The age of Jackson is an oft-neglected chapter in American History, but three new books take up the challenge.

Dana giola, Chairman of National Endowment for the Arts, talks with jazz legend Dave Brubeck about diplomacy in 5/4 time.

Two years after the Abu Ghraib story came to light, we still haven't gotten to the bottom of its darkness.

Michael Mandelbaum’s The Case for Goliath likens America’s global role to that of a government. A distinguished French observer, astonishingly agrees.

When Americans eat at Baja Fresh or Panda Express, they're digesting more than they think.

A lunch in Berlin (nearly) gets out of hand.

The United States in Iraq is trying to solve a three-dimensional problem in two-dimensional space. We need to think beyond counterinsurgency.

Are the wheels coming off the U.S. Army thanks to the Iraq war? Not really, argues a retired Army colonel. But other problems loom.

What do Joshua Reynolds, Theda Bara, Madonna, and NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon have in common?

The dean of Middle Eastern studies recounts how he came to write-and rewrite-The Arabs in History.