Welcome to the Green Zone
Our fortified bubble in Baghdad is a microcosm of America—and of what has gone wrong in Iraq
November 2004
In This Issue
William Langewiesche, "Welcome to the Green Zone"; Joshua Green, "Karl Rove in a Corner"; Walter Kirn, "American Everyman"; Sridhar Pappu, "The Queen of Tween"; Ben Birnbaum, "Crayola Nation"; Robert D. Kaplan, "The Media and the Military"; P. J. O'Rourke, "Foreign Leaders and Kerry"; Chuck Todd, "After the Fall"; fiction by Nicolas Pizzolatto; and much more.
Features
Crayola Nation
Teal and periwinkle America
Karl Rove in a Corner
Karl Rove is at his most formidable when running close races, and his skills would be notable even if he used no extreme methods. But use them he does
American Everyman
Warren Buffett's billions are the least interesting thing about him. It's Buffett the symbol that matters now
Books About Schnooks
They are the very models of the modern chief executive
The Queen of Tween
Last spring Anne Sweeney took charge of a "mess" of a network—ABC—that was buried in the ratings. Can a woman whose background is children's cable programming save a broadcast network with a history of management problems? To do so, she may just have to reinvent the television business
It's Lonely at the Top
"Hello, my name is Joe. I am a CEO, and I am learning to listen and validate those around me." How executive coaching, philanthropic advising, and other specialized services help the modern—and newly self-examining—CEO get through the day
Touch & Go
A poetry anthology
Between Here and the Yellow Sea
Coach and I are driving to Los Angeles to kidnap his daughter
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After the Fall
What will happen to the losing party after the election?
The Media and the Military
American reporters would shudder to think that they harbor class prejudice—but they do
The Faisal Factor
A talk-show host on al-Jazeera targets those he believes are the worst enemies the Arabs have: themselves
Foreign Leaders and Kerry
Do they really like him? Here's what they—or, anyway, people—tell me
Follow the Mullahs
With theologians at the center of terrorist strategy, "forensic theology" is rapidly becoming a valuable intelligence tool
Presidential Gifts
Gifts George W. Bush couldn't turn down
Rebranding America
Promoting "Brand America"
Supreme Irony
As elections near, partisans always invoke a threat to the "balance" of the Court. But the real peril isn't ideology—it's blandness
Down Year for Dynasties
Down days for political scions.
Now, for Tonight's Assignment ...
There's a way to raise student achievement that's sensible, cheap, and ridiculously straightforward. It'll probably go nowhere
A .4 Trillion Figure of Speech
The federal budget—an explanation
Primary Sources
Why married men earn more money; Why "Dave" is sexier than "Paul"; the coming real-estate crash; does the Times best-seller list matter?
Books
The South in Black and White
The Rural Face of White Supremacy by Mark Schultz; Israel on the Appomatox by Melvin Patrick Ely; Picturing Faith by Colleen McDannell; Conjectures of Order by Michael O'Brien
The Honorable Schoolboy
P. G. Wodehouse was a very advanced case of arrested development. Lucky for us
Fatherland
Philip Roth has conjured up an alternative America—but fantasy is the wrong form for a writer uncannily able to find real life fantastic
You Oughtta Be in Pictures
Great novels improved (in some specific way) by their screen versions
The Prime of Ms. Muriel Spark
Her latest novel isn't her best work, but it illuminates the novels that are
Pursuits
Let Someone Else Do It
The impulse behind everything
60 Years Ago in The Atlantic
"What to Do With German Prisoners: The American Muddle"
The Thieves of Baghdad
Everyone knows about the looting of Iraq's museums during last year's war. What almost no one knows is that most of the museums' holdings had been stolen and sold years before—and not by mobs of Iraqis off the street
Tastemaker With a Sweet Tooth
William A. Mitchell (1911-2004)
Who's Who
A selective index to this month's issue
Also in this issue
Calendar
What to watch for in the weeks ahead
