Politics

So You Want to Be a Peacemaker?

Here are 11 lessons to keep in mind if you want to have any hope of solving the Middle East's most intractable conflict.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MARCH 19, 2013

Lessons Learned from Kenya’s Election

Kenya’s general election wasn’t perfect -- but it was peaceful. Here’s why.

BY KRISTIN M. LORD , JACQUELINE WILSON | MARCH 19, 2013

Turdblossom to the Rescue?

When Karl Rove is your white knight in shining armor, your party has a serious problem.

BY JOHN NORRIS | MARCH 18, 2013

The Secret Surge Debate

Behind closed doors, a newly revealed transcript shows, the Bush administration was much more deeply divided about the way forward in Iraq than it let on in public.

BY MICHAEL R. GORDON | MARCH 18, 2013

Awakening the Demons

There is no Arab Spring coming to Iraq. But sectarian protests could tear this fragile country apart.

BY DAVID ALPHER | MARCH 18, 2013

Why the Color Revolutions Failed

Toppling dictators isn't enough. Successful revolutions also embrace the rule of law.

BY MELINDA HARING, MICHAEL CECIRE | MARCH 18, 2013

Ends and Means

A decade later, what lessons haven't we learned from the war in Iraq that we should?

MARCH 15, 2013

Mali's Bad Trip

Field notes from the West African drug trade.

BY ANDREW LEBOVICH | MARCH 15, 2013

Social Warfare

Budget hawks' plans to cut funding for political and social science aren't just short-sighted and simple-minded -- they'll actually hurt national security.

BY SCOTT ATRAN | MARCH 15, 2013

Mission Creep in the War on Terror

The case against giving the president even more power to use force.

BY ROSA BROOKS | MARCH 14, 2013

Hot Pants

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

BY ADAM BARON | MARCH 14, 2013

Pakistan’s Wildcard

The mysterious Pakistani-Canadian cleric is back, and he’s shaking up the country’s politics.

BY DANIEL MARKEY | MARCH 14, 2013

The Geopolitics of 'Girls'

How Lena Dunham explains the world.

BY DANIEL W. DREZNER | MARCH 13, 2013

Israel's Demographic Destiny

Israel can be Jewish, democratic, or a state in control of the Palestinian territories. Choose two.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MARCH 13, 2013

Cooling Ethnic Conflict in Guyana's Elections

Guyana's 2001 presidential election left the country deeply divided along ethnic lines. In 2006, they decided to try something new.

BY VARANYA CHAUBEY, AMY MAWSON, GABRIEL KURIS | MARCH 13, 2013

The Case for Just-in-Time Immigration

Why America needs a personnel system built for the 21st century.

BY HILDA OCHOA-BRILLEMBOURG | MARCH 13, 2013

Kenya's Most Wanted

The United States must find a way to work with its East African ally, even if it's run by an accused perpetrator of crimes against humanity.

BY SUZANNE NOSSEL | MARCH 12, 2013

The Hate List

Is America really being overrun by right-wing militants?

BY J.M. BERGER | MARCH 12, 2013

God Bless Bob Woodward

In praise of investigative reporting.

BY MICAH ZENKO | MARCH 12, 2013

The Empire Makes Nice

Is it time for a Venezuela reset?

BY MICHAEL SHIFTER | MARCH 11, 2013

Political Tremors in the Caucasus

There’s a distinct whiff of desire for political change wafting through the Caucasus.

BY THOMAS DE WAAL | 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

A Very Special Envoy

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

BY JOEL WIT, JENNY TOWN | MARCH 7, 2013

Doctor in a Desperate Land

Why an American has chosen to bind his life to Sudan.

BY JEFFREY BARTHOLET | MARCH 7, 2013

Tehran Tanking

Iran's popularity in the Arab world is way down, but sectarianism is on the rise.

BY MARC LYNCH | 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

A First Draft of the Third War

Why President Obama should commission a history of targeted killing.

BY MICAH ZENKO | 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

Adiós, Presidente

The outsized life of Venezuela's celebrity president.

MARCH 5, 2013

Alone in the Desert

How Camus explains France's troubling intervention in Mali.

BY ROBERT ZARETSKY | MARCH 5, 2013