Features
Snapshots
Snapshot,
June 18, 2013
Accusations of a serious breach of personal data at the nation's largest integrated hospital network ignore the harsh realities of cybercrime. Rather than expecting network defenses to protect it against every possible attack, the United States needs to learn to isolate different cybersecurity problems and focus on what matters and what is feasible.
Snapshot,
June 17, 2013
If the case of Edward Snowden -- the former contractor for the National Security Agency who smuggled classified information out of his workplace and provided it to news organizations -- has revealed anything, it is that the U.S. intelligence services made mistakes as they reformed after 9/11 and the Iraq war. Here is how to fix them.
Snapshot,
June 16, 2013
In hindsight, it is easy to understand why the Iranian public backed Hassan Rouhani. Less apparent is why Ayatollah Ali Khamenei let the result stand. One explanation is that he wanted to avoid a repeat of 2009. Another -- and one that better explains his permissive attitude toward Rouhani's edgy campaign -- is that the Ayatollah is ready to empower a conciliator who can repair Iran's frayed relations with the world and walk it back from economic disaster.
Letters From
Letter From,
June 2, 2013
The upcoming presidential election in Chile will test whether the country's middle-class majority will continue to support a government that has brought economic benefits through a dynamic free market and private enterprise system, or will instead turn to a more socialist and populist program.
Letter From,
May 27, 2013
In the United States, LGBT rights activists are debating whether same-sex marriage can most easily be won in the court of law or in the court of public opinion. That debate looks strikingly similar to the one in Colombia, which may soon become the fifth Latin American country to adopt marriage equality.
Letter From,
May 18, 2013
Elections in Malaysia earlier this month resulted in the National Front (BN) coalition maintaining its nearly six-decade hold on power. But the race was closer than any before. Now, Prime Minister Najib Razak, the head of the biggest party within the BN, will struggle to maintain his position in his party and in the government.
Postscripts
Postscript,
April 25, 2013
After months of negotiations, Kosovo and Serbia have finally agreed to normalize relations. The deal pushes some questions aside and requires both parties to accept certain fictions. Nevertheless, it could as a template for melting the region's other frozen conflicts.
Postscript,
March 27, 2013
With predictions about climate change growing direr every week, geoengineering (which includes everything from fertilizing the oceans in an attempt to cajole great blooms of carbon-sucking phytoplankton to spraying particles into the upper atmosphere to make the earth more reflective) is starting to look more attractive. But the science still lags behind the ambitions. To understand how such schemes would work in practice -- and what their consequences would be -- it is time to start small-scale field tests.
Postscript,
February 18, 2013
Last month, Israel's intelligence agency once again quietly indicated that it had downgraded its assessments of Iran's ability to build a nuclear bomb. It is time for Israel and the West to cut down on their alarmism. Crying wolf too early and too often can destroy a government's credibility and leave it vulnerable.
Reading Lists
Reading List,
April 25, 2013
An annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on the Caucasus.
Reading List,
February 5, 2013
An annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on Peruvian politics.
Reading List,
January 23, 2013
An annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on Canadian politics.
Comments
Comment,
Jul/Aug
2013
Tensions between China and Japan are rising, but an economic version of mutual deterrence is preserving the uneasy status quo. Put simply, China needs to buy Japanese products as much as Japan needs to sell them.
Comment,
Jul/Aug
2013
Given that Chinese counterfeiting has benefits as well as costs, and considering China’s historical resistance to Western pressure, trying to push China to change its approach to intellectual property law is not worth the political and diplomatic capital the United States is spending on it.
Comment,
May/June
2013
Much of the outrage over economic inequality in the United States has centered on the high compensation and lack of accountability that corporate executives supposedly enjoy -- allegedly the result of boards at public companies. The truth, however, is that American CEOs now earn less and get fired more than in the recent past.
Essays
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
To stop Syria’s meltdown and contain its mushrooming threats, the United States should launch a partial military intervention aimed at pushing all sides to the negotiating table.
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
If Operation Overlord failed, the entire Allied enterprise in World War II faced abject collapse. This new history of the events leading up to D-Day explains why, and what the preparations for success actually involved.
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
The Obama administration relies on drones for one simple reason: they work. Drone strikes have devastated al Qaeda at little financial cost, at no risk to U.S. forces, and with fewer civilian casualties than many alternative methods would have caused.
Responses
Response,
June 11, 2013
Citizens across the Middle East recognize that there is much to gain from closer ties with the United States. A carefully designed U.S. foreign policy should incorporate, rather than alienate, them.
Response,
May 7, 2013
Given that there are few appealing policy options for Syria, it might be tempting to downplay Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons and brush aside earlier rhetoric about red lines. But that would be a mistake: chemical weapons can kill thousands in a single day, their use becomes a national trauma, and their debilitating effects linger for decades.
Response,
May/June
2013
For the U.S. economy to reach its full potential, argues Edward Conard, Washington should decrease federal spending and ease government regulation. Fareed Zakaria demurs, contending that structural reform and government investment are what the U.S. economy needs most.
