The Wrath of Khan
How A. Q. Khan made Pakistan a nuclear power—and showed that the spread of atomic weapons can't be stopped
November 2005
In This Issue
William Langewiesche, "The Wrath of Khan"; Ross Douthat, "Does Meritocracy Work?"; Richard H. Hersh, "What Does College Teach?"; Thomas Mallon on Doris Kearns Goodwin, Alex Beam on the greatest stories never told; Richard Clarke on FEMA; Caitlin Flanagan on "You Go Girl!" studies; and much more.
Features
The Greatest Stories Never Told
Some of the most delicious unpublished journalism gets passed around like a secret handshake
No Ordinary Tome
Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin's much anticipated book about Abraham Lincoln, marks her return to the arena after a devastating scandal. Throughout her personal trials, Goodwin says, Lincoln himself proved to be a major source of consolation.
The New Japanese SAT
A history lesson
In the Footsteps of Tocqueville (Part V)
A year-long journey ends on the coast of New England
Does Meritocracy Work?
Not if society and colleges keep failing to distinguish between wealth and merit
The Best Class Money Can Buy
The rise of the "enrollment manager" and the cutthroat quest for competitive advantage. The secret weapon: financial-aid leveraging
Is There Life After Rankings?
A report card from one college president, whose school now shuns the U.S. News ranking system—and has not only survived but thrived
What Does College Teach?
It's time to put an end to "faith-based" acceptance of higher education's quality
You Are Not Alone
College newspapers discover the sex column
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Susan Walsh / AP Things Left Undone
Why has an administration that talks so much about homeland security been so unable to secure the homeland?
Progressive Dementia
One element of the president's Social Security plan will rise again. It shouldn't
What Would Zimbabwe Do?
The U.S. Supreme Court looks abroad for help in interpreting the Constitution
Declare War
It's time to stop slipping into armed conflict
Primary Sources
Post-Gaza Israel; the travails of black cabbies; the (continuing) migration of the Electoral College; how to spot a spy
Stop and Go
The miracle of movement in New York City
Books
War Without End
The Third Reich in Power, by Richard J. Evans; A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water, by Patrick Leigh Fermor; Pétain, by Charles Williams; In Command of History, by David Reynolds; Forgotten Armies, by Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper
The Prisoner of Cool
Elmore Leonard's talents have increasingly become cooped up in his hallmark tough-guy aesthetic
Think Big, Be Big
Historians whose work spanned centuries, continents, and bookshelves
Boys Will Be Boys
The latest in the ever growing field of "You go, girl!" studies
New Fiction
Household Words, by Joan Silber
Free and Easy
Ben Franklin, comic genius
A Close Read
In the Fold, by Rachel Cusk
Pursuits
Fatwa City
Behavior modification gets down to business
The Mother Load
"Oh, my God—Southwest to Tampa with a thousand people!" A report on the new Airbus A380, the world's biggest passenger plane
Better Bacon
A new cult takes hold
An Old-School Copper
Jack Slipper (1924-2005)
Who's Who
A selective index to this month's issue
Also in this issue
Calendar
What to watch for in the weeks ahead
Other articles in this issue
Film School
Five movies containing lessons for the college-bound
Poetry
August Walk
Hear Rosanna Warren read her poem "August Walk"
Her Daughter
[with audio]
Loosestrife
[with audio]
Midday Mirage
[with audio]
