LATEST FROM THE NEW REPUBLIC
Friday, July 03, 2009
The Lost Lincoln: Who He Really Was, And Why We Need To Rediscover Him.
by Sean Wilentz
Lincoln President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861 By Harold Holzer (Simon and Schuster, 623 pp., $30) Abraham Lincoln...
TNR's Founding Fathers Spectacular: Wood On Washington! Schlesinger On Adams And Hamilton! Wilentz On Jefferson! And Much More…

Throughout its 95-year history, The New Republic has featured the work of countless renowned historians on America's founding fathers. For the Fourth ...
'Public Enemies': Johnny Depp Is Magnetic As John Dillinger, But Will You Care When The Lights Come Back On?
by Christopher Orr
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How The Iraq War Clouded Obama's Judgment On Iran
by Nader Mousavizadeh
In the affairs of states, lessons are often learned too late or too well. Faced with unexpected crises and unwelcome demands for prompt decision-making...
TNRtv: Afghanistan's Ambassador On His Country's Big Challenges, From A Thriving Poppy Trade To Legalized Marital Rape
by Said Tayeb Jawad
In the second part of a TNRtv series on Afghanistan, Ambassador to the United States Said Tayeb Jawad addresses some of his country's most pressing challenges...
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Congress 2.0: It's 2009--Isn't It Time We Allow Senators Incapable Of Making It To Washington To Vote From Home?
by Jason Zengerle
The news that Al Franken is finally going to the Senate has prompted all sorts of musing about the Democrats' new supermajority. But, in fact, the Democrats...
Why A Half-Assed Climate Bill Is Probably Worth Supporting
by Bradford Plumer
Among people who think we need strong, rapid action to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and avoid dangerous climate change—and I'm one of them—there's been...
Resignations, Frustrations, And 180 Degree Changes Of Opinion At DC's Most Controversial Publication
by Gabriel Sherman
In the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, the magazine's media critic Michael Wolff writes a surprisingly positive 3400-word column about Politico. Not everyone...
In Praise Of The Congressmen Who Put Their Careers On The Line Last Friday
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--Hours before the House passed its cap-and-trade bill last week, freshman Democrats Tom Perriello and Frank Kratovil were pondering the political...
TNRtv: Should We Expect Even More Adventurism From A Weaker Tehran?
by Afshin Molavi
In the second part of a TNRtv series on Iran, Afshin Molavi, fellow at The New America Foundation and author of The Soul of Iran: A Nation's Journey To...
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Getting Hosed: Is The Supreme Court Justifying Discrimination?
by Drew Westen
Getting hosed: Is the Supreme Court justifying discrimination?
Afraid Of The Public Option? This Is What America's Health Care Will Look Like Without It.
by Jacob Hacker and Rahul Rajkumar
The issue sucking up the oxygen in Washington today is whether to have a public health insurance plan compete with private insurers for the business of...
Finding False Comfort In Numbers: The Problem With Ranking Failed States
by Richard Just
I spent some time yesterday and today trying to figure out Foreign Policy magazine's ranking of failed states. Somalia, Zimbabwe, and Sudan got first, ...
Next Month, There’s Supposed To Be A Vote On America's Presence In Iraq. Good Thing It's Probably Not Going To Happen.
by Michael Crowley
The official exit of American soldiers from Iraqi cities makes this a happy day for the Iraqis, but I'd call their public jubilation--which has included...
TNRtv: Why Obama Should Back the Honduran President
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Alvaro Vargas Llosa, senior fellow at the Independent Institute and author of Lessons from the Poor, dishes on the latest news out of Latin America: a...
The John Roberts Method: How The Court Is Patiently Bending Law To The Right
by Tom Goldstein
It's always perilous to try and generalize about a Supreme Court Term. Roughly 80 cases on diverse topics decided by 9 different people don't collectively...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Obama's Learning Curve: When Will The Realist Start Getting Real?
by Leon Wieseltier
On a rainy day in 1993, I sat with my parents at the opening ceremonies of the Holocaust Museum and heard President Clinton, who was doing nothing to ...
Are Democrats Sacrificing Too Much In Order To Pass Health Care Reform?
by Jonathan Cohn
Bill and Hillary Clinton are off saving the world, he through his global foundation and she via the State Department. But their presence looms over the...
The 'Ricci' Ruling Undermines Affirmative Action. It's About Time.
by John McWhorter
The Supreme Court's decision in favor of the New Haven firefighters whose test results were discounted is welcome news indeed for making our discussions...
What The U.S. Could Learn From Europe About Cap-And-Trade (A Lot, Actually)
by Bradford Plumer
Of all the questions about climate-change policy, one of the biggest is whether a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases will even work. Will it actually...
TNRtv: Geithner's Latest Multi-Billion Dollar Gift To The Banks
by Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson, professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and co-founder of BaselineScenario...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Why We Need A Second Stimulus: Don't Be Fooled By Dropping Unemployment Rates
by John B. Judis
Our country's unemployment rate, which has risen every month this year, now stands well above the worst case scenario of the Treasury Department’s stress...
Why Hypocrisy is the Least of Mark Sanford's Sins
by Alan Wolfe
Charging Mark Sanford and his fellow roaming Republicans with hypocrisy is a story that writes itself. Yes Democrats, the most conspicuous being John ...
'We Have No Idea What Is Going On': The Surprising Limits Of Our Iran Intelligence
by Eli Lake
About ten days after the start of Iran's insurrection, I asked a senior administration official what, if anything, the White House knew about the people...
Why Obama Needs To Step Into The Health Care Debate Now--Before It's Too Late
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--Every general studies the mistakes of the last war, and President Obama's style has been much influenced by the difficulties of Bill Clinton...
TNRtv: Why Republicans Are Out Of Touch On Health Care Reform
by Ruy Teixeira
TNRtv Teixeira
Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Public Option Is Important For Health Care Reform--But Can We Live Without It?
by Jonathan Cohn
COHN ABS TK
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Love Actually: In Defense Of Mark Sanford
by Cristina Nehring
"I never figured Sanford for anything like this," mused one of the governor's constituents in The New York Times this week. Mark Sanford's friends are...
How The Never-Ending Dennis Ross Drama Illustrates The Turmoil In Obama's Foreign Policy Team
by Michael Crowley
Ben Smith has a piece today with still more speculation on Dennis Ross, Washington's most speculated-about bureaucrat. What's with the Ross obsession? ...
College Grads: Congrats! Just Don't Plan On Getting Sick For A While! Because The Health Care System Totally Screws You!
by Anthony Wright
In the last several weeks, in ceremonies across the country, hundreds of thousands of Americans have become uninsured. I’m not talking about plant closings...
The Queen Of Jiggle TV: Why Farrah Fawcett Was A Problematic Role Model
by Michelle Cottle
I'm sorry, but I'm not sure how anyone in my age cohort can be expected to work today. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both gone? That's an entire ...
Friday, June 26, 2009
A Forgiving Wife Is No Longer The Best Prop For A Cheating Politician. Thank Goodness.
by Michelle Cottle
After sitting through a YouTube double-header of both Gov. Mark Sanford’s and Sen. John Ensign’s I’m-so-terribly-sorry-I-screwed-around-on-my-wife solos...
Michael Jackson: The Man Who Wasn't There
by John McWhorter
I have been telling friends for fifteen years that Michael Jackson would not live past fifty, although I didn't expect to be so precisely on the mark. ...
'Transformers': As If The Plot And Acting Weren’t Bad Enough, They Had To Throw In A Pair Of Jive-Talking Minstrel-Show Robots
by Christopher Orr
The new Transformers movie is two-and-a-half hours long. I'm going to write that sentence again, if I may, because it is a reality I find only...
TNRtv: How The Iranian Protests Will Change Obama's Policy Of Engagement
by Ashfin Molavi
In the first part of a TNRtv series on Iran, Ashfin Molavi, fellow at The New America Foundation, breaks down how the elections in Iran will alter Obama...
Does Maliki Have The Answer To Gridlock In Iraq?
by Elise Foley
Legal changes have been slow to come in Iraq, with legislation moving through the parliamentary system at a snail's pace--or not at all. Bills intended...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A History of Violence: What Previous Protests And Revolutions In Iran Can Teach Us About The Current Crisis
by Steven R. Ward
On the eve of the centennial of Iran's first modern revolution, the country is experiencing the latest in a series of popular eruptions against an oppressive...
What Makes David Cameron So Damn Likeable?
by Alexandra Starr
To the unschooled eye, the photograph of the 1987 class of the Oxford University Bullingdon Club could be mistaken for a 100-year-old image. The ten young...
Politics Very Much Influence Supreme Court Decisions--And To Pretend Otherwise Is Dangerous
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--The United States Supreme Court claims to be above politics, and it sometimes even achieves that aspiration.

The court has occasionally...
TNRtv Exclusive: Former Health Insurance Insider Wendell Potter Blows The Whistle On The Industry's 'Duplicitous' Lobbying Efforts
by Wendell Potter
TNRtv exclusive: Former health insurance insider Wendell Potter blows the whistle on the industry's 'duplicitous' lobbying efforts
Were Postwar American Jews Really 'Silent' About The Holocaust?
by Adam Kirsch
In her new book, We Remember With Reverence and Love: American Jews and the Myth of Silence after the Holocaust, 1945-1962, Hasia Diner sets out...
'Our Young Brave People': TNR’s Guide To Iran's Most Prominent Dissidents
by Elise Foley and Sharon Eliza Nichols
Since Iran's presidential elections, Iranian officials say at least 17 demonstrators have been killed, over 200 people jailed, and many more exiled ...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The End Of Doctors: Should Patients Be Put In Charge Of Their Own Medical Treatment?
by Sherwin B. Nuland
Patient, Heal Thyself: How the "New Medicine" Puts the Patient in Charge
Moussavi The Architect: What We Can Learn About The Iranian Opposition Leader From His Other Career
by James Gardner
Over the past century, not a few powerful men, among them Churchill, Eisenhower, and even Hitler, have fancied themselves painters and have displayed ...
Washington Diarist: A Personal Footnote To The Remarkable Story Of Bruno Schulz
by Leon Wieseltier
In The New Yorker the other week, David Grossman reported on his discovery in Beersheba of an old man named Ze'ev Fleischer, who on November 19, 1942, ...
Don't Let Seven Senators Decide What Health Care Reform Looks Like!
by Harold Pollack
Among those who favor health reform, commentators seem divided between those who see promise or peril in the search for bipartisan health reform. I am...
A Field Guide To How The Iranian Military Can Be Flipped
by Amanda Silverman
As the protests in Iran continue and reports of violence in the streets proliferate, we started to wonder what could make members of the Basij and other...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The Obama Method: His Rhetoric May Be Conciliatory, But His Strategy Is Ruthless
by Jonathan Chait
The thing that people haven't figured out about President Obama's conduct of foreign policy is that it's the same as his conduct of domestic policy. Obama...
What The Arab World Is--And Isn’t--Saying About The Protests In Iran
by Josie Delap and Robert Lane Greene
As Western media outlets obsessively cover the protests in Iran, the Arab press has been approaching the events with mixed emotions. Since much of the...
A History Lesson For Obama's Critics: How U.S. Support Has Undermined Reform Movements
by Dylan Matthews
Over the past few days, many of Obama's critics have argued that he should be speaking out more forcefully in favor of the Iranian opposition. Charles...
TNRtv: Afghan Ambassador Said Jawad On Why It's Worth Engaging the Taliban

In the first part of a TNRtv exclusive, Afghan Ambassador to the United States Said Tayeb Jawad defends President Hamid Karzai's response to the Iranian...
Umberto Saba's Poems Are Ironic, Detached, And Quotidian--That's What Makes Them So Grand
by Rosanna Warren
Songbook: The Selected Poems Of Umberto Saba--Translated by George Hochfield and Leonard Nathan
Monday, June 22, 2009
Zeke's Anatomy: Meet The Nice Emanuel Brother. Well, The Nicest.
by Noam Scheiber
In 1995, John Gallin, the head of the clinical center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), decided the nation's premier medical research facility...
Ahmedinejad’s Next Big Threat: Egypt?
by Michael Crowley
Before Barack Obama spoke to the Muslim world from Cairo in June, the president did some sightseeing. His first stop was the Sultan Hassan mosque, a 700...
Obama’s Progressive Path On Iran Is Fraught With Peril
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.

WASHINGTON -- Protesters hit the streets demanding freedom and fair elections. A repressive government strikes back and denounces the dissidents...

A Semi-Defense Of Hank Paulson
by Noam Scheiber
I finally got around to reading Phillip Swagel's account of the financial crisis from inside the Bush Treasury department--Swagel was assistant secretary...
'50 Years Of Kauffman' TNRtv Special: Why Review Films That No One Can See?
by Stanley Kauffmann
TNR film critic Stanley Kauffmann defends his reputation for reviewing films that never reached audiences outside of New York.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Not Just A Photo-Op: How The Sight Of Massive Protests Can Change A Nation's Mind.
by Jack DuVall
The panoramic view on Thursday of more than a million Iranians filling the streets of Tehran, on the sixth straight day of swelling popular demonstrations...
Why Is The Most Powerful Health Care Lobbyist Playing Nice?
by Jonathan Cohn
The first time I remember speaking with Karen Ignagni was via a TV satellite, for a debate about health care policy on CNN. It was the summer of 2007, ...
TNRtv: Paul Krugman Is Wrong On Financial Regulations
by Noam Scheiber
TNRtv: Paul Krugman Is Wrong On Financial Regulations
'Seraphine' Reminds Us, Marvelously, Just How Eerie The Disposition Of Talent Can Be
by Stanley Kauffmann
Seraphine--Music Box Films
24 City--Cinema Guild
Friday, June 19, 2009
Dealing With The Devil: Why Is The Most Powerful Health Care Lobbyist Playing Nice?
by Jonathan Cohn
The first time I remember speaking with Karen Ignagni was via a TV satellite, for a debate about health care policy on CNN. It was the summer of 2007, ...
Europe’s Disturbing New Trend Of Celebrating Its Military Deserters
by Michael B. Oren
About 400,000 people, many of them children, annually tour the battlegrounds of Ypres, near the French border in Western Belgium, the scene of some of...
TNRtv Exclusive: Union Leader Andy Stern Slams Grassley’s Health Plan
by Jonathan Cohn
TNR senior editor Jonathan Cohn and SEIU president Andy Stern break down the latest on health reform: Should the Grassley and Conrad plans be taken seriously...
Did Bank Lobbyists Write Obama's Reform Proposal?
by Simon Johnson
What is the essence of the problem with our financial system--what brought us into deep crisis, what scared us most in September/October of last year, ...
How Saul Bellow's Literary Rival Failed As An Artist--But Far Surpassed Him As A Man
by Adam Kirsch
Rosenfeld's Lives: Fame, Oblivion, and the Furies of Writing
Are The New Polls On Obama As Troubling As They First Appear?
by Jonathan Chait and Linda Hirshman
First off, I do think math is hard. So I am reluctant to question the suits--pollster Peter Hart, the guys at NBC, much less people whose institution ...
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Governments Have No Business Getting Involved In Iran’s Ideological Struggle. But We Do.
by Michael Walzer
I am a statist in many ways and in many areas. I believe that government has an important role to play in the economy, in health care, in protecting the...
Bipartisanship Beware: Why The Democrats Should Disregard The GOP’s Opposition To Health Care Reform.
by Jonathan Cohn
The first time I remember speaking with Karen Ignagni was via a TV satellite, for a debate about health care policy on CNN. It was the summer of 2007, ...
Argument Of The Day: Americans Should Spend FEWER Years In School
by John McWhorter
In this commencement season, I myself gave the commencement address for a bunch of high school dropouts. Mind you, the school was Bard College at Simon...
Can Anyone Defend The GOP’s Health Care Policies? Senator Charles Grassley Certainly Tries In This Exclusive TNRtv Interview.
by Suzy Khimm
TNR's Suzy Khimm presses Senator Charles Grassley on some of the most controversial questions surrounding comprehensive health care reform.
Why Has Russia Been So Cool Toward The Iranian Opposition?
by Julia Ioffe
As we continue to pick apart the dubious Iranian election returns, it's worth considering their very different treatment in Russia, which has long sought...
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Learning From Clinton: Why Health Care Reform Could Fail--Again
by Stanley B. Greenberg
Nothing brings on a headache quite like health care reform. My head has throbbed lately, as Congress has begun to consider a serious overhaul--a debate...
The Hottest Month Of The Year Is About To Become The Hottest Quarter Of The Year
by Bradford Plumer
Earlier this afternoon, the White House held a press conference to talk up a major new NOAA report on likely climate-change impacts in the United States...
Ayatollah Khamenei's Massive Miscalculation About The Extent Of His Power
by Abbas Milani
The Iranian regime is currently facing one of the greatest challenges of its 30-year history. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei--whose rule has been absolute...
Why Is Obama Ditching Obamaism On One Of The Most Vital Issues Of His Presidency?
by Noam Scheiber
One of the early hallmarks of the administration's governing style is to make Congress a partner (sometimes even the senior partner) in policy development...
After Watching 'Away We Go,' You’ll Have To Take A Shower To Wash The Smug Off
by Christopher Orr
“No one’s in love like us, right? It’s so weird,” Verona (Maya Rudolph) tells Burt (John Krasinski) early in Sam Mendes’s Away We Go. The two are an unmarried...
The Three Things That We KNOW About The Iranian Election
by Bernard-Henri Levy
Massive cheating or not? A new kind of coup d'etat or not? How do we interpret this strange election whose results were announced by the press affiliated...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Between Idealism And Realism In Iran
by Peter Scoblic
Like my colleagues, I am rapt by the sight of the Iranian protests. In fact, listening to NPR's coverage from Tehran this morning, I found myself rapt...
For A Prudent Idealism
by John B. Judis
I like to think of myself as a prudent idealist in foreign policy and also as a follower of Woodrow Wilson (at least before Wilson, in the spring of 1919...
Can Ukraine's Orange Revolution Teach Us Anything About Today's Protests In Iran?
by Joshua A. Tucker
As I watched events in Iran unfold at the end of last week, I couldn’t help but note the similarities to the “Colored Revolutions” that swept through ...
The Return of Idealism
by Richard Just
The past few years haven't been kind to foreign policy idealism--the belief that when authoritarian states mistreat their own people, it is a matter of...
TNRtv: Why Ahmadinejad’s Days Are Numbered
by John B. Judis
TNR senior editor John B. Judis breaks down the post-election analysis of the Iranian regime, arguing that Obama should just sit back and watch it self...
How Is Steven Chu Doing At Revamping The Energy Department?
by Bradford Plumer
In this month's Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell has a terrific profile of Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Sadly, it's not online, but Charlie Petit managed to...
The Single Most Important Housing Market Reform
by Noam Scheiber
The problem is that banks expanded credit to overly-risky borrowers because they knew they could turn around and sell those mortgages to investors via...
Monday, June 15, 2009
Decoding Netanyahu's Speech
by Shmuel Rosner
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking today in Bar Ilan University, has filled the glass of expectations; it is now up to the beholder to...
Un-Cooperative: The Trouble with Conrad's Compromise
by Jacob Hacker
In the fast-moving debate over health care, no idea invites more admiration or ire than the “public health insurance option”--or what I’ve been trying...
Sotto Voce: The Sonia Sotomayor You Don't Know
by Jeffrey Rosen
A tip from an informant led Detective Amando Rodriguez and Sergeant Diane Contreras to the stash house--actually a New York City apartment--which they...
Why Business Leaders Should Scare Obama More Than The Republican Party
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--Business has been on the ropes since last fall's financial collapse, but the first glimmerings of recovery are calling forth a capitalist ...
How Health Care Reform Helps The American Economy
by Jonathan Cohn
One of the more promising signs for health care reform over the past two years has been the apparent support of the business community. Corporate executives...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Public Enemy: Health Care Reform Doesn't Require A Government-Run Program--But It Would Be A Good Idea
by The Editors
The debate over health care reform is full of controversies, but none has received as much attention as the call to create a public insurance option. ...
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Narrative Dissonance: What Obama's Cairo Speech Got Wrong
by Martin Peretz
'I mean, in a way, Obama's standing above the country, above--above the world, he's sort of God." These drug-addicted words come from Evan Thomas, a longtime...
If You Thought Raising Money For Your Failing State Was Hard, Meet Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
by James Kirchick
As if being the prime minister of Zimbabwe--a nation wracked by economic devastation, starvation, and political oppression for the past decade--was not...
The Verdict Is In … And Clark Rockefeller Is Off To The Clink
by Margo Howard
Coming into today, the defense had high hopes for victory. In addition to the jury’s taking its sweet time with the verdict, during day three of deliberations...
Michelle Cottle Vs. Jason Zengerle: Did Letterman Cross The Line With His Palin Jokes?

Victor Davis Hanson has responded to the post I wrote yesterday defending David Letterman from his (and Sarah Palin's) attacks:
Friday, June 12, 2009
Daddy Dearest: Is Kim John Il's Son Any Saner?
by Joshua Kurlantzick
For years, a prime method for decoding the impenetrable North Korean regime has been the Dear Leader’s sushi chef, a defector named Kenji Fujimoto. When...
The Truth About Obama And The Deficit
by Jonathan Chait
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column pointing out how strange it is that President Obama is being blamed forhuge budget deficits, when the projected deficits...
'Pelham 1 2 3': Another Exercise In Emotional Manipulation And Cinematic Tourettism From Tony Scott
by Christopher Orr
The career of director Tony Scott can, I think, be divided into three major phases: first, as a competent purveyor of Hollywood schlock (e.g., Top Gun...
Jonathan Chait Vs. James Kirchick: Was The Holocaust Museum Shooter A Right-Winger?

Ben Smith, noting that James Von Brunn might potentially have considered targeting The Weekly Standard, writes: "The suggestion that the Standard may...
TNRtv: Why We'll Have Immigration Reform Sooner Than You Think
by Angela Kelley
Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress, explains why immigration reform should be at the...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
After Consumerism: Why Americans Will Only Be Happy When They Stop Spending So Much Money
by Amitai Etzioni
Much of the debate over how to address the economic crisis has focused on a single word: regulation. And it's easy to understand why. Bad behavior by ...
Washington Diarist: Obama's National Security Policy Could Use A Little Bit Of Fear-Mongering
by Leon Wieseltier
'The thing I fear most is fear." This was Montaigne, in an early essay, many centuries before Roosevelt. "It exceeds all other disorders in intensity." ...
Looking Back At Elia Kazan, A Master Of Direction And Of Deviousness
by David Thomson
Kazan on Directing--Edited and with commentary by Robert Cornfield
TNRtv: How the GOP Lost Its Edge On National Security
by Ruy Teixeira
TNRtv: How the GOP Lost Its Edge On National Security
Can Google Help You Game The Stock Market?
by Zubin Jelveh
Yesterday, I wrote about some new research showing how tracking search trends on Google can improve forecasts of economic activity. Doing a little more...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The End Of Clintonism? What McAuliffe's Defeat Does and Doesn't Say About Obama's New Brand Of Politics
by John Judis
Terry McAuliffe's crushing defeat in yesterday's Virginia Democratic primary for governor is being hailed as a loss for Bill Clinton, the end of Clintonism...
KGB In The USA: How The Soviets Were Able To Recruit Hiss, Stone, And So Many Other Americans
by Anne Applebaum
Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America--By John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev
Divided We Fall: A Leading British Politician Explains How Europe Can Stem The Rising Power Of Far-Right Parties
by David Lammy
The successful nations in the twenty-first century will be those that come to terms quickest with the implications of globalization--of unprecedented ...
I Thought Democrats Were The Ones Who Were Supposed To See Racism Everywhere
by John McWhorter
This idea that Sonia Sotomayor's line that a "wise Latina woman" has an advantage in judging over a white man is racist can be taken in two ways.
Zeroing In On The Most Important Part Of The Climate Bill You Haven't Heard Anything About
by Bradford Plumer
Here's something I never would have predicted: When the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing this morning on permit allocations, of all ...
It's Closing Argument Time In The Rockefeller Case--And There Aren't That Many Open Questions
by Margo Howard
It’s Closing Argument Time In The Rockefeller Case--And There Were Some Real Howlers
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Prisoners Dilemma: Meet The Poor State Department Diplomat Who Has To Move All The Gitmo Detainees
by Michael Crowley
Daniel Fried may have the most thankless job in Washington. While Barack Obama got to deliver the dazzling promise that he would close the Guantanamo ...
The Drone War: Questioning Our Highly Effective Yet Ethically Dubious Tactic Against Terrorism
by Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann
The Al Qaeda videotape shows a small white dog tied up inside a glass cage. A milky gas slowly filters in. An Arab man with an Egyptian accent says: "...
The Fake Rockefeller Trial Continues: Is He Lying Or Just Insane?
by Margo Howard
The witnesses today are mental health experts, hired by the defense, to convince the jury--aka "the kids"--that Grock is certifiably insane. An interesting...
TNRtv: Obama's Misguided Plan To Limit Bank Bonuses
by Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson, professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and co-founder of BaselineScenario...
How The Irreverent Greek Poet C.P. Cafavy Became A Genius. (And How Scholars Got The Story Wrong.)
by Peter Green
C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems--Translated, with introduction and commentary, by Daniel Mendelsohn
Monday, June 08, 2009
Iran's Next Leader: Can Anyone Beat Ahmadinejad In This Week's Election?
by Laura Secor
On June 12, Iranian voters will choose among four leading candidates for president, but their real choice is singular: whether to continue on the course...
Week Two Of The 'Grock' Trial: The Fake Rockefeller's Ex-Wife Tells All
by Margo Howard
There is great anticipation about Sandra Boss’s appearance. A larger than usual number of still photographers are hanging around on the courthouse steps...
Not Just For Harry And Louise--Health Care Reform Is Just As Vital To The Drug And Insurance Companies As It Is The Middle-Class
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
Fifty million new customers.Those may be the most important words to remember as the health care reform effort hits its stride this week.Many have expressed...
TNRtv: The Bank Lobby's 'Fight To The Death'
by Noam Scheiber
TNRtv: Power of Banks
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Do We Need A Technological Breakthrough To Avert The Climate Crisis?
by Bradford Plumer
In the winter of 1984, a young scientist named Steven Chu was working as the new head of the quantum electronics division at AT&T's Bell Labs in Holmdel...
Saturday, June 06, 2009
The Art Of Elision: 'Summer Hours' Is Best For What It Manages To Leave Out
by Stanley Kauffmann
Summer Hours--IFC Films
Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country--Oscilloscope
TNRtv: Obama Can't Hide From Human Rights
by Michele Dunne
Michele Dunne, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and editor of the Arab Reform Bulletin, responds to Obama's address ...
Friday, June 05, 2009
The Middle East's Uncertain Future: What's More Revealing--What Obama Said In Cairo, Or What He Didn't?
by Robert Satloff
Combining the roles of bridge builder and strategist, President Barack Obama delivered a wide-ranging 55-minute speech to the world's Muslims today, designed...
A Dissent: The Trouble With Obama's Cairo Speech
by James Kirchick
Even if you didn’t like the president’s speech, there were certainly elements to applaud. He did not shy away from defending the American-led mission ...
The Competition Is Tough, But Francis Bacon May Have Been The Worst Painter Of The 20th Century
by Jed Perl
Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective -- Metropolitan Museum of Art
When Porn Stars AREN'T The Answer: Steven Soderbergh's Newest Film--'The Girlfriend Experience'--Is All Stunt, No Soul
by Christopher Orr
It's not often that an actress can boast of having her name above the title on her very first mainstream film, but then Sasha Grey is not just any actress...
As If There Weren't Enough Problems, The Middle East Is Literally Heating Up. Oy.
by Bradford Plumer
Does the world really need more headaches in the Middle East? No, of course not, but rising global temperatures are likely to create a few more regardless...
Disney's First Black Princess Is One Of The Most Soulfully Accurate Renditions Of A Black American In Animation History
by John McWhorter
So Disney's animated movie is already occasioning offense: although it will feature Disney's first black princess, her swain will be a light-skinned fellow...
TNRtv: Why China Has Only Gotten Worse Since Tiananmen
by James Mann
In part two of a TNRtv series on China, James Mann, author-in-residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of The...
How Barack Talks Like Bush, Why Egypt May Have Been A Bad Choice Of Venue, And More: TNR’s Complete Coverage Of Obama's Speech In Cairo

TNR's complete Cairo coverage
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Just Like Bush: Obama Used The Same Rhetoric As His Predecessor. So Why Was He So Much More Effective?
by Michael Crowley
One year ago today, Barack Obama clinched the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. In doing so, he defied Hillary Clinton’s criticism that his ...
More Than Words: Can Obama Accomplish The Ambitious Goals He Laid Out In Today's Speech?
by Shmuel Rosner
Barack Obama has two imminent opportunities to test the effectiveness of his speech in Cairo today: Will it help the more moderate candidates win in next...
Unsettled: What Exactly Is Obama Trying To Accomplish In The Middle East?
by Marty Peretz
What dismays me most about Barack Obama's Middle East initiative is that the only country in the area he seems to be pressing is Israel. He is not pressing...
The Underappreciated Storyline: How Obama's Cairo Visit Can Help Darfur
by Barron YoungSmith
Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East is one from which few concrete results are expected. If news reports are to be believed, his speech in Cairo will...
Barack Isn't Talking About The Cost Of Health Care Reform. This Is Dangerous.
by William Galston
As health care reform enters the phase of serious legislation, it becomes vital to understand what the American people expect and believe ... and how ...
Say What You Will About Rush And Newt--But They've Successfully Tilted Media Coverage To The Right
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--A media environment that tilts to the right is obscuring what President Obama stands for and closing off political options that should be ...
TNRtv: How To Keep Volatile Oil Prices From Fouling Up Clean Energy Efforts
by Bradford Plumer
TNR assistant editor Bradford Plumer breaks down why high oil prices aren't nearly as big a problem as volatile oil prices—and what the United States ...