Essays
A Conversation with Senator John Danforth

The former Senator, UN Ambassador and Episcopal priest talks with Walter Russell Mead about religion and politics at home and abroad.

Toolbox: Dirty Money

Eight suggestions for stopping over $1 trillion worth of ill-gotten gains from flowing annually across international borders.

Between Relativism and Fundamentalism

Neither relativism nor fundamentalism offers a basis for reasoned discourse on moral choices. We need a revitalized “protestant” middle way.

Toolbox: CEPAs

China is seizing the initiative in Asian economic diplomacy. U.S. policy should respond with CEPAs—the first one with Japan.

War Stories

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, most Americans wanted to fight the terrorists and the regimes that aided them. Even before that year ended, however, some voices warned that the impulsive, reckless policies of the Bush Administration would ultimately pose more of a danger to Americans and their way of life than the terrorists and their […]

Originalist Sin

How historical periods are defined depends on the purposes of the definer. Geologists look to rock structure, demarking eras such as the Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic. Economists look to the primary source of wealth: the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, the Industrial Age and now the Information Age. Chroniclers of foreign affairs look to […]

Business Bombs

Some terrorists these days are in it just for the money, but that doesn’t make them a pocket change problem.

Black Ship Ghosts

What are the sources of the American image around the world? How has it changed in recent years? And what, if anything, can the U.S. government do to shape that image? The American Interest posed these questions to a distinguished group of international observers. Their answers reflect diverse histories and circumstances, and offer some useful […]

The Trouble with USAID

USAID is a mess. Can the Administration’s recent reform package fix it up?

Reflecting on China

What are the sources of the American image around the world? How has it changed in recent years? And what, if anything, can the U.S. government do to shape that image? The American Interest posed these questions to a distinguished group of international observers. Their answers reflect diverse histories and circumstances, and offer some useful […]

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