Preeti Aroon

The Antelope's Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide. How would you feel if the men who killed your family moved back to your town? Jean Hatzfeld interviews Rwanda's genocide survivors and killers released from prison in the early 2000s in an exploration of the difficulty of reconciliation. (Note: The book will be out in March 2009; I'm reading a review copy.)

Jerome Chen

"The New York Times' Lonely War." In Vanity Fair's December issue, Seth Mnookin looks at one of the few U.S. media outlets to maintain a presence in Iraq -- the Times' Baghdad bureau. Remarking that "135 journalists have been killed there since 2003," the Iraq War, he says, "has been, by any measure, one of the most dangerous conflicts to cover in the history of modern journalism."

Elizabeth Dickinson

Closing Guantánamo is on the short list of top priorities for the incoming Obama administration. In Harper's "Justice after Bush: Prosecuting an Outlaw Administration," lawyer Scott Horton imagines Bush officials standing trial and suggests a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would trade confessions for amnesty.

Rebecca Frankel

"All Options Are on the Table." Der Spiegel talks to Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan about his country's biggest military challenges and what Israel would be willing to do should Iran manage to develop nuclear weapons. "The Air Force is a very robust and flexible force," Nehushtan says. "We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us."

Blake Hounshell

Four active-duty officers -- Lt. Col. Robert A. Downey, Lt. Col Lee K. Grubbs, Cdr. Brian J. Malloy, and Lt. Col. Craig R. Wonson -- explain how a surge in Afghanistan might work for the Small Wars Journal (pdf). The bad news? It's going to require eight brigades, or up to 40,000 additional troops.

David Kenner

"Disney Set to Entertain Middle East." The Financial Times reports that Walt Disney is making its first film marketed towards the Middle East. Because of the large number of young people in the region, and the limited number of films made targeting an Arab audience, Disney is hoping to produce a family movie that "will play to families from North Africa to the Gulf states."

Photo: JOSE CENDON/AFP/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon

"Innocents Abroad" and nine other vignettes about studying abroad in Washington Post Magazine. These short pieces offer a sense of how such an experience can provide American college students with the epiphanies and life lessons -- on identity, race, heritage, and patriotism -- needed to navigate our increasingly interconnected world.

Jerome Chen

"The Edge of an Empire" in the New Statesman. Alice Albinia travels to the western region of Xinjiang, where a progressive Muslim society may not survive growing Chinese influence. Often overlooked, Xinjiang suffers many of the same problems as Tibet: ethnic strife between the locals and the majority Han Chinese and a deep resentment of Beijing rule.

Elizabeth Dickinson

For more than a year now, we've seen both U.S. presidential candidates make their cases on the campaign trail. Seldom do we get to read their words outside a transcript, but the Wall Street Journal offers editorials by both Barack Obama and John McCain today. Read about "Change We Need" vs. "What We're Fighting For" one last time. Then vote!

Rebecca Frankel

"The Test." New Yorker writer Steve Coll argues that "great presidencies can arise only from great causes." The real test causes awaiting tomorrow's champ? Energy economy and healthcare. He adds the shocking detail that more U.S. deaths result each year from lack of health insurance than from murder.

Blake Hounshell

Imperial Hubris, pp. 47-58. Is Michael Scheuer's "list of ignored Afghan checkables" coming back to haunt us? "The reestablishment of an Islamic regime in Kabul is as close to an inevitability as exists," the former CIA analyst wrote in 2004. "One hopes that Karzai and the rest of the Westernized, secular, and followerless Afghan expatriates installed in Kabul are able to get out with their lives."

Joshua Keating

Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship. The author, Harper's editor Ken Silverstein, had a novel idea for how to expose the corruption of Washington lobbying. Posing as a shady energy company representative looking to do business in repressive Turkmenistan, he let elite lobbying companies bid for the right to clean up the country's image. Silverstein's "scam" pays off, but the book feels like an overly padded version of a magazine piece, which is exactly what it is. 

David Kenner

"Two Crucial U.S. Allies Display Divergent Loyalties." In The National, writer Philip Sands profiles two of Iraq's powerful tribal sheikhs -- Sheikh Amash, who fought al Qaeda and Sunni extremists, and Sheikh Malik, who funded the very same insurgents -- examining their very different outlooks, while foreshadowing the fighting that will likely occur as U.S. forces prepare for withdrawal.

Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon

"One Man's Plan to Save a Natural Treasure" on CBS's 60 Minutes. A decade ago, wealthy American entrepreneur Greg Carr devoted himself to developing Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park. By repopulating it with animals that had nearly been decimated by years of war and poaching, he hopes to promote tourism and improve the lives of the impoverished people there.

Elizabeth Dickinson

Yesterday in Djibouti, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the opposition Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia signed a two-page peace agreement. Key to the long overdue accord is the withdrawal of the unpopular Ethiopian forces now occupying the country. Sadly, one of the main leaders of the Islamic Courts (which ruled Somalia before the Ethiopian invasion in late 2006), has rejected the deal, vowing "the jihad will carry on."

Rebecca Frankel

While many writers are focused on Sarah Palin's très expensive wardrobe and rumors of her going rogue on the McCain campaign, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer reports on how Palin actually got the VP slot. Couple this new view into the Alaska governor's mansion with musings like those of Marc Ambinder and the breadth of Palin's political ambitions take new shape.   

Joshua Keating

"The Godfather of Bangalore" by Scott Carney in Wired. This story of the mafia don-turned-real estate mogul who helps global IT companies navigate the anarchic property market in India's cybercapital is one of those Wired articles that makes you feel as if the world is fast becoming a William Gibson novel.

David Kenner

"Iranian Strategy in Iraq: Policy and 'Other Means,'" put out by Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, relies on declassified intelligence reports from Iraqi detainees trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. The Iraqi insurgents apparently preferred their Hezbollah trainers to the Iranians, because they "speak Arabic and treat [them] with respect," while something of a culture clash developed between the Iraqis and their Persian neighbors.

Preeti Aroon

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. A letter to the editor in today's Washington Post explains why it's perfect reading for Gen. David Petraeus, who has been consulting authors as he prepares his strategy for Afghanistan, as it's a powerful story of how to win hearts and minds.

Jerome Chen

In "Their Own Worst Enemy," James Fallows shows how China is shooting itself in the foot with bobbled PR gestures. Why announce sanctioned "protest areas" for the Olympics, only to have the international press find out all applicants were turned down and some even arrested? Perhaps China is still far from realizing its own international reputation.

Elizabeth Dickinson

When it comes to economic turmoil, one of the few places I turn to for reason and decency is my old employer, The Economist. "When Fortune Frowned" expounds on how it was cheap money, poor oversight, overseas currency reserves, and not just a "drunken" Wall Street that sunk property values. In agreement with FP's Moises Naim, The Economist warns that the response to the crisis could worsen the economy more than the crisis itself.

Rebecca Frankel

While not about ice cream, Robert Kuttner's "The Case for Plain Vanilla" has a certain delish factor. In calling for a return to a more pure financial system, Kuttner employs language this old lit major can grab on to, such as when he compares the risk-spreading factor of derivatives to "the way an epidemic spreads diphtheria."

Blake Hounshell

"This Week in Magazines: Dirty Elections Edition," at the Huffington Post. James Warren romps through last week's "World's Ugliest Elections" list, but wonders why FP didn't include Zimbabwe. Answer: We purposely excluded elections marred by massive electoral fraud and violence and just focused on those characterized by searing personal attacks.

Joshua Keating

Peter Suderman of the new conservative online magazine Culture11 disliked Oliver Stone's W. more than I did, but he makes a good point: The left-wing director and his subject have some things in common. "Like Bush, Stone is a man of great ambition, stubbornness, and personal confidence, and he's just as likely to embark on grand projects he clearly hasn't thought all the way through." Any Given Sunday and Alexander aren't on quite the same scale as Iraq and Guantánamo, but you get the picture.

David Kenner

In "The Things He Carried," Jeffrey Goldberg tries desperately to be flagged by airport security. He passes through security checkpoints with fake boarding passes, a polyurethane bladder filled with beer, even his trusty "Osama bin Laden, Hero of Islam" T-shirt -- all to no avail. America's airport security procedures, he comes to realize, are more for show than protection.

Preeti Aroon

The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs, by Charles D. Ellis. Goldman Sachs has certainly fared better than Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. The secret to its success in surviving rocky times, including the Great Depression, is revealed in this book, reviewed in the New York Times yesterday.

Jerome Chen

It's no secret that water is considered a precious resource in much of the developing world (and also in California, to be sure). "Ebb without flow: Water may be the new oil in a thirsty global economy," published by the folks at Wharton, my alma mater, explores water's crucial role in development and addresses some of the attendant ethical issues. For example, when oil prices rise, many can afford to cut back. But water? Not so much.

Elizabeth Dickinson

Aisha Labi looks at the global rankings of universities in "Obsession with Rankings Goes Global," in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Whether it's to boost their funding, their applicant pool, or merely their national pride, universities have started pandering more and more to the reviewers. Nothing wrong with accountability, but some would prefer the students -- rather than the rankings -- to the be the test.

Blake Hounshell

Warren Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist. Thirteen years later, Roger Lowenstein's portrait of the Sage of Omaha remains the definitive biography. But if you're seeking insight into how to be like Buffett during this financial crisis, good luck. "Never lose money" isn't exactly actionable advice for most of us.

Joshua Keating

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin. A great look at the extent to which the U.S. legal system is largely defined by the idiosyncratic personalities of a small group of sometimes very odd people. Gossipy details like Clarence Thomas's love of RV travel and Anthony Kennedy's hideous office carpet alone are worth the read. And if you believe Noah Feldman's recent account of U.S. judges, it is those very quirky characters who are the movers and shakers of the world policy stage.

David Kenner

According to two former military intercept officers, whose tale makes up ABC's "Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on Americans," the U.S. military is spying on telephone conversations of ordinary Americans who happen to be living in the Middle East and have nothing to do with terrorism. The military interceptors often shared "salacious or tantalizing phone calls" made by U.S. military officers, journalists, and aid workers for their own amusement.

Preeti Aroon

"Spare Me the Sermon on Muslim Women," by Mohja Kahf in the Washington Post. "Being a Muslim woman is a joyful thing," says Kahf, before she goes on to list the many ways Islam is pro-women. She may have some valid points, but that certainly doesn’t mean Islam is practiced in a pro-women way in all places.

Jerome Chen

"Have Pentecostalism, will travel." As Sarah Palin's public profile grows, many are questioning her religious practices. Christian fundamentalism is common in the United States, of course. In the Times Literary Supplement, David Martin explores the side of the Alaska Governor's faith in which believers receive special gifts from God -- talking in tongues, for example. It also offers surprising insights into how Pentecostalism has gone global.

Elizabeth Dickinson

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance. Sudanese entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim thinks he knows how to make government more accountable: reward it. Several years ago, his foundation began awarding $5 million grants to the best of African leaders. The Foundation also ranks governments throughout the continent on everything from services to safety to economic growth.

Rebecca Frankel

People are still squabbling over who is qualified to be a heartbeat from the presidency after Thursday night's vice presidential debate. But in 1974, the late historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. took that question one step further in, "Is the Vice Presidency Necessary?" for the Atlantic Monthly. "[Presidents] pick a running mate," he writes, "because of intricate and generally mistaken calculations about the contribution he will make to victory at the polls."

Blake Hounshell

“Meet Neel Kashkari: The Man With the $700 Billion Wallet,” by Heidi N. Moore of Deal Journal, the Wall Street Journal blog. Kashkari is the bald-pated Goldman Sachs alumnus and former aerospace engineer tasked with handling the U.S. Treasury Department’s $700 toxic-waste dump. Maybe he can figure out how to make this turkey fly.

Joshua Keating

The rise and fall Muxtape, a file-sharing site that let users create 12-song mixes from their personal MP3 collections for online streaming, is a great example of the American recording industry spoiling the fun for music lovers around the world. Founder "Justin" details decisive run-ins with the Recording Industry Association of America, including meetings where he was told both "You are a willful infringer and we are mere hours from shutting you down" and "Assuming we don't shut you down, how do you see us working together?" New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones also weighs in.

Preeti Aroon

"Gebrselassie supplants own marathon mark, going under 2.04:00," by the Associated Press. While Americans were distracted by the financial bailout plan yesterday, something amazing happened. Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie broke the marathon world record that he himself had set last year. He ran the marathon distance of 26.2 miles (42.2 km) in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 59 seconds!

Elizabeth Dickinson

Reading Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is like getting on an amusement park ride designed for travel-thirsty adults. Get ready for an education in Domican Republic history from its politics to its folklore. Emotions ride high in this funky and fashionable novel that offers great cultural insight into the Dominican diaspora and the United States, where so many of its people have landed.

Rebecca Frankel

"Benjamin Franklin: City Slicker," by Jerry Weinberger offers quite a few delicious anecdotes about "the first American" and his love of city life abroad. But there's far more than cheeky details about his hobnobbing savvy and appetite for socialite dames -- indeed, the author calls him "sexy." In addition to discovering that Franklin preferred the urban scape to America's rural terrain, there are relevant examples to be absorbed particulary in terms of Franklin's diplomatic finesse, his penchant for city planning, and his ability to rally the public when it would otherwise be divided.  

Blake Hounshell

"The risk of a total systemic meltdown is now as high as ever," by Nouriel Roubini. Any blog post that leads off with the words, "Let me explain now in more detail why we are now back to the risk of a total systemic financial meltdown" is probably worth reading.

Joshua Keating

"Playing With Gunfire" by Brian Howe in Paste. At the same time war-themed video games are becoming more realistic, actual warfare is becoming more "virtual." Howe talks to game designers and military personnel to explore the moral gray area where the two meet.

Preeti Aroon

"Fast Lane to the Future," by Don Belt in National Geographic. India has a new, elegantly named, 3,633-mile superhighway, the Golden Quadrilateral, that links four population hubs -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai. India hopes it will vroom the economy to new heights, similar to the benefits of the U.S. interstate highway system.

Elizabeth Dickinson

Since the financial crisis starting brewing a year ago, I've been looking for good "explainers" (read: little jargon, lots of thought) to make sense of the economy. The Big Picture is one of the best places I've found online. Blogger Barry Ritholtz monitors the news, offers his take, and scrutinizes the takes of others. A host of other informative blogs can be found here -- a girl (or boy) needs many sources to think through this many bailouts.

Rebecca Frankel

"Why is Obama so vapid, hesitant, and gutless?" In his regular Slate slot, Christopher Hitchens mercilessly muses on the reasons why presidential candidate Barack Obama is having trouble slaying his competition. Although Obama fans will shudder when Hitchens suggests that their candidate is heading down the path of failed presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis, he makes an interesting stab at identifying the former law professor's potential Achilles heel. 

Blake Hounshell

"In Defense of the Paulson Plan," by Nadav Manham at Seeking Alpha. Few have come forward to defend the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout plan. Manham, who thinks it can work "if it acts as a catalyst for future positive events rather than being seen as the end in itself," gives it the old college try.

Joshua Keating 

"A Rising Tide" and "Economies of Scales." I never thought I would have any interest in fishing-quota management, but thanks to these two pieces from The Economist on property rights-based schemes for protecting commercial fisheries, I really want to understand more about how this works. According to the piece, when fishermen can buy transferable fishing rights, they are far less likely to overfish than those where fishing rights are time-limited. Anyone have recommendations?

Kate Palmer

"A Peace from the Bottom Up." In his column in today's Washington Post, Jackson Diehl ruefully reminds us of the days when the Israel-Palestine conflict was the world's most pressing. Now, even though it's overshadowed by everything from Pakistan to the global financial mess, he says, there's still a smart way to solve it -- one that doesn't mirror the fragile, short-sighted promises of the past.

Preeti Aroon

"The World Isn’t So Dark," by Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek and the Washington Post. To reveal key differences in how the U.S. presidential candidates approach foreign policy, Zarakia says they should be asked, "What kind of a world do we live in?" He says Obama's vision is closer to reality and argues that since World War II, the United States has tended to make strategic mistakes by exaggerating threats.

Elizabeth Dickinson

"Africa: U.S.A./Africa - New Policy Prospects?" This collection of essays and opinions from Africa highlights the successes and failures of the United States' policy towards the continent, and looks forward to what changes or advances a new president might bring. The verdict? Obama-mania has hit the African continent. But when it comes to trade, Darfur, Somalia, repressive regimes, immigration, military cooperation, human rights, and health, he's got work to do. And wow, lots of it, it seems.

Rebecca Frankel

"Is Pornography Adultery?" Atlantic senior editor Ross Douthat offers a nuanced look at how the Internet Age phenomenon of easy-access pornography fits in with the age-old issue of adultery. How many clicks does it take to qualify as an adulterer? And could simply embracing online porn save the institution of marriage?

Blake Hounshell

"The Terrible Lessons of Bear Stearns." Finance blogger Barry Ritholtz compares the cases of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. Lesson No. 1: "Modest incompetence is insufficient -- if you merely destroy your own company, you won't get rescued. You have to threaten to bring down the entire global financial system." Good to know.

Joshua Keating

"Transcript of Dmitry Medvedev's Meeting with the Participants in the International Club Valdai." The full text of Medvedev's surprisingly candid talk last Friday with a visiting group of international political scientists (at a famous Moscow department store for some reason) is well worth a read. The president answers some fairly tough questions on foreign-policy hot topics and at one point admits that "in Russia unfortunately there is no real understanding of the value of law."

Preeti Aroon

"Risking Armageddon for Cold, Hard Cash," by Mira Kamdar in the Washington Post. While Americans were distracted with Sarah Palin last week, India and the United States were pushing along a controversial nuclear agreement -- one that places the interests of money-hungry corporations ahead of people's safety from a nuclear Armageddon, argues Kamdar.

Elizabeth Dickinson

"The Battle Within," by Erin Emery and David Olinger in the Denver Post. We've all heard about the very serious personal toll of the Iraq war -- one that affects soldiers and their families long after returning from the field. But in this special report, the Denver Post follows the stories of countless soldiers forced to redeploy to the front lines while sick, injured, traumatized, and at risk of suicide. Talk about an uphill battle.

Rebecca Frankel

"On Stupidity," in the Chronicle of Higher Education. William Pannapacker, writing under a pen name, examines a selection of books that seek to explain the "stupidity crisis" supposedly plaguing the United States and then reviews how those problems are infiltrating the classroom. The author, an English professor, argues that since 9/11, "American anti-intellectualism has grown more powerful, pervasive, and dangerous than at any time in our history." See also "On Stupidity, Part 2."

Blake Hounshell

"Lt. Gen. William Odom (1932-2008)." David Donadio of Doublethink Online pays tribute to Bill Odom, the outspoken FP contributor and former National Security Agency chief who died in May after a long and storied career. As former Carter administration advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski described him, "He was one of those very lucky people who stood for something and he rose nonetheless."

Joshua Keating

The Gulag Archipelago. When I first read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in high school, the methods used by Soviet goons to extract false confessions from political prisoners that he described -- sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures, "stress positions," forced standing, sexual humiliation -- were called torture. Rereading him today, I know that they're just "alternative interrogation techniques."

Preeti Aroon

"A Reluctant Master of the Universe" in the Washington Post. Bryan Burrough reviews Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, by Philip Delves Broughton, which the reviewer says should be renamed "Harvard B-School for Dummies." Thinking about going to business school? You should probably read this book first.

Travis Daub

"U.S. Satellite Shootdown: The Inside Story," by James Oberg in IEEE Spectrum. A behind-the-scenes look at the Pentagon's decision to shoot down a failing U.S. satellite back in February reveals that it may not have been a veiled missile-defense test after all.

Patrick Fitzgerald

A Path Out of the Desert. I saw Brookings Middle East expert Kenneth Pollack talk about his book last month at Washington bookstore Politics and Prose, and loved this takeaway about American interests in the region: "The Middle East ain't Vegas, what happens there doesn't stay there." Max Rodenbeck, Middle East correspondent for The Economist, is less enthused in his review for the New York Times, castigating Pollack's "grand strategy" for "outdated" generalizations and "a shaky grasp of history." Ouch.

Blake Hounshell

"Driven: Shai Agassi's Audacious Plan to Put Electric Cars on the Road," by Daniel Roth in Wired. Although in some ways it's a typical, breathless "this invention will change everything!" tech piece, Roth's is by far the best in-depth look I've seen at the former SAP executive's bid to turn Israel into a paradise for electric cars. Agassi had better come up with a much cooler name for his company than Better Place, however, if he ever wants to sell his ideas to a mass audience.

Joshua Keating

The Orwell Diaries. What if George Orwell had blogged? That's the somewhat strange idea behind this project to post the one of the author's diary entries from 1938 through 1942 every day, exactly 70 years after each one was written. Unfortunately, if you're looking for insights into the great events of Orwell's era, it's pretty disapointing so far. He seems to have been almost exclusively focused on English plant life during the summer of '38.

Preeti Aroon

"Little Bill Clinton: A School Year in the Life of a New American," by Mary Wiltenburg of the Christian Science Monitor. Bill Clinton Hadam was born in 1999 in a refugee camp in Tanzania. In 2006, he moved to the United States with his family to begin a new life. The CSM follows him this school year with a series of blog posts, articles, and videos. 

Blake Hounshell

"Russia Invades Georgia: Defense Contractors Declare Victory." The Washington Independent's Matthew Blake (no relation) blogs about how Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and their pal Jack Murtha are gearing up for a renewed push on big weapons systems.

Joshua Keating

The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus by Charles King. This one's been sitting on my shelf for a while, but I finally cracked it open for obvious reasons.

Kate Palmer

"The Impossible Conversation" in New York, Aug. 18 issue. An excellent package on how race is shaping the 08 campaign—and our broader political culture. John Heilemann's essay on why Obama's skin color is still an issue and Patricia J. Williams's article on the mistakes Americans make when supposedly "confronting" race are particularly worth a read.

Preeti Aroon

"A Priest Walks Into Qatar and …" by Ryan J. Maher in the Washington Post. Maher, a Jesuit priest who taught a theology course in Qatar, says American students lack a "felt-in-the-bone understanding of what it is to live one's life committed to one's faith." When it comes to international relations, that is a problem.

Patrick Fitzgerald

"War crimes trial gets underway Monday at Guantánamo," by Carol Rosenberg in Sunday's Miami Herald. Rosenberg tackles the key questions about the trial of Salim Hamdan, better known as Osama bin Laden's former driver, as he faces the United States' first war-crimes tribunal since World War II.

Blake Hounshell

"The King of Green Investing." Richard Shaffer profiles Vinod Khosla (right), the legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist, for Fast Company. Khosla has sunk more than $450 million of his own money into "green" startup companies, and now his old firm is following his lead.

Katie Hunter

"Dear Barack Obama," a guide in this week's New Republic to the Democratic nominee about his upcoming visit to Israel. Yossi Klein Halevi tells Obama what to expect in a nation blessed by economic prosperity and plagued by security problems, and explains why Israel is more worried right now about finding solutions to the Iran problem rather than the Palestinian one.

Joshua Keating

"How Not to do an American Accent," by Stephen Robb for the BBC. Americans and Brits all think they can imitate each other. They are wrong. The BBC's correspondent took a course with Hollywood's top accent coach and still came out sounding like a "slightly camp game show host with an occasional lisp." (After watching the video, I would say that description is generous.)

Preeti Aroon

"Incentivized Birth: How Russia’s Baby-Boosting Policies Are Hurting the Population," by Yasha Levine for Slate. Last September, I blogged about how couples in the Ulyanovsk region of Russia were given a day off to conceive a child and boost the area's population. Nine months later, it turns out that there was a baby boom, but how it seems to have happened reveals how government policies can have unintended consequences.

Alex Ely

The Atlantic's Mark Bowden takes an intimate look at Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the Wall Street Journal and what the media mogul's conquests might mean for the future of journalism. After spending last summer in London and seeing some of Murdoch's other prized publications (see: The Sun's Page 3), I was initially quite skeptical of this takeover. Bowden makes me slightly less so.

Patrick Fitzgerald

"Is Fournier saving or destroying the AP?" Politico's Michael Calderone profiles new AP Washington Bureau chief Ron Fournier, whose emphasis on "cutting away the clutter" aims to move away from the "he said, she said" reporting that often mars political coverage. Predictably, not everyone's happy about the new approach.

Katie Hunter

War Journal, by NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel. Engel follows up 2004's A Fist in the Hornet's Nest with more harrowing coverage of his time in Iraq. This time, civil war and post-war reconstruction efforts dominate the narrative, as does talk of Iran's increasing influence. Don't miss Engel's candid interview with President Bush, whose knowledge of Iraq might surprise you.

Joshua Keating

"Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas," by Mark Jenkins in National Geographic. This feature on the killing of seven rare mountain gorillas in Congo's dangerous Virunga National Park last year is equal parts war reporting, environmental exposé, and compelling whodunnit.

Carolyn O'Hara

One Person Trend Stories, a hilarious mock-blog devoted to skewering the thinly sourced trend stories that seem to be the norm these days.

Patrick Fitzgerald

"Obama's Iraq Problem," by George Packer in the New Yorker. Packer, whose 2005 book Assassin's Gate is the best I've read on Iraq, offers the prospective Democratic nominee some sage advice on how to deal with the signs of stability coming from Baghdad. In order to avoid looking "outdated and out of touch," Packer advises Obama to focus on the future, finding "an honorable way to end" a war that never should have started in the first place.

Blake Hounshell

Oxford International Review, once a journal exclusively available to the global elite, has opened up its subscription model and now even has a group blog focused on sovereign wealth funds. Amid all the hype about SWFs, it's good to see some independent, objective research such as OIR's look at what Chinese commentators are saying about the $200 billion China Investment Corporation.

Katie Hunter

"Putin's Labyrinth," a look into the Russian leader's web of power and diabolical dealings by Businessweek correspondent Steve Levine. From the Second Chechen war to the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Livitikenko, Levine investigates Putin's ties to all the shady and shameful dealings that have taken place since the Yeltsin years.

Joshua Keating

"Barack's Pilgrimage," by Gershom Gorenberg in the American Prospect. The recent FP contributor has some ideas for what Barack Obama ought to see when he visits Israel, if only security concerns, political correctness, and electoral politics did not exist.

Carolyn O'Hara

"China’s Guerrilla War for the Web," (sub. req'd) by David Bandurski in the new issue of Far Eastern Economic Review. Bandurski provides a fascinating glimpse at the tens of thousands of Chinese Web users who, trained and financed by the CCP, form commentary teams to "guide" public opinion in chat rooms and forums.

Preeti Aroon

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. "This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else," Zakaria writes. The United States isn't going to be No. 1 in everything much longer, and as "the rest" gains power, expect nationalism to rise the world over. (Note: Zakaria refers to "Rogue Aid," a column by FP Editor in Chief Moisés Naím, on page 117.)

Alex Ely

An quirky piece in the New York Sun shows that not only will the United States have a left-handed president in January (Obama and McCain are both southpaws) but that over the past 35 years, five U.S. Presidents have been lefties. This is hardly representative of the national average, where only 10 percent of Americans are lefties.

Patrick Fitzgerald

What Does China Think? While the West sees a country chasing capitalism with reckless abandon, self-proclaimed "accidental Sinologist" Mark Leonard chronicles a growing intellectual rift in China between a "New Right" and "New Left" over the role of government in the market and how to address rising concerns about inequality and corruption.

Katie Hunter

"The Border Fence Folly" in The New Republic. Melanie Mason gives six reasons why a (bigger) U.S.-Mexico border fence won't work. Some of her arguments are nothing new -- border fencing is enormously costly and also ineffective at stemming the immigrant tide. "Legal dubiousness" and "environmental impact" are two more surprising arguments against the wall. Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff recently waived more than 30 environmental and land-management laws to further fence construction, jeopardizing regional wildlife and vegetation.

Joshua Keating

"Traffic incident gives insight into Russia's corrupt legal system," by Mark Franchetti in the Sunday Times. This is a better read than the matter-of-fact headline would suggest. After driving his motorcycle onto the sidewalk and nearly colliding with a Moscow prosecutor, a Times correspondent finds himself on the wrong side of Russia's arbitrary judicial system.

Preeti Aroon

"Eyeing Tourism, Haiti Battles Its Violent Reputation," by Reed Lindsay in the Christian Science Monitor. Think Haiti is filled with gangs, muggings, and flaming street blockades? Think again, says this article. Data shows that it is one of the region's safest countries. Violence is localized to a few slums in the capital. (Of note: Haiti is one of the world's most improved countries in the just-released 2008 Failed States Index.)

Alex Ely

Are things finally brewing over in Zimbabwe? The Guardian reports today that the United States and Britain are leading an international condemnation of the shameful political violence there, labeling Mugabe-run Zimbabwe "not legitimate." No word yet on where South Africa's Thabo Mbeki stands, or if he cares.

Blake Hounshell

"Getting this off my chest about the Olympics," at theAtlantic.com. James Fallows explains the multifarious ways in which "the Chinese government that has worked so hard to make these Olympics happen is now perversely working to screw up their international effect."

Katie Hunter

The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS, by journalist-turned-epidemiologist Elisabeth Pisani. Pisani explores the seamy underbelly of Asia to record data on the terrible disease and its transmission, challenging conventional wisdom on everything from the poverty-AIDS link to the role of NGOs and governments in stopping the virus's spread. The book will make you reconsider everything you thought you knew about HIV/AIDS.

Joshua Keating

Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia. In this engaging travelogue, Tom Bissel explores Uzbekistan, the country where he had an emotional breakdown as a Peace Corps volunteer years earlier, and reports on the vanishing Aral Sea.

Preeti Aroon

"Stars (and Stripes) in Their Eyes" by Azadeh Moaveni in the Washington Post. Iranians are one of the most pro-American populations in the Middle East. It's President Ahmadinejad they can't stand.

Alex Ely

"The Last Good Campaign," excerpts from Thurston Clarke's dramatic account of Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign published in Vanity Fair. With all of the parallels drawn between this year's presidential contest and that of 1968, Thurston's brilliant storytelling recalls a time in American history that we would be wise to remember.

Blake Hounshell

"Mugabe And Ahmadinejad Left Out Of UN Summit Dinner." Reuters reports that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Robert Mugabe won't be eating with the rest of the heads of state at the U.N.'s summit on the global food crisis. It couldn't have happened to a nicer pair of gents.

Joshua Keating

"Anti-Emo Riots in Mexico: ¡Pánico en el Disco!" by Joseph Contreras in Spin. Newsweek's Latin America editor examines the bizarre epidemic of violence against Mexican emo fans, often at the hands of punks and other youth subcultures. It's a little hard to understand why emos in particular are so reviled, but a lot of it just seems like thinly veiled homophobia. The article, in the June issue of Spin, isn't online yet, but the magazine has posted some disturbing YouTube videos that show the level of abuse these kids face.

Preeti Aroon

"World to Peace Corps: Skilled Volunteers Needed," by Nicholas Benequista for the Christian Science Monitor. Last year, Ethiopian officials politely told the Peace Corps that they needed people with serious expertise, not just unskilled young adults brimming with enthusiasm. Soon, they could be getting more of what they want. For more on the challenges facing the government agency, check out "Think Again: Peace Corps."

Mike Boyer

"The Truth About Putin and Medvedev," in the New York Review of Books. Amy Night reviews Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Milov's Putin: The Results: An Independent Expert Report, a publication which the Kremlin has gone out of its way to make sure ordinary Russians know nothing about. And understandably. Its results are damning, to say the least.

Blake Hounshell

"World Bank backs anti-AIDS experiment," by Andrew Jack in the Financial Times. Call it "reverse prostitution." In a novel experiment, a consortium of groups is paying rural Tanzanians not to contract STDs.

Joshua Keating

"Russia's region of 'lawlessness'" by James Rodgers of BBC News. Chechnya, which lies inside Russia's "zone of anti-terrorist operations," is typically entirely off-limits to foreign journalists. The BBC's correspondent hitched a ride with a Council of Europe delegation and found a place where appearances have improved but "something terrible has clearly happened."

Prerna Mankad

"Hedge funds muck in down on the farm," in the Financial Times. James Macintosh and Kate Burgess highlight the latest financial industry trend: hedge funds buying up acres of farmland across Australia, South America, and Eastern Europe. If food prices continue to rise as they are betting, a few rich people will likely get a whole lot richer.

Preeti Aroon

"Cubans now can enjoy cellphones, DVDs ... legally," by Sara Miller Llana of the Christian Science Monitor. Cubans can now own cellphones and DVD players, as well as stay at hotels once limited to foreign tourists, thanks to Raúl Castro. But given that the average Cuban's monthly salary is $17, the new president's changes may be more politically symbolic than economically liberating.

Blake Hounshell

"Caution: NAFTA at Work," in Miller-McCune. Princeton's Douglas Massey argues that only by massively deepening its economic integration with Mexico can the United States solve its illegal-immigration problem. (Hat tip: Matt Yglesias)

Joshua Keating

"After America: Is the West Being Overtaken by the Rest," by Ian Buruma in the New Yorker. Buruma reviews the "grand thesis" of the West's decline and Asia's rise as it appears in new books by Fareed Zakaria, Robert Kagan, and Bill Emmott. He concludes that, even in the new Asian order, the U.S. will continue to play an indespensible role. "Democracy would be a far more persuasive model than Chinese or Russian autocracy," he cautions, "if some of its main proponents were less eager to believe that the open society comes out of the barrel of a gun."

Prerna Mankad

Carolyn O'Hara

"The New E-spionage Threat" in BusinessWeek. In a recent interview with FP, former U.S. counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke describes Chinese hacks on U.S. government and defense industry computers as "massive espionage." BW's cover story this week examines the growing threat.