New Issue Announcement - 2004-04-21

The New Politics of Intelligence: Will Reforms Work This Time?

Richard K. Betts

The failure to prevent the September 11 attacks or find Iraqi WMD have put intelligence at the center of this year's presidential campaign. The key to better performance, however, lies not in major reforms but in the character and sense of responsible officials. 500-WORD PREVIEW

Flight From Freedom: What Russians Think and Want

Richard Pipes

Critics decry Vladimir Putin for turning Russia into a one-party state. But polls suggest that Russians actually approve of his actions by sizable majorities, caring little for core Western principles such as democratic liberties and civil rights. 500-WORD PREVIEW

The Decline of America's Soft Power

Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

The Bush administration may dismiss the relevance of soft power, but it does so at great peril. Success in the war on terrorism depends on Washington's capacity to persuade others without force, and that capacity is in dangerous decline. 500-WORD PREVIEW

The Outsourcing Bogeyman

Daniel W. Drezner

According to the election-year bluster of politicians and pundits, the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries has become a problem of epic proportion. Fortunately, this alarmism is misguided. Outsourcing actually brings far more benefits than costs, both now and in the long run. If its critics succeed in provoking a new wave of American protectionism, the consequences will be disastrous — for the U.S. economy and for the American workers they claim to defend. FULL TEXT

Afghanistan Unbound

Kathy Gannon

Two and a half years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan is once more lapsing into bloody chaos. Although President Hamid Karzai is strong on paper, he is weak in fact. The drug trade is surging, the Taliban are creeping back, and real power rests in the hands of the country's many warlords. Instead of disarming the militias, Washington is using them to hunt the remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban. But ordinary Afghans are paying the price. 500-WORD PREVIEW

Foreign Policy for a Democratic President

Samuel R. Berger

By stressing unilateralism over cooperation, preemption over prevention, and firepower over staying power, the Bush administration has alienated the United States' natural allies and disengaged from many of the world's most pressing problems. To restore U.S. global standing--which is essential in checking the spread of lethal weapons and winning the war on terrorism--the next Democratic president must recognize the obvious: that means are as important as ends. FULL TEXT

The Global Baby Bust

Phillip Longman

Most people think overpopulation is one of the worst dangers facing the globe. In fact, the opposite is true. As countries get richer, their populations age and their birthrates plummet. And this is not just a problem of rich countries: the developing world is also getting older fast. Falling birthrates might seem beneficial, but the economic and social price is too steep to pay. The right policies could help turn the tide, but only if enacted before it's too late. 500-WORD PREVIEW

The Payoff From Women's Rights

Isobel Coleman

Backing women's rights in developing countries isn't just good ethics; it's also sound economics. Growth and living standards get a dramatic boost when women are given just a bit more education, political clout, and economic opportunity. So the United States should aggressively promote women's rights abroad. And by couching its case in economic terms, it might even overcome the resistance of conservative Muslim countries that have long balked at gender equality. 500-WORD PREVIEW

Don't Break the Engagement

Elizabeth Economy

This election year may tempt both critics of the Bush administration and hard-liners within it to attack U.S. policy on China. That would be a mistake, however, for engaging Beijing has worked well. Economic growth in China has spurred political liberalization, legal reform, opening of the media, and popular activism. The Bush administration — and those who aspire to replace it — should not let electoral tactics jeopardize sound policy. With respect to China, that means staying the course. 500-WORD PREVIEW

The Road to Damascus

Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson

The Bush administration has shrugged off the Syrian president's recent attempts at rapprochement with the West. It should think again. With Syria's old ally Saddam Hussein gone, Damascus is trapped in a strategic quandary that makes it highly receptive to coercive diplomacy — of the kind that worked on Libya. And by engaging Syria sooner rather than later, the United States could give the Middle East peace process a shove in the right direction. 500-WORD PREVIEW

Native Son: Samuel Huntington Defends the Homeland

Alan Wolfe

In Who Are We?, Samuel Huntington turns his formidable intellect to the challenges posed by immigration. Unfortunately, he has abandoned the clear-eyed realism of his past work in favor of disdainful moralism, whipping up nativist hysteria instead of offering real solutions. FULL TEXT

Recent Books

Each issue of Foreign Affairs includes dozens of capsule reviews of recently published books in the fields of international relations, diplomatic and military history, and related disciplines. Written by the specialists on our distinguished book review panel, thousands of capsule book reviews (dating back to 1973) are available in their full text on the Foreign Affairs Web site. This month: