Essays

Egypt’s Leaderless Revolution

Spring 2015

The January 25 Tahrir Square uprising raised high hopes for change after years of dictatorship. But the failure of revolutionaries to organize and unite doomed the prospects for democracy.

America’s Middle East Challenge

By Mehrdad Saberi and Seyed Hossein Mousavian

Spring 2015

Washington’s foreign policy rests on shaky ground due to longstanding mistrust by Arabs and Iranians alike. To ease tensions and fight terrorism, the United States should support a new order based on cooperation among regional powers.

The United States and Palestine

By Rashid Khalidi

Spring 2015

Despite direct and continuous American diplomacy for decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raged on and on. A Middle East scholar deconstructs seven decades of failed American policy.

After the Fall of Saigon

By Ngo Vinh Long

Spring 2015

The Vietnam War lasted twenty years and cost the lives of more than two million Vietnamese and 58,000 U.S. troops. In the forty years since the Communist victory and American defeat, a surprising friendship has followed.

Bram Fischer’s Legacy

By Sir Nicholas Stadlen

Spring 2015

Nelson Mandela’s leadership steered South Africa to the end of apartheid rule. But the remarkable rapprochement between the races can be traced to Mandela’s friendship with an Afrikaner Nationalist who helped save the country.

#BlackLivesMatter

By Reverend Charles Williams II

Spring 2015

Conservative backlash against Barack Obama and continuing police brutality against blacks indicates the country’s legacy of slavery has not been overcome.

Constitutional Stories

By Aaron Mills

Spring 2015

Why are Canadians so ambivalent about the living conditions imposed on the country’s indigenous peoples, whose political communities survive despite being colonized and disempowered? A report from Turtle Island.

On the State of Nature

By Graham Harman

Spring 2015

Hobbes saw life as nasty and brutish, while Rousseau argued humans lack inherent differences in power and strength. A better framework for understanding division in modern politics: Truth Politics versus Power Politics.

The Promise of Digital

By Dan Gillmor

Winter 2015

People are getting their news on smartphones and laptops, increasingly via Twitter and Facebook. A requiem for serious journalism? A New Media guru explains why we should embrace the Online Age.

Death of the Newsroom?

By Christopher B. Daly

Winter 2015

It’s commonplace to hear that the Internet is the end of great newspapers and broadcasters. Reflect on this: media empires were crumbling long before the World Wide Web came along.

Watchdogs Unleashed

By Brant Houston

Winter 2015

Investigative journalism seemed doomed when the collapse of the traditional business model saw newspapers cutting staff and even closing down. But digital technology is giving determined reporters new opportunities to dig up stories and publish them.

Dangerous Occupation

By Joel Simon

Winter 2015

Digital technology is enabling the spread of news and information across borders and around the world on an unprecedented scale. Yet, the challenges and risks facing professional journalists have never been greater. The executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists tells the story.

Tests for Egyptian Journalists

By Naomi Sakr

Winter 2015

Despite hopes for greater press freedom after the 2011 uprising, Egypt today is one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters. Battling censors and evading detention is all in a day’s work.

Hollywood’s Bad Arabs

By Jack G. Shaheen

Winter 2015

For decades, American films and TV programs have vilified Arabs as villains and terrorists. Now a new generation of directors and producers is challenging racial, gender, and religious stereotypes—and making us laugh and think at the same time.

From Pinstripes to Tweets

By R. S. Zaharna

Winter 2015

Gone are the days when diplomats could control messages crafted to influence foreign governments and citizens of other nations. Thanks to social media tools, publics are talking back—and to each other. Diplomacy will never be the same.

Putin the Spoiler

By Lilia Shevtsova

Winter 2015

With his undeclared war on Ukraine, the Russian president destroyed the post-Cold War system of mutual security commitments. In a quest to sustain his power, “Mr. Nobody” has released forces that he cannot contain.

The Man Behind “Unmanned”

By Robert Greenwald

Fall 2014

A Hollywood director tells how he tracked down an American drone pilot and Pakistani victims of drone strikes to make the powerful documentary film Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars.

Compromise in Kabul

By Thomas Barfield

Fall 2014

Ashraf Ghani became the new president of Afghanistan in a power-sharing deal that followed a contested election. Can he now address poor governance, corruption and the Taliban insurgency?

What Went Wrong

By Edward Girardet

Fall 2014

The American-led invasion and occupation of Afghanistan is proving to be a failure. A military approach thwarted a long-term development strategy for the country. With foreign troops on the way out, the country braces for its uncertain fate.

The Taliban Question

By Zahid Hussain

Fall 2014

It is unlikely that the Taliban insurgency will topple the Kabul government and return to power anytime soon. But the group could command the Pashtun region—and threaten security in Pakistan across the border.