James Fallows

Terrorists fight their wars in cyberspace as well as on the ground. However, while politicians and the media have hotly debated the dangers that cyberterrorism poses to the Internet, surprisingly little is known about the threat posed by terrorists' use of the Internet.

Today, as this report makes plain, terrorist organizations and their supporters maintain hundreds of websites, exploiting the unregulated, anonymous, and easily accessible nature of the Internet to target an array of messages to a variety of audiences.… more

At kabuki performances in Japan audiences sometimes exclaim "Matte mashita!" during crucial points in the drama. In context this means something like "Here it comes!" or "This is what we've been waiting for!" and it greets the best-known lines in the play. If American theatergoers followed the same custom, people would yell "Matte mashita!" when they heard "To be or not to be ..." in Hamlet or "I'll be back" in a Terminator movie.

In American political culture, which displays… more

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the debate surrounding National Service has drastically changed. Average Americans are suddenly eager to know what they can do personally to help the war effort, and lawmakers are beginning to provide answers. Senators John McCain and Evan Bayh have introduced legislation to dramatically expand the size and scope of voluntary national service programs such as AmeriCorps to include civil defense.

"Americans did not fight and win World War II… more