January 2002
In This Issue
Benjamin Schwarz and Christopher Layne, “A New Grand Strategy”; Bernard Lewis, “What Went Wrong?”; Reuel Marc Gerecht, “The Gospel According to Osama bin Laden”; David Carr, “The Futility of 'Homeland Defense'”; Mary Gordon, “Women of God”; Andy Bellin, “Tells”; fiction by Robyn Joy Leff; Philip Hensher on Anton Chekhov; and much more.
Articles
Tells
The fine art of losing at poker
On the Playing Fields of Suburbia
The Futility of "Homeland Defense"
Don't even try to close the holes in a country, and a society, designed to be porous
Ready for Action
Despite seeing on television news what used to be confined to action movies, audiences have been flocking to them, perhaps eager for the illusion of control they offer
Councils of War
Every American war has changed our society in ways that were not anticipated. What will be the consequences of the latest war?
The Gospel According to Osama Bin Laden
To Western ears, the author writes, the public utterances of Osama Bin Laden have always come across like the "tirades of a loony idealogue." But these skillful rhetorical constructions, rich in historical allusion, have enormous powers of penetration—and will survive their author
Women of God
Nuns are an endangered species. With a median age in this country of sixty-nine, and little new blood coming in, their numbers have dwindled markedly. The novelist and memoirist Mary Gordon, who herself once contemplated joining an order, examines this disappearing way of life, talks to survivors here and abroad, and wonders what, if anything, can replace the iconic figure of the nun in the popular imagination of Catholics and non-Catholics alike
Incomparable Naturalism
Only an artificer of the highest skill could have produced so seamless an illusion of reality
A Nasty Business
Gathering "good intelligence" against terrorists is an inherently brutish enterprise, involving methods a civics class might not condone. Should we care?
Keeping the Net Secure
September 11 demonstrated the great strength of the Internet. Now it's time to address the Internet's weaknesses
A Renaissance of Liberalism
Five Lakes Grill
Restaurants worth building a trip around
At Anchor in the Galápagos
Cruising isn't the only way to see this unique archipelago
Burn Your Maps
A short story
Letters to the editor
What Went Wrong?
By all standards of the modern world—economic development, literacy, scientific achievement—Muslim civilization, once a mighty enterprise, has fallen low. Many in the Middle East blame a variety of outside forces. But underlying much of the Muslim world's travail may be a simple lack of freedom
The Gold Standard
The quest for the Holy Grail of equivalence
Mr. Goodbar Redux
Illusions. Affectation. Lies. This is the insidious and incapacitating legacy of modern dating books
Coping Strategies
When Godzilla gets the willies
Strong Fiber After All
The Mullahs and the Postmodernists
Grandfather's Box
How to Make the Country's Most Dangerous Job Safer
The power lies with one hamburger vendor
Plant Zoos
What exactly is a botanical garden for?
The Land of Counterpane
Jan Karon lets her readers pull the covers over their heads
Word Court
The Fruits of the Tory Revolution
The recent election of the party's new leader is the surprising result of four decades of reform
The Last Squash Tennis Player
A chance discovery leads the author to the champion-for-life of a forgotten sport
New & Noteworthy
Osama bin Laden's mindset; two extraordinary novels; the peaceful collapse of "The Evil Empire"
A New Grand Strategy
For more than fifty years American foreign policy has sought to prevent the emergence of other great powers—a strategy that has proved burdensome, futile, and increasingly risky. The United States will be more secure, and the world more stable, if America now chooses to pass the buck and allow other countries to take care of themselves.
The People's Choice
The Russian public has come out against supporting the West in its war against terrorism. The West need not be concerned
