The Caliphate is a SIS-CIA invention...

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The Myth of the Caliphate The Political History of an Idea By Nick Danforth Western pundits and nostalgic Muslim thinkers alike have built up a narrative of the caliphate as an enduring institution, central to Islam and Islamic thought between the seventh and twentieth centuries. In fact, the caliphate is a political or religious idea whose relevance...

China Scores And What the United States Should Do Next By Matthew Goodman and Ely Ratner Nearly two centuries after it lost its traditional place at the center of Asian affairs, Beijing has begun giving shape and substance to its renewed leadership on the regional stage.

Ferguson from Afar How the World Sees the Protests By Mary L. Dudziak As the turmoil in Ferguson unfolds, questions about the United States' commitment to human rights are once more headlining news coverage around the world. That should not be surprising. American racial inequality regularly dominated foreign news coverage during the 1950s and...

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Zombie Abenomics Japan's Missing Economic Revival  By Richard Katz Abe’s economic revival is hardly going as planned. A consumption tax hike that he introduced in April triggered a recession over the following six months, prompting him to announce the delay of a second planned hike and to vow to dissolve the Japanese parliament.

March on Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto's Challenge—And Opportunity By Ralph H. Espach The Peña Nieto government seems to be facing its worst crisis yet, one likely to persist as police clash with a small minority of protestors who attack property, set fires, and throw Molotov cocktails. The breadth of the public outrage, however, is uncertain, and the movement...

Long View on Iran The Real Work Will Start After the Nuclear Deal Is Signed By Peter D. Feaver and Eric Lorber As the deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran is pushed once again, observers remain focused on the agreement itself. But the signing would be just the first step on a long road toward ensuring that any accord actually survives.

Culture War The Case Against Repatriating Museum Artifacts By James Cuno Over the last few decades, governments have increasingly sought to reclaim indigenous artifacts from museums abroad. Yet inappropriate calls for repatriation should be resisted. Encyclopedic museums do more than house artifacts; they also spread cosmopolitan ideas.

The Real Cost of Ebola Letter From Monrovia By Javier Alvarez The Liberian government and international organizations have been most focused on containing Ebola, as they should be. The containment policies, however, have come with unintended economic consequences that need to be addressed to avert an even worse crisis.

The War That Didn't End All Wars What Started in 1914 -- and Why It Lasted So Long   By Lawrence D. Freedman A hundred years after World War I, new accounts of the drama help readers navigate the intricacies of European politics and the political and diplomatic maneuverings that kicked off the war. Yet there is still no consensus on its origins or lessons.

Hidden Assets How Countries Can Capitalize on Public Wealth By Dag Detter and Stefan Fölster Most governments know much about their debt but little about their assets. If central governments managed their assets better, they could generate annual returns of roughly $3 trillion—more than the world’s yearly investment in infrastructure including transportation, power,...

Misrule of the Few How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece By Pavlos Eleftheriadis Since the early 1990s, a handful of oligarchs has dominated Greece’s economy and politics. So long as these elites have a vested interest in keeping things as they are, the country will never fully find its way out of crisis.

A Republican Foreign Policy By Chuck Hagel Chuck Hagel just stepped down as secretary of defense. In this 2004 essay, Hagel lays out his views on U.S. foreign policy. He explains that "a wise foreign policy recognizes that U.S. leadership is determined as much by our commitment to principle as by our exercise of power."