The American Interest

All but the most ostrich-like of conservatives recognize that their movement is at its lowest ebb in more than three decades. Democrats control the presidency and both chambers of Congress, and the polarization of the two major parties has rendered conservatives more isolated and irrelevant to policymaking than in their previous stints in the minority. Democrats are using their majorities to pass sweeping changes in public policy that will reshape the contours of the American state for decades to come, and it hardly matters whether

In the siege of a city, each of the final days plays out much like the one before, the monotony belying the imminent danger. Early on one particular brilliant and beautiful day last June, a kind of siege played out at the California State Capitol. Health advocates gathered on the west steps to rail against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to Medi-Cal services for seniors and the disabled. On the north steps came a group of school support workers whose purple shirts--the ubiquitous uniform of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)--read,… more

In what might be described as a quest for coherence through commodification, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has hired a former Coca-Cola executive to foster greater understanding about its reason for being.[1] But can an alliance emulate a soft drink giant's success at reinvention? Not likely. Coke has been creative--though not always successful--in its self-presentation, but no one has ever doubted what it is: a beverage. NATO's problem is that its purpose is

According to much recent commentary, Russia is back as a major power. The cover of the July 15, 2006 Economist, a magazine noted for its measured tone and sober assessments featured a phtograph of President Vladimir Putin, with a confident air and stern visage, next to the words "Living with a Strong Russia." New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman quipped that "Russia has gone from the sick man of Europe to the boos man." And in the Holidays (November/December)… more