The Population Surprise (October, 1999)
"Fifty years from now," Max Singer asserted in this recent Atlantic report, "the world's population will be declining, with no end in sight."

Once Again, Long Live Chairman Mao (October, 1999)
What is the legacy of Mao Zedong on the fiftieth anniversary of the People's Republic? In December, 1992, Orville Schell examined Mao's emergence as a pop-culture icon.

Cutting-Edge but Comfy (September, 1999)
The Brooklyn Museum of Art stands to lose all of its city funding because of its plans to exhibit the Saatchi collection of avant-garde London art, which Mayor Rudolph Guliani has deemed "sick stuff." Carol Kino's November, 1998, Atlantic article on the Saatchi collection and the rest of the contemporary London art scene shows where Rudy may be wrong.

Rhetoric of Freedom (September, 1999)
"Emancipation is the demand of civilization," Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in April, 1862. "That is a principle; everything else is an intrigue." Atlantic articles by Emerson and Frederick Douglass comment on Lincoln's greatest decision, and his greatest legacy.

Genesis vs. Geology (September, 1999)
In September, 1982, Stephen Jay Gould explained why "creation science" is not science at all, but "a partisan (and narrowly sectarian) religious view."

The Military and the Nation (August, 1999)
After Kosovo, the nature of warfare and the meaning of national interest will never be the same. Two recent articles—by Robert D. Kaplan and Thomas E. Ricks—look at how the U.S. military is both shaping and adapting to a world without borders.

Deep Throat: An Institutional Analysis (August, 1999)
Bob Woodward's latest book, Shadow, considers the legacy of the Watergate scandal and (once again) relies heavily on unnamed inside sources. In May of 1992 James Mann, a Watergate-era reporter at The Washington Post, speculated about the motives and identity of "Deep Throat," the original unnamed inside source who brought down Nixon's Presidency and made Woodward's career.

Tracking Hemingway (July, 1999)
Atlantic articles from 1939 to 1983—by Edmund Wilson, Malcolm Cowley, Alfred Kazin, and others—track the strengths and weaknessnes of this American literary lion.

The Cultural Meaning of the Kennedys (July, 1999)
In January 1994, looking back on the thirtieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's death, Steven Stark pondered the transformation of a political family into entertainment superstars.

The Turn (July, 1999)
"Eventually [pilots] admitted that instinct was unreliable in clouds," William Langewiesche wrote in December 1993, "and that they needed special instruments to tell them what was happening to the plane. Without the instruments they went into mysterious banks and dived out of control."

The Hidden Side of the Clinton Economy (July, 1999)
Last week, as President Clinton toured pockets of poverty around the nation, many may have wondered where he's been for the past six years. "Relying on dubious measures that tell us good news," John E. Schwarz wrote in October of last year, "we have ignored the deepening erosion of the American Dream."

The Problem with Congress: (July, 1999)

Running Scared
Painfully often the legislation our politicians pass is designed less to solve problems than to protect the politicians from defeat in our neverending election campaigns. The Atlantic's January 1997 cover story, by Anthony King.

Too Representative Government
In May 1995, Steven Stark asked why Congress is held in such low esteem. His answer—that the more problems Congress tries to solve, and the more people it tries to please, the less popular it becomes—sounds all too familiar.

A Radical Plan to Change American Politics
"Because of our peculiar electoral law," Michael Lind wrote in the August 1992 Atlantic, "the American government is divided between two parties. The American people are not."

Women and Politics (June, 1999)
The 2000 election season may be remembered for the candidacies of Elizabeth Dole and Hillary Rodham Clinton. But the story has a prequel that began long, long ago, in what may seem like a country far, far away. Atlantic articles on women and politics from 1903 to 1999.

China's Andrei Sakharov (June, 1999)
In May, 1988, one year before the violent crackdown in Tiananmen Square, the American sinologist Orville Schell profiled Fang Lizhi, the Chinese astrophysicist who was an inspiration for the student democracy movement.

The Godfather of Sprawl (May, 1999)
On the seventieth anniversary of Jones Beach, the legacy of Robert Moses is as controversial as ever. Atlantic articles by Moses from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s offer a glimpse into the mind of this father of the postmodern American landscape.

The State of Israel (May, 1999)
Israel has rarely been free of political and cultural turmoil, as a look back at Atlantic articles from the past century reminds us.

Second Thoughts on the Second Amendment (May, 1999)
"If the war against crime has replaced the Cold War in popular culture," Wendy Kaminer wrote in the March, 1996, Atlantic, "a private storehouse of guns has replaced the fallout shelter in the psyche of Americans who feel besieged."

Can We Live Without War? (May, 1999)
"The plain truth," William James wrote in the December, 1904, Atlantic Monthly, "is that people want war." Fifty years and two World Wars later, Vannevar Bush asked Atlantic readers, "Can Men Live Without War?" Today, at the close of our bloody century, could the answer possibly be "yes"?

Cuban Baseball (May, 1999)
In July and August of 1984 the Cuban national baseball team made its first-ever visit to the United States. On Monday the Cubans returned, playing the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Bruce Brown's history of Cuban baseball (from the June, 1984, Atlantic) helps explain the enduring appeal and strength of baseball in Cuba.

Saving the World from Ourselves? (April, 1999)
What is the relationship between America's domestic problems and its foreign policy? Between our own history and our efforts to shape the history of other nations? Recent Atlantic articles by Ronald Steel and Benjamin Schwarz offer some answers.

The Story of a Gun (April, 1999)
"The details are painfully familiar: an angry teenager arrives at school one morning and opens fire on teachers and students. But the story holds a grim lesson." So wrote Erik Larson in the January, 1993, Atlantic. As the rampage in Littleton, Colorado demonstrates, Larson's article is still on target.

Living With Fallout (March 28, 1999)
What happens when people are exposed to nuclear radiation? Three articles from the 1970s through the 1990s consider the health and policy implications.

Conflict in the Balkans (March, 1999)
"The Balkans," Robert D. Kaplan wrote in the July, 1989, Atlantic, "could shape the end of the century, just as they did the beginning." Ten years later, NATO is waging war against Yugoslavia. Atlantic articles from 1913 to 1995 help put the conflict in perspective.

Balkan Epic (March, 1999)
In 1937 the novelist Rebecca West traveled to the Balkans in search of a better understanding of that region's historical conflicts. Her classic account of that journey, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, appeared first in The Atlantic Monthly in 1941.

Who Are the Kurds? (February, 1999)
Two Atlantic articles from the past decade—one by Robert D. Kaplan, the other by Laurie Mylroie—put the "Kurdish problem" in perspective.

Looking for Shakespeare (February, 1999)
Everybody's talking about Shakespeare in Love. But did Shakespeare actually write the plays and poems he's famous for? In 1991 The Atlantic published a debate of sorts on the topic.

A Moderate's Role (February, 1999)
The late King Hussein managed for more than four decades to maintain power and authority in Jordan—a daunting task, given the country's complex social and political makeup. In 1981 The Atlantic published a close look at the forces at play in Hussein's kingdom. It remains accurate today.

Social Insecurity (January, 1999)
Three years ago The Atlantic's editors called for straight talk about Social Security. A year later Peter G. Peterson took up the challenge and asked, "Will America Grow Up Before It Grows Old?"

The Clinton Era (January, 1999)
A look back at Atlantic articles—by James Fallows, Thomas Byrne Edsall, Peter Edelman, and others—assessing Bill Clinton and his presidency.

Kerouac and the Beats (November, 1998)
Atlantic articles by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, and Atlantic reviews—including the magazine's 1957 review of On the Road.

Into Orbit—and Beyond (November, 1998)
How did The Atlantic report on John Glenn's first flight into orbit? A look at how far we've come since the earliest days of the space program.

Ballbark Memories (October, 1998)
As the historic 1998 season heads into its final days, here's a look back at some memorable baseball moments from The Atlantic's archives.

Recipe for a Depression (September, 1998)
In July, 1996, a pair of Atlantic articles warned that bipartisan economic policy, combined with global forces of the past twenty-five years, could lead to an economic collapse. Were the authors right?

"First Wave at Omaha Beach" (August, 1998)
Steven Spielberg is being hailed for his unsparingly realistic portrayal of the D-Day invasion, in Saving Private Ryan. S.L.A. Marshall's account in the November, 1960 Atlantic is equally powerful.

Great Books (July, 1998)
The Modern Library has had its say. Why not take a look back at what The Atlantic Monthly has had to say over the years about some of the greatest literary works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?

Gone With the Wind (July, 1998)
In 1973, Gavin Lambert told of the fortuitous circumstances that brought this would-be American epic to life, and a group of critics—including Stanley Kauffmann, Judith Crist, and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.—attempted to explain its perennial popularity.

Our Real China Problem (June, 1998)
"What happens in China," Mark Hertsgaard wrote in The Atlantic last November, "is central to one of the great questions of our time: Will human civilization survive the many environmental pressures crowding in on it at the end of the twentieth century?"

Nuclear Warnings (June, 1998)
Lest we forget, in the wake of nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan, here are two first-hand accounts of the devastation of Hiroshima—vivid reminders of what nuclear weapons do to human beings. Plus, a few words from Albert Einstein.

Goldwater and the Conservative 1960s (June, 1998)
As Matthew Dallek argued in the December, 1995, Atlantic, from the perspective of the 1990s Barry Goldwater's rise to prominence was the political story of the era.

The 1964 Election (June, 1998)
In a rare political endorsement, Atlantic editor Edward Weeks threw the magazine's support behind Lyndon Johnson—and had some harsh words for Senator Goldwater.

Seeing Ourselves in Seinfeld (May, 1998)
"Comedy," Francis Davis wrote in the December, 1992, Atlantic, "is something television now does better than any other medium, including the movies."

Israel at 50 (April, 1998)
Atlantic articles from 1919 to 1993—including "The Kingdom of the Spirit," by David Ben-Gurion—trace the origins and history of the Jewish state.

Indonesia's Search for Order (March, 1998)
Asia and the world have changed dramatically since Suharto came to power—but the fundamental questions facing Indonesia remain the same.

Remembering Martha Gellhorn (March, 1998)
An Atlantic contributor for more than three decades, she was one of the century's most admired and courageous journalists.

Our Interests in the Gulf (February, 1998)
Is going to war against Iraq in America's national interest? Two articles on the 1991 Gulf War put the current crisis in perspective.

Castro's Cuba and the Pope (January, 1998)
Three recent Atlantic articles shed light on the place, the president, and the pontiff.

A Kinder, Gentler Iran? (January, 1998)
As the U.S. puzzles over new overtures from Teheran, a look back at Atlantic articles by Robert D. Kaplan, Edward Shirley, and V. S. Naipaul.

How the World Works (December, 1997)
East Asia's financial woes have prompted claims of victory for American-style capitalism. But as James Fallows argued in December, 1993, Asia was actually following our example.

Taking Stock (November, 1997)
A bit of Wall St. wisdom from J. K. Galbraith—and a dash of levity from "Brutus."

Prophets of the Computer Age (October, 1997)
In light of new breakthroughs, two prescient Atlantic articles—Vannevar Bush's "As We May Think" and Martin Greenberger's "The Computers of Tomorrow"—seem all the more remarkable.

Educational Measures (September, 1997)
There's much more to the questions about standards and testing than most politicians would have us believe.

Indian Passages (August, 1997)
A hundred and forty years of Atlantic articles about India reveal as much about the world's evolving view of India as they do about India itself.

Nations of the World, Unite! (August, 1997)
The League of Nations fell victim to America's aloofness. Does the United Nations face the same fate?

Striking a Balance? (August, 1997)
Strikes like that of UPS garner a lot of attention, but what is their effectiveness as a voice for the working class and as an instrument for settling its grievances?

Hong Kong's Future, Then and Now. (July, 1997)
Speculation over Hong Kong's future has intensified since the handover to China. But how did the future look in 1957, 1967, and 1991?

Our Place in Space. (July, 1997)
As Sojourner crawls across the Martian landscape, a look back at Atlantic articles tracing our long preoccupation with the extraterrestrial.

Swiss Banks, Nazi Plunder. (June, 1997)
Some damages are irreparable, some losses unrecoverable. Atlantic articles on the legacy of the Nazi past.

Weird Sports. (May, 1997)
A collection of recent Atlantic sports writing that should give you a few ideas about how -- or how not -- to spend your leisure time.

John Muir's Yosemite. (May, 1997)
From the journals of a young amateur naturalist who changed our relationship to the land.

The Paradoxical Case of Tony Blair. (May, 1997)
Why Britain's new Prime Minister is "a freak of political nature."

Enigma of the Balkans. (April, 1997)
Articles by Peter Ustinov, Robert Kaplan, and others who have reported on Albania for The Atlantic.

Henry James and The Atlantic Monthly. (April, 1997)
A retrospective collection from The Atlantic's past.

Department of Dirty Tricks. (March, 1997)
"The business of intelligence has its ugly side." Thomas Powers tells the story of former CIA director Richard Helms.

Markets and Medicine. (March, 1997)
A new study questions the efficiency of for-profit hospitals. Michael Crichton and Arnold S. Relman weigh in on the commercialization of health care.

Moving Toward the Clonal Man. (March, 1997)
Is this what we want? Nobel-prize winner James D. Watson took on the issue more than a quarter-century before Dolly was "born."

China's Gilded Age. (March, 1997)
"How China after Deng's death can combine a capitalist economy with its legacy of communism is anybody's guess."

Black History, American History (February, 1997)
A look back at seminal essays by Atlantic contributors Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Cold War, Part II? (February, 1997)
NATO is set to expand into Eastern Europe. Does the West have reason to fear Russia? Atlantic articles discuss the history and possible future of NATO.

Dubious Donations (February, 1997)
A consideration of campaign-finance reform . . . by Theodore Roosevelt.

More News About Breast Cancer (February, 1997)
In light of recent findings by the National Institutes of Health, we're revisiting David Plotkin's June, 1996, cover story and readers' reactions.

Death, Legal and Illegal (January, 1997)
The issue of doctor-assisted suicide has at last reached the Supreme Court. In this 1974 Atlantic article Catholic theologian Daniel Maguire considers the legal and moral ramifications of "mercy killing."

Reinventing the Military (December, 1996)
Explorations, both past and present, of the military's efforts to redefine itself in a rapidly changing world.

Ghosts of Christmases Past (December, 1996)
Three Christmas stories published in The Atlantic near the turn of the century.

The Historical Jesus (December, 1996)
In the December, 1986, cover story, titled "Who Do Men Say That I Am?", Cullen Murphy surveyed trends in the study of the "historical Jesus" and found scholarship that "is among the least antiquarian of historical or theological pursuits."

Central Africa (November, 1996)
Several past articles put the most recent Rwandan refugee crisis in perspective and evaluate various approaches to offering assistance and intervention.

Crime and Punishment (November, 1996)
The crime rate is the lowest it's been in years. Are we finally conquering the problem? Or are we about to experience the biggest crime wave yet?

Portraits of Picasso (October, 1996)
Picasso was a dominating presence in twentieth-century art. The same was true for his personal relationships, as is shown in the new Merchant-Ivory film Surviving Picasso. The Atlantic has run three cover-story profiles of Picasso over the years—in 1957, 1964, and 1988—all of which we've gathered here.

Atlantic Autumn (October, 1996)
Autumn is again upon us, bringing fresh delight in woodsmoke, hot cider, tart apples, colorful foliage, and crisp cold air. Atlantic contributors have waxed poetic about the season over the years, and we thought you'd enjoy a fall sampler.

The '96 Olympics (August, 1996)
In "High Hurdles and White Gloves" an athlete of the First Olympiad recounts the spectacle that was the Athens Games of 1896.

Oil and Turmoil (July, 1996)
The recent bombing in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, may force the United States to rethink its level of engagement in the unstable Middle East. Three Atlantic authors tackle the issues of politics, oil, and the Persian Gulf.

Honors: "In the Strawberry Fields" (June, 1996)
Eric Schlosser's November, 1995, article on migrant farmworkers in the California strawberry industry received a prestigious Sidney Hillman Foundation award for magazine writing. Here's the article, along with Schlosser's remarks upon accepting the award.

Can The Tobacco Industry Regulate Itself? (June, 1996)
The nation's largest tobacco manufacturer has said it will join the fight to prevent underage smoking in exchange for one thing: autonomous regulation. A 1965 article shows why this is an all-too-familiar tactic.

Property Pirates (June, 1996)
As the U.S. government reproves China for its disrespect of intellectual-property rights, we may do well to remember that our own past record in that area has been less than impeccable.

Natural Selections? (May, 1996)
With limited resources, how do we decide which species to protect? And does protecting one species justify harming another? These questions of "stewardship" were addressed in a 1992 Atlantic article by Charles Mann and Mark Plummer.

Immigration: The Perpetual Controversy (April, 1996)
A collection of articles from the beginning of the century and from the 1990s shows that immigration—and how to deal with it—has long been an American preoccupation.

Female Genital Mutilation (April, 1996)
Nineteen-year-old Fauzia Kasinga made the headlines when she sought asylum in this country to avoid female genital mutilation in her homeland of Togo. An October, 1995, Atlantic article discussed the prevalence of FGM in the United States and described one woman's crusade to combat it.

Prayer vs. Pills (March, 1996)
The Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling against a Christian-Scientist couple whose diabetic son died when they denied him insulin treatment. Should parents be held liable for the failure of prayer to heal a dangerously ill child? An April, 1995, article by Caroline Fraser considered this question.

One China? (March, 1996)
Taiwan has affirmed its commitment to democracy in the face of Beijing's saber-rattling. Where do U.S. interests lie? We look back at U.S.-China relations during the past century, with articles by John K. Fairbank, Orville Schell, and others.

The Middle East: Peace in Jeopardy? (March, 1996)
Atlantic articles from 1969, 1985, and 1993 help put hopes for Middle East peace in historical perspective.

Presidents' Day (February, 1996)
A look at Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln--three presidents whose legendary stature has inspired contributions to The Atlantic since the magazine's inception.

Flat-Tax Proposals (January, 1996)
Steve Forbes's recent proposal for a flat income tax sparked heated debate. In August, 1952, the Dean of Harvard's Law School warned against a similar plan that was then before Congress.

Snow (January, 1996)
Atlantic Managing Editor Cullen Murphy looks at the crucial and largely unrecognized roles that snow plays in our lives.

African-American Education (December, 1995)
A sampling of Atlantic articles from the 1890s to the 1990s that have discussed the education and empowerment of African-Americans.

Ireland: Twentieth-Century Witnesses (December, 1995)
A collection--featuring two autobiographical essays by Conor Cruise O'Brien and an article on the children of Ulster by Robert Coles--that traces the story of Ireland's troubles in this century.

The Nuremberg Trials (November, 1995)
Two articles from 1946 consider the precedent set at Nuremberg fifty years ago.

The State of Israel (November, 1995)
Articles from 1949 to 1993, by David Ben-Gurion and others, look at various aspects of the spiritual and national project that is Israel.

Balancing the Budget (October, 1995)
Can it be done? Should it be done? Writings on these questions from the past sixty years.

The Trial of the Century? (October, 1995)
The O.J. Simpson trial may have been the media event of the decade, but was it the "Trial of the Century"? In 1927 the Sacco-Vanzetti verdict sparked international protest and raised questions that are still timely. A collection of articles on Sacco-Vanzetti and the American legal system.

Should We Outlaw Smoking? (August, 1995)
Articles dating back to 1860 rhapsodize about the joys of smoking, lament the difficulties of quitting, point to the correlation between smoking and lung cancer, and explain why we smoke in the first place.

A Century of Gardens (July, 1995)
Four articles from different time periods discuss the pleasures of gardens and gardening.

Louisa May Alcott (July, 1995)
Until recently, her literary reputation was synomous with that of Little Women. But a very different facet of her work has come to light. Herewith four short stories from The Atlantic Monthly that demonstrate Alcott's little-known penchant for romantic fantasy.

No Hard Feelings? (July, 1995)
President Clinton has finally established full diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Recent Atlantic articles explore Americans' ambivalence toward such a move.

Affirmative Action (May, 1995)
Is affirmative action Reverse Racism? McGeorge Bundy, Stanley Fish, and others offer differing viewpoints.

Can We Afford a Tax Cut? (May, 1995)
How much tax relief can we afford? It's not a new question. See articles culled from the past five decades, including Lester Thurow's "Getting Serious About Tax Reform" (1981).

The Welfare Debate (May, 1995)
Welfare "as we know it" may be headed for extinction. Two articles, including Irving Kristol's 1971 treatment of the subject, offer past perspectives.

The Decline of Film? (March, 1995)
Movie critics Pauline Kael and Michael Sragow comment on the state of the art.


See the following collections of Atlantic articles on some of the major political and social issues of the day:

Abortion | Budget | Congress | Crime | Defense | Economics | Education | Environment | Family | Foreign Policy | Health Care | Immigration | Politics | Poverty | Race | Religion | Sprawl


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