Big Talk

Where I grew up, the code of the hills says (among many other things) to never talk a bigger game than you are prepared to play. The United States has done this twice in Iraq and now has egg on its face that no amount of Washington spin can clean off. Example No. 1 is...

read more

China and Islam in the Northwest Chinese Region

Kingdoms have risen and fallen in China's Xinjiang region for the past 2000 years. In the early 20th century, foreign archaeologists were surprised and delighted to find Muslim communities built upon Tang dynasty ruins built upon Tibetan villages built upon Han forts...

read more

Abu Ghraib Defendants: Pawns in a Game

The court martial of Army reservist Jeremy Sivits for his alleged role in the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison is scheduled to start on May 19. The folks back home in Hyndman, Pennsylvania, however, are skeptical: "Despite the graphic photos of prisoners...

read more

Perhaps Not So Exceptional After All

To understand the impact in the United States of the photos of U.S. military personnel abusing Iraqi prisoners, it is necessary to recall what then-Secretary of State Elihu Root said in 1899, as the country first emerged as a global power in the Spanish-American War....

read more

A Dissenter’s Guide to Foreign Policy

102 WORLD POLICY JOURNAL ° SPRING 2004 David C. Hendrickson is professor of political science at Colorado College. He is the author, most recently, of Peace Pact: The Lost World of the American Founding. A Dissenter's Guide to Foreign Policy David C. Hendrickson...

read more

‘We Will Fight Them Again!’

An older Iraqi man is wailing near the grave of a loved one in the dusty heat of a football stadium converted into a cemetery. Between wails he raises his fist and yells, "Allahu akbar!" (God is great). We wait outside until he slowly exits the new cemetery...

read more

Pledge Week I went ahead and made a contribution to your site today. I consider myself a sort of libertarian democrat, typical of many people here in Silicon Valley, and there are times I don't agree with with all the points of view on your site, but I do appreciate...

read more