The War

What Ancient History Tells Us about the War*
What the war between democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta tells us about the war between us and the terrorists. A cautionary tale (Athens lost). By Victor Davis Hanson.

The Task before Us
Rebuilding Iraq will require uncommon perseverance -- and large amounts of money, manpower, and time. By Colonel William Hix.

The Iranian Crisis

Tomorrow's World War Today*
The Great Gulf War of 2007-11? A disquieting glimpse of what the future might hold if we fail to deal with the nuclear threat in Iran. By Niall Ferguson.

Options Nobody Likes*
Carrots don't seem to be having the desired effect on the hard-liners in Tehran. Perhaps it's time for the stick. By Tod Lindberg.

The End of Days*
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may seem absurd, but his apocalyptic worldview is deadly serious. We ignore his "war of destiny" at our peril. By Victor Davis Hanson.

How Iran Can Yet Be Tamed*
Behind the scenes in Tehran, a fierce power struggle is now taking place. The West can exploit it. By Michael McFaul and Abbas Milani.

Economics

A Difference of Kind
Milton Friedman pays tribute to the genius of Alan Greenspan.

On the Economics of Capital Punishment*
"I support the use of capital punishment for persons convicted of murder because, and only because, I believe it deters murders." By Gary S. Becker.

The Cure for Poverty? Wealth*
If creating wealth is the best way to lift people out of poverty, why is the left so uninterested? Thomas Sowell explains.

Health Care

Medicine for What Ails Us
Health savings accounts will give consumers more choices and control spiraling health-care costs. Sound like a no-brainer? It is. By John P. Cogan, R. Glenn Hubbard, and Daniel P. Kessler.

Doctors, Post Your Prices
The best prescription for the nation's ailing health-care system? A powerful dose of free market. By Scott W. Atlas.

What to Expect from the Avian Flu
Ready or not, her it comes. Henry I. Miller tells us what we need to know about the avain flu.

Education

How to Fix "No Child Left Behind"*
Four years into NCLB, the math and science outlook in our schools remains troubling. What must be done to fix the problem -- before the United States itself gets left behind. By Chester E. Finn and Michael J. Petrilli.

Armed Forces: 8, Law School: 0*
Showing the wisdom of Solomon, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected law schools' challenge to "don't ask, don't tell." By Peter Berkowitz.

Politics

The Case for a Citizens' Assembly*
How to break the gridlock in the Golden State? Here's a crazy idea that makes a startling amount of sense. By David Davenport.

Regulation

The Battle over Mono Lake
In the tug-of-war over water rights in the ever-thirsty West, the market is the best judge and jury we have. By Gary D. Libecap.

Race

Down on Hilary's Plantation
"Must blacks have their slave past rubbed in their face simply for Hilary Clinton to make a little hay aganst modern-day Republicans?" By Shelby Steele.

Germany

Angela Merkel: A Star Is Born*
What a difference a year makes. Auf wiedersehen, Gerhard Schröder. Guten tag, Angela Merkel. By Tod Lindberg.

France

Sarkozy's Big Adventure
While Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin continue to stumble, Nicolas Sarkozy has bided his time. Now he's ready to make his move. But is France ready for him? By Patrick Chamorel.

Russia

Between a Rock and a Hard Place*
We may smile over the Moscow "spy rock" scandal, but no one is laughing in the Kremlin. Timothy Garton Ash explains why Putin has all but declared war on nongovernmental organizations.

Africa

War and Peace in the Congo
Congo's intractable warfare has been horrific, even by African standards. Finally—after 15 years and 4 million deaths—peace may be in the offing. By Herbert F. Weiss.

Latin America

Who Lost Latin America?*
James Monroe must be turning over in his grave. Niall Ferguson explores our strange indifference to events south of the border.

The Caudillo and the Chinese*
Just how reciprocal is the courtship between Venezuela and China anyway? Pssst...don't tell Hugo, but the Chinese only love him for his oil. By William Ratliff.

After Fidel*
El Jefe will soon be gone (really). Timothy C. Brown explains how to replace Cuba Revolucionaria with Cuba Capitalista.

Cuba's Struggle to Awake
As Cuba comes to after its long nightmare, what policy should the United States adopt? Realism. By William Ratliff.

Canada

Turning Over a New Maple Leaf*
What the new prime minister, Stephen Harper, a conservative, must do to turn Canada around: cut taxes and fight crime. By Arnold Beichman.

History and Culture

The Speech That Shook the World*
Fifty years ago, Nikita Khrushchev denounced Josef Stalin in a speech to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Robert Conquest on an event "so surprising and unexpected that some members of the audience actually fainted."

Hoover Archives

What I Found in Mr. Hoover's Papers
Herbert Hoover understood that history is to be discovered not just in official documents but in the little details of the past. By Robert Service.