The .4 Trillion Question
What do we owe China?
January/February 2008
In This Issue
Jeffrey Goldberg on the coming map of the Middle East; Mark Bowden profiles David Simon, creator of The Wire; James Fallows on China's subsidization of the U.S. way of life; Amy Waldman explores the truth about the Jena 6; Megan McArdle looks ahead to America's coming silver age; Caitlin Flanagan assesses Katie Couric; Michael Scott Moore uncovers the German surfing scene; Virginia Postrel considers the implications of the typeface revolution; and much more.
Features
The Angriest Man In Television
The firebrand behind The Wire
Frankly...
Learn to speak Potomac!
Waterworld
Is Bangladesh going under?
The American Idea
Our readers’ view
The Atlantic's State of the Union
What, after Iraq, are the problems most urgently confronting us?
After Iraq
A report from the new Middle East—and a glimpse of its possible future
No Country for Young Men
What non-Boomers have to fear
Inside Guantánamo
A photo essay with text by Andrew Sullivan [Web only: Slideshow: "Life at Guantánamo"]
First, Kill All the School Boards
A modest proposal to fix the schools
The Truth About Jena
Why the media got it wrong
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Partisan Retreat
Our inevitable withdrawal from Iraq could poison American politics for a generation.
Calendar
High-stakes belly dancing; air for sale!
Primary Sources
Dental windfalls; management secrets of the KKK; the radical engineer
One Korea?
The Atlantic recently asked a group of foreign-policy authorities about the future of North and South Korea.
There Goes the Neighborhood
In exurbs and fringe cities, the mortgage crisis is having a domino effect
Books
Couture Clash
How Dior and Balenciaga fought it out
Joe Ciardello A Woman’s Place
Katie Couric’s long day’s journey into evening
Victoria’s Secret
How sex doomed the British Empire
The Imperial Mind
A historian’s education in the ways of empire
Cover to Cover
A guide to additional releases: Nureyev's life; South Africa's fractious past; Red Lobster as muse
Munich’s Malibu
Surfing, schnitzel, and accordion tunes in Bavaria's landlocked capital [Web only: Slideshow: "Surfing in Munich"]
Slow Food, High Gear
A new university in Italy aims to elevate gastronomy to an academic discipline—and put its students through a humbling workout. [Web only: Slideshow: "A Slow Food Tour of the Po Valley"]
Playing to Type
The practical (and tacky) fruits of a revolution in typeface design. [Web only: Video: "Fine Print"]
Word Court
Rules of thump; settling the score
Also in this issue
Poetry
Sea Chest
A poem
