Featured Articles — August 19, 2008

August 19, 2008 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles 

Interesting Takes from Home and Abroad:

Russia Is Still a Hungry Empire By Matthew Kaminski
The sight of Russian tanks rolling through Georgia was shocking yet familiar. Images flash back of Chechnya in 1994 and ‘99, Vilnius ‘91, Afghanistan ‘79, Prague ‘68, Hungary ‘56. Before that the Soviet invasions, courtesy of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, of Poland and the Baltics in ‘39 and ‘40. Kazaks, Azeris, Tajiks, Ukrainians remember — from family stories and national lore — their own subjugation to Russian rule.

Beyond Musharraf By Ahmed Rashid
The resignation of President Pervez Musharraf yesterday after nine years in office is a major victory for Pakistan’s long-battered and still fragile democratic forces. But particularly given the meltdown the country has endured in recent weeks, there are still many obstacles to effective civilian governance.

Reconcilable Differences by Ronald Brownstein
Obama and McCain both say they want to usher in a new, less divisive brand of politics. Which of them has the better chance? Is bipartisanship still possible?

How The Democrats Can Blow It …In Six Easy Steps By Michael Moore
A blueprint for losing the most winnable presidential election in American history.

The New Evangelical Politics By E. J. Dionne
Anyone who still doubts that the evangelical Christian world is going through a political revolution was not watching Pastor Rick Warren’s presidential forum over the weekend. The era of reducing Christianity to a narrow set of ideological commitments is over.

It’s No Longer Just About Hillary By Froma Harrop
After hearing her name placed in nomination at the Democrats’ convention next week, Hillary Clinton will no doubt urge her followers to support Barack Obama. What good that gesture will do for the Obama candidacy remains to be seen. Clinton has already made it several times, but a new Pew Research Center poll shows that 28 percent of her primary voters do not intend to vote for Obama, a number virtually unchanged from June.

Drowning by George Packer
Can the Burmese people rescue themselves?

The key to happiness is freedom not income By Roberto Foa
In recent years, a small army of happiness gurus has lined up to proclaim the ills of modern society, and its failure to make us feel better. We have more money, say some, but family life has eroded. We live longer, but crime has risen. Some have even blamed affluence itself, arguing that the dizzying range of lifestyle options that we now confront frustrates the pursuit of happiness.

The Education of McCain By David Brooks
On Tuesdays, Senate Republicans hold a weekly policy lunch. The party leaders often hand out a Message of the Week that the senators are supposed to repeat at every opportunity. Sometimes there will be a pollster offering data that supposedly demonstrates the brilliance of the message and why it will lead to political nirvana.

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