August 2013

Afghan political parties form single alliance to contest 2014 elections

The South Asia Channel

British Parliament blocks military action on Syria

The Middle East Channel

Political Risk Must-Reads

The Call

Does the New York Times Think the Libya War Was Illegal?

The Multilateralist

David Bosco

The Witnesses

Syrian activists took the YouTube videos that dragged America to the brink of war -- and then paid with their lives.

Report

So You’ve Bombed Syria. What Next?

Any serious peace plan needs to put security front and center.

Argument

Edward P. Joseph and Elizabeth O’Bagy

The Court of No Opinion

The bizarre story of how the prosecution in Bo Xilai's show trial won the Weibo news cycle.

Argument

David Wertime

No, We Don’t Need Britain’s Help To Bomb Assad

The Complex

Let’s Power Africa

Cowboys Stadium uses more electricity than the entire country of Liberia. But African leaders, together with the White House and U.S. Congress, are working to end the scourge of energy poverty.

Argument

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Wounded Giant

The only thing America is good at these days is breaking things.

By Other Means

Rosa Brooks

Obama Lost Much of Congress on Syria… In 2011

The Cable

Yochi Dreazen

Rowhani’s Syria dilemma

The Middle East Channel

Alireza Nader

NSA Fears There Are 3,999 More Snowdens

Passport

Bunker Mentality

As America ponders just how little to bomb Syria, both interests and responsibility are losing out to skepticism.

Terms of Engagement

James Traub

Syria’s Short Circuit

Why the Pentagon's cyberwar on Assad will be limited too.

Report

Shane Harris

Even Britain’s Closest Friends Think Its Rationale for War Is Illegal

Turtle Bay

An Imaginative, Creative Way to Deal with the Syrian Crisis

Stephen M. Walt

How I Smuggled ‘Porn’ Out of North Korea

Passport

Isaac Stone Fish

Even Britain’s Closest Friends Think Its Rationale for War Is Illegal

The Cable

New fears for Syria’s jihadists

The Middle East Channel

Charles Lister

Assad’s 11-Year-Old Son Could Be the Newest Soldier in Syria’s Propaganda War

Passport

Fake negotiations exclude most Palestinians

The Middle East Channel

Saree Makdisi

A smart young JO: I am so outta here, but I know that saying so makes no difference

Best Defense

Would Martin Luther King Have Supported a Syrian Intervention?

Passport

Spy Kids

A sci-fi visionary on why the children of tomorrow are the NSA's biggest nightmare.

Argument

Charles Stross

U.S. and Syria Trade Places on Chemical Weapons Inspections

Turtle Bay

The Civil War Within Syria’s Civil War

Armies of Kurdish women are taking on Syria's Islamists -- and winning.

Dispatch

Harald Doornbos, Jenan Moussa

Did Obama Administration Leaks Already Spoil the Syria Attack?

Former top officers are baffled by Washington's telegraphing of its strike on Assad.

Report

Yochi Dreazen

State Dept Admits It Doesn’t Know Who Ordered Syria’s Chemical Strike

The Cable

Restraining Order

Obama's been wise to not get involved in Syria. But now comes the tricky part.

Marc Lynch

The Qatar problem

The Middle East Channel

Jeremy Shapiro

Were Syria’s Nerve Gas Rockets Based on an American Design?

The Complex

Captain: I want nothing more than to stay in the Army — but is that fair to my wife?

Best Defense

Karzai returns from Islamabad with little concrete support for CT efforts

The South Asia Channel

Britain to present resolution on Syria to the U.N. Security Council

The Middle East Channel

Is Syria Anything Like Kosovo?

Passport

A Highly Plausible Explanation for Why Assad Would Launch a Chemical Attack

Shadow Government

Peter D. Feaver

The Limits of Action

Let's face it: Obama has limited interest, limited options, and limited reasons to get involved in Syria.

Reality Check

Aaron David Miller

How Assad United the Middle East … Against Him

Weeks ago, the U.S. was at odds with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Not anymore.

Report

David Kenner, Yochi Dreazen

Your late summer political science book club

Daniel W. Drezner

Syrian Hacker Collective Knocks Out the New York Times

Passport

The Playbook for the Syrian War Has Already Been Written — in Iraq

Why Obama should bomb Assad the way Clinton bombed Saddam.

Jeffrey Lewis

Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say

The Cable

Noah Shachtman

It Is Time for President Obama to Seize Control of the Syria Narrative

Shadow Government

Peter D. Feaver

We’re Going to War Because We Just Can’t Stop Ourselves

Stephen M. Walt

A capital with a view

The South Asia Channel

Ziad Haider

Too Little, Too Late

What Assad's chemical attack and the failure of Obama's Syria policy really mean.

David Rothkopf

Lebanon confronts civil war

The Middle East Channel

Randa Slim

Mapped: 36 Places In Syria Likely to Get Hit With a U.S. Cruise Missile

The Complex

MQM party chief calls for military administration in Karachi

The South Asia Channel

U.S. and Britain consider military action on Syria as Kerry claims chemical attack “undeniable”

The Middle East Channel

The CIA people who found bin Laden: What they’re thinking about what they did

Best Defense

When twerking “crowds out” the Syria debate….

Daniel W. Drezner

How President Obama Undermined His Legal Case for Syria Action

The Multilateralist

David Bosco

Arsenal of Hypocrisy

No matter where you look in the world, American words don't match American deeds.

Rational Security

John Arquilla

The Supervillain Syndrome

Why dictators like Assad just can't quit while they're ahead.

Argument

John Norris

The Scientist Under Syria’s Microscope

Meet the neurobiologist-turned-weapons inspector who could stop -- or start -- a wider war.

Feature

The Great Asian Sell-Off

Why are investors suddenly fleeing markets in South and Southeast Asia?

Daniel Altman

Did John Kerry Just Make the Case for Military Action in Syria?

Passport

How the Media Got the Bo Xilai Trial Wrong

Passport

Isaac Stone Fish

Architect of Syria War Plan Doubts Surgical Strikes Will Work

The Cable

John Hudson

Vietnam war expert: There’s a lot to appreciate in the new book ‘Hanoi’s War’

Best Defense

U.S Interests and the Syrian Chemical Weapons Challenge

Shadow Government

Peter D. Feaver

Karzai arrives in Islamabad for first official visit in more than 18 months

The South Asia Channel

Snipers fire on U.N. investigators as international leaders debate options on Syria

The Middle East Channel

‘Obama Just Can’t Say It’

Stephen M. Walt

Exclusive: CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran

The U.S. knew Hussein was launching some of the worst chemical attacks in history -- and still gave him a hand.

Investigation

Shane Harris and Matthew M. Aid

Military Action in Syria as Reprisal

The Multilateralist

David Bosco

U.N. Inspectors Get Green Light for Syrian Nerve Agent Hunt

Turtle Bay

U.N. Inspectors Get Green Light for Syrian Nerve Agent Hunt

The Cable

U.S. Suspends Aid Over Human Rights Abuses by Police … in St. Lucia

Passport

Peter Sullivan

Meet Iran’s Persian Gulf Base for Spy Drones and Midget Subs

The Complex

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Kelsey D. Atherton

How We Killed Privacy — in 4 Easy Steps

Stop blaming the NSA. We did this to ourselves.

Argument

The U.S. Isn’t Trying to Contain China…

...and China's neighbors don't want it to anyway.

Response

Phillip C. Saunders

Looking for Hashish in Cairo? Talk to the Police

The hidden power of Egypt's drug-running cops.

Feature

Mark Perry

Last Hope

The one place the Arab Spring hasn't gone to hell.

Terms of Engagement

James Traub

Longform’s Picks of the Week

The best stories from around the world.

Feature

Rachel Wilkinson

It’s 1999 in Syria

Kosovo's foreign minister calls for an international intervention to halt the killing in Syria.

Argument

Enver Hoxhaj

Watching Cairo from Washington

The Middle East Channel

Nabeel A. Khoury

The Fallen Soldiers of Egypt’s ‘War on Terror’

Passport

Karzai’s most dangerous game

The South Asia Channel

Jeffrey E. Stern

Why Bo Xilai Is Having an ‘Open’ Trial

Passport

Isaac Stone Fish

Egypt’s constitutional morass

The Middle East Channel

Zaid Al-Ali

Why Are We So Fascinated by What Gitmo Prisoners Are Reading?

Passport

Junior officer retention: Pentagon leaders need to start thinking differently about how to deal with military spouses

Best Defense

Political Risk Must-Reads

The Call

Ian Bremmer

When NatSec kids run for office….

Daniel W. Drezner

U.N. Slowing Its Own Chemical Weapons Investigation In Syria

The Cable

Colum Lynch, Noah Shachtman

Russia now open to U.N. inspectors; The Syrian doves on the Hill reconsider intervention as WH ponders options; DoD could be forced to fire more than 6k civilians; Are they real? a new kind of IED; Situation Report goes dark for a week; and a bit more.

Situation Report

Gordon Lubold

Russia supports UN probe of possible chemical attack in Syria

The Middle East Channel

Joshua Haber

U.S. Shipping Thousands of Cluster Bombs to Saudis, Despite Global Ban

The Complex

John Reed, Noah Shachtman

U.S. soldier apologizes but offers no explanation for March 2012 attack

The South Asia Channel