013

Obama's Plumbers

This time, a secretive president has gone too far.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 17, 2013

Obama's Self-Inflicted Scandal

The only thing transparent about the White House is its perverse penchant for secrecy.

BY RICHARD A. EPSTEIN | MAY 15, 2013

Janus in Islamabad

Is Pakistan's once and likely future prime minister someone the United States can work with?

BY EMILY CADEI | MAY 11, 2013

Talking in Circles

Why Harold Koh's big speech on targeted killings is just more of the same, intentional Obama muddle.

BY MICAH ZENKO | MAY 9, 2013

Death Mill

How the ready-made garment industry captured the Bangladeshi state.

BY JOSEPH ALLCHIN | MAY 9, 2013

No More Doing Business As Usual

Why World Bank President Jim Yong Kim is right to subject the Bank’s global business report to fresh scrutiny.

BY CHRISTINA CHANG | MAY 9, 2013

It's Time for Burma's President to Act

The civil war in Burma goes on. But the government seems powerless to stop it.

BY DAVID SCOTT MATHIESON | MAY 7, 2013

Four Arab Democrats and a Constitutional Scholar Walk Into a Bar

Some free advice for my MENA friends.

BY DANIEL LANSBERG-RODRIGUEZ | MAY 6, 2013

Outfoxing the Oligarchs in Latvia

How a tiny Baltic republic succeeded in taking its oligarchs down a peg.

BY GABRIEL KURIS | MAY 6, 2013

Neighbors in Arms

How U.S. guns are turning Central America into one of the most dangerous places in the world.

BY COLBY GOODMAN | MAY 3, 2013

Beirut's Bastille

The free-for-all inside Lebanon's most notorious prison.

BY SULOME ANDERSON | MAY 2, 2013

How to Close Guantanamo

Why Obama doesn’t need Congress to start to make good on his promise.

BY LAURA PITTER | MAY 1, 2013

France's Forgotten War

Mali is old news in Paris. Now it’s all gay marriage all the time.

BY ROBERT ZARETSKY | APRIL 30, 2013

The Angst in Foggy Bottom

Many in the State Department aren’t happy with the president’s policy on Syria. And they’re speaking out.

BY GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON | APRIL 30, 2013

Is Obama’s Red Line a Green Light?

It’s time for the president to back up his words with action.

BY SALMAN SHAIKH | APRIL 29, 2013