In Praise of Nepotism
Americans censure nepotism on the one hand and practice it as much as they can on the other. There's much to be said for "good" nepotism, the author argues—which is fortunate, because we're living in a nepotistic Golden Age
Execution Summaries
Copies of three death-penalty memoranda prepared by Alberto R. Gonzales for Texas Governor George W. Bush
The Texas Clemency Memos
As the legal counsel to Texas Governor George W. Bush, Alberto R. Gonzales—now the White House counsel, and widely regarded as a likely future Supreme Court nominee—prepared fifty-seven confidential death-penalty memoranda for Bush's review. Never before discussed publicly, the memoranda suggest that Gonzales repeatedly failed to apprise Bush of some of the most salient issues in the cases at hand
The Transformer
Is Tony Blair what Bill Clinton should have been?
The Poetry of Heartbreak
The new collection of Robert Lowell's poems will doubtless stand from now on as The Work
Making Sense of McCain-Feingold and Campaign-Finance Reform
Democrats knew that campaign-finance reform would cripple their fundraising ability—but they backed the idea anyway, largely on principle. Republicans knew that it would give their party an even bigger edge than it already had—but they staunchly opposed it, also largely on principle. The fate of McCain-Feingold ultimately rests with the Supreme Court. But principle has already cost the Democrats plenty
Supremacy by Stealth
It is a cliché these days to observe that the United States now possesses a global empire—different from Britain's and Rome's but an empire nonetheless. It is time to move beyond a statement of the obvious. Our recent effort in Iraq, with its large-scale mobilization of troops and immense concentration of risk, is not indicative of how we will want to act in the future. So how should we operate on a tactical level to manage an unruly world? What are the rules and what are the tools?
Love Me
A short story
A New Deal For Teachers
Here's how to fix our desperate urban schools: attract better teachers by paying them more—much more—but tie compensation to performance and allow districts to fire bad teachers quickly
New & Noteworthy
What to read this month
The Bear Slayer
During his quarter century of dictatorial rule Nicolae Ceausescu treated the brown bears of Romania almost as badly as he treated the people. Only his gamekeepers saw the grisly reality
Headlines Over the Horizon
Analysts at the RAND Corporation lay out ten international-security developments that aren't getting the attention they deserve
Coming to America
With its diverse and dispersed immigrants, our nation's capital is a model of the post-racial society we've been awaiting
Thinking Like an Apparatchik
In his new book Sidney Blumenthal presents a disconcertingly cynical yet naive account of the Clinton years.
June 2013 
May 2013 
April 2013 
March 2013 
Jan/Feb 2013 
December 2012 
November 2012 
October 2012 