Essays

Jorge Bergoglio, then archbishop of Buenos Aires, at a drug rehabilitation center, Buenos Aires, 2011. Fernando Massobrio/GDA via Associated Press

The Education of Pope Francis

By Paul Vallely

Summer 2016

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the Roman Catholic pope in 2013, he took his name from Francis of Assisi and dedicated himself to championing the poor. The first non-European pontiff in a thousand years, and the first from the southern hemisphere, he launched his papacy with a condemnation of capitalism’s culture of waste and indifference to poverty.

Children playing in a polluted river, Jakarta, Sept. 19, 2012. Enny Nuraheni/Reuters

Our Common Home

By Pope Francis

Summer 2016

In an extract from the papal encyclical Laudato Si’, the bishop of Rome makes an impassioned plea to save the planet from ecological destruction: “We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world.”

ISIS fighters appear in a video online on Feb. 4, 2015.

How ISIS Will End

By Mark Juergensmeyer

Summer 2016

The Islamic State group is losing territory in Iraq and Syria, but it may have staying power in one of its three permutations: ISIS is simultaneously a movement for Sunni Muslim empowerment, a global jihadist movement, and an apocalyptic cult.

The European Central Bank, Frankfurt, Feb. 22, 2015. Mikka Luster (mikka.is)

Life and Death of the Euro

By Jacques Sapir

Summer 2016

Europe’s response to the Greek debt crisis in 2015 exposed European cooperation and solidarity as a hollow claim. The euro has become a Greek tragedy, resulting in falling incomes, rising unemployment, and fraying social fabric. Saving the European Union may require killing the single currency.

Campaign poster for National Front leader Marine Le Pen, Frejus, March 18, 2014. Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Marine Le Pen’s Challenge

By Alexandre Dézé and Nonna Mayer and Sylvain Crépon

Summer 2016

Young, modern, and media friendly, the daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen has recast the extreme right party as a less xenophobic, more palatable, movement. But if the National Front fails to shed its racist ideology, it is unlikely to build on its electoral successes.

Far-right protesters carry banner reading “No Islam in Poland”

Crisis of Identity

By Michel Wieviorka

Spring 2016

Europe’s social and economic order fundamentally changed with the end of the industrial era in the 1970s. The resulting tensions led to an identity crisis, as minorities sought to address injustices and nationalists agitated against cultural and religious diversity. Is multiculturalism now destined to fail?

Man holds poster of German Chancellor Angela Merkel during march of refugees fleeing Hungary

Our Great Migration Challenge

By Peter D. Sutherland

Spring 2016

The current refugee crisis in Europe underscores the imperative of integration: to achieve healthy societies, immigrants must integrate, but they must also be offered a real chance to reach their full potential.

Syrian refugees arriving on the island of Kos, Greece

Closing the Gates

By Catherine Wihtol de Wenden

Spring 2016

Europe’s security-driven response to the surge of refugees has been cowardly and xenophobic. There are more viable approaches: granting temporary protections, offering broader alternatives to asylum for those fleeing conflict, and adopting more flexible visa policies.

Police patrol the predominantly North African neighborhood La Goutte d’Or, Paris

The Paradox of Arab France

By Pascal Blanchard

Spring 2016

A century after the mass immigration of North Africans began, Arabs in France are more present in politics, the economy, and culture than ever before. Yet part of the French population rejects a shared history in favor of the myth of the “interior enemy.”

French demonstration after the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine

Je Suis Charlie?

By Emmanuel Todd

Spring 2016

The Charlie Hebdo attack prompted an unprecedented collective response throughout France. Was it an admirable act of national solidarity in defense of press freedom or an outburst of xenophobia in a country that has lost its way?

Leaders at the 26th Arab League Summit, Sharm El-Sheikh

A Call for Arab Diplomacy

By Nabil Fahmy

Spring 2016

In the midst of the Middle East turmoil, Arab diplomacy is strangely absent. Arab states must approach a changing world in wide-ranging agreement to reorient foreign policy away from excessive international dependence.

U.S. envoy Dennis Ross with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Fantasies of a Middle East Envoy

By Ahmad Samih Khalidi

Spring 2016

Veteran U.S. policymaker Dennis Ross argues that the U.S.-Israeli relationship is “doomed to succeed.” But a hardheaded look at the political, demographic, and ethnic changes in both countries suggests otherwise.

Presidential candidate Ted Cruz surrounded by television reporters, Center Barnstead, New Hampshire, Jan. 19, 2016. Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist/The New York Times/Redux

The Buying of the President

By Charles Lewis

Winter 2016

The 2016 race for the White House is the wildest, most expensive money and media circus ever. The price to become president? About $1 billion.

Rally for presidential candidate Donald Trump aboard the USS Iowa, Los Angeles, Sept. 15, 2015. Mark Peterson/Redux

Understanding Conservatives

By Donald T. Critchlow

Winter 2016

Donald Trump's vituperative, outsider presidential campaign rallied voters anxious about the economy, national security, and culture. But establishment Republicans shouldn't be surprised by the tumult in the Grand Old Party.

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses with U.S. Marines at the American Embassy, Cairo, March 16, 2011. Paul J. Richards/Pool/Reuters

Hillary the Hawk

By Stephen Zunes

Winter 2016

Despite Hillary Clinton's reputation as a liberal, the record suggests her presidency would push America toward a more militaristic approach to the Middle East.

Homeless man, New York, May 1, 2009. Ashley Gilbertson/VII/Corbis

American Poverty

By Bernie Sanders

Winter 2016

The great middle class is in decline, despite major growth in the U.S. and global economy. One presidential candidate's solution: democratic socialism.

Latino immigration supporters launch a voter registration campaign, Boulder, Oct. 28, 2015. Evan Semon/Reuters

Viva Latino Voters!

By Adrian D. Pantoja

Winter 2016

America's Latino population, once a political sleeping giant, is poised to play a pivotal role in the 2016 American elections. And thanks to the anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric of Republican politicians, the Democratic Party could be the big winner.

President Barack Obama with leaders of Arab nations at Camp David, Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland, May 14, 2015. Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Associated Press

Obama’s Tarnished Legacy in the Middle East

By Hisham Melhem

Winter 2016

President Barack Obama had to deal with a dysfunctional state system and fraying civil societies, as well as blowback from George W. Bush's invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet his own actions and inactions throughout two terms of office contributed significantly to the great unraveling of the Middle East.

Cuban woman poses wearing an American flag dress, Havana, Aug. 4, 2015. Enrique de la Osa/Reuters/Corbis

A Long Road to Havana

By William M. LeoGrande

Winter 2016

In 2014, Cuba and the United States shocked the world by announcing the normalization of bilateral relations after a half century of hostility. Yet with political leadership changing soon in both Havana and Washington, the path forward is still marked with uncertainty. Decades of enmity will not be easily forgotten.

Failings of Political Islam

By Tarek Osman

Fall 2015

After the Arab Spring, the rise of Islamists stirred social polarization in many countries. The most potent Islamists today are the jihadists who have seized control of territory through extreme violence. Can political Islam be reconciled with secular modernity?