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.

I just got back, an hour or so ago, from the first political demonstration I’ve participated in for some decades. (No, I’m not proud of that, but a fact is a fact.) This demonstration was the brainchild of Christopher Hitchens, that old Trotskyite menace become semi-neocon gadfly. In a September 21 Slate article called “Stand […]

Yesterday’s Washington Post caught my editor’s eye in a special way.First, Nell Henderson’s front-page feature, “As Economy Thrived Under Greenspan, So Did Debt” gives readers of The American Interest a decidedly “been there, done that better” feel. The current (Winter 2005) issue’s essay by Peter Hartcher, “The Amazing Bubble-Man”, covers the story in much greater […]

The verdict continues to strengthen about Spielberg’s “Munich.” Check out Holocaust Museum director Walter Reich’s piece in the January 1 Washington Post “Outlook” section, p. B5, under the title “Something Missing in Spielberg’s `Munich’.” Reich’s critique is similar in spirit to Edward Rothstein’s, noted here a few days ago. It’s the “spiral” theory of violence […]

Well, the AI office is officially closed in the week between Xmas and New Year’s, and I, AI editor, elected to just mainly hang around the house for most of the period, with my wife and my three kids coming and going seemingly at random. There was just too much movement to plan anything serious, […]

The dominant Protestant worldview of American society shapes U.S. foreign policy–and always has.

A long-forgotten Korean War POW debacle sheds light on the perils of military detention.

The American moment is ending as power shifts to Asia and other climes. A new global concert must be built.

The United States needs to broaden the way it approaches public diplomacy. Promoting democracy around the world, improving our image among the citizens of lower-income countries, and winning the Global War on Terror require a vigorous and creative effort, and I believe that a focused plan that combines diplomacy with public health can help us […]