Essays
Wikipedia Commons
Institutional Decay
The Fall of Jim Wright—and the House of Representatives

If you want to understand what’s gone wrong in Congress, the career of Jim Wright offers a good place to start.

YANA LAPIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images
Governing Russia
After the Crimean Consensus

Russia’s “managed democracy” is still far from competitive, but it’s experiencing increased political friction as stakeholders demand more concessions from the Kremlin.

( Warren K. Leffler / Wikimedia Commons)
Looking Back
Greatness and Goodness: Parting Thoughts on 1968

How was the smaller, poorer America of 1968—a country not always good but often great—able to accomplish so much that we deem impossible today?

History Lesson
A Jew’s Guide to New Year’s Eve

As everyone knows, the evening of December 31 is New Year’s Eve. But why is December 31 New Year’s Eve? And why is the next year the number 2019?

Wikimedia Commons
More Than A Feeling
The US-Brazil Relationship Must Be More Than Friendship

With the election of Jair Bolsonaro, U.S.-Brazil relations stand to gain a great deal—but only if Trump makes a concerted diplomatic effort.

New World Disorder
Shoring Up NATO Is in Europe’s Own Interest

Increased European investment in defense is about more than just “burden sharing” or Europe paying its “fair share.” Europe’s vital national security interests–and the future of the West—are at stake.

Year In Review
The Top Books of 2018

A short guide to some of the best reads from the past year.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Why Veterans Run
Flag Pins and Shoulder Patches

More and more veterans are running for Congress. Can the members of one of America’s most-trusted institutions turn around the dismal fortunes of one of its least-trusted ones?

© Netflix
At the Movies
The Death of the Auteur

Orson Welles’s final film, newly completed after four decades in limbo, is a fascinating paradox: a deeply personal but radically collaborative project, which speaks as much to our time as to his.

(Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
European Disunion
Brexit Watch: Nasty Normal Europe

Brexit in all its banal futility shows a return to the normal nastiness of Europe, after a 70-year hiatus of borrowed stability paid for by America.

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