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The remarkable life and brutal murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is the topic of a gripping new film, A Mighty Heart, based on the book by his widow, Mariane. In this week’s Seven Questions, FP spoke with Mariane Pearl about the murder, her activism, the film, and the war on terror.

Pervez Musharraf has a crisis on his hands. Since sacking Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in March, opposition to Pakistan’s military president has flared out of control. With protests turning ugly, dozens dead in Karachi, and strikes convulsing the country, many wonder if Musharraf can maintain his grip on power. In this List, FP takes a look at the candidates gunning for control of Pakistan.

Amnesty International has just released its annual report on the state of human rights in over 150 countries around the globe. For this week’s Seven Questions, FP spoke with Joshua Rubenstein, a senior spokesman for the human rights organization, on the regimes and trends that are making the world a much nastier place.

From phantom security enhancements to a complicated points system that only a bureaucrat could love, the immigration compromise before the U.S. Senate is worse than nearly every realistic alternative except one: more of the same.

The Sopranos, an acclaimed television drama about a fictional Italian-American mobster, is headed for its last season finale after six years of startling success. But what of the real-world mafias that control illicit trade and terrorize innocent victims from Moscow to Mexico City? When it comes to powerful global crime networks, we can’t just “fuggedaboutit.”

As Tony Blair's “number two,” James Gordon Brown has been waiting in the wings as secretary of Her Majesty’s Treasury since 1997. Now’s his chance: He’ll be made prime minister of Britain before the end of June. For this week’s Seven Questions, FP spoke with Sally McNamara, an expert on British politics at the Heritage Foundation, on what to expect from a Gordon Brown premiership.

Nearly two decades after the Tiananmen Square clampdown, China remains a tightly controlled state ruled by the Communist Party. But just how repressive is the Middle Kingdom today, and is it becoming any more free as it grows in economic clout? Veteran reporter James Mann has his doubts—and his controversial new book accuses U.S. leaders and prominent scholars like David M. Lampton of peddling unduly optimistic assumptions about China’s rise. In this often heated FP debate, Lampton and Mann go toe-to-toe on the uncertain political future of the world’s most populous country.

From Muslims in Europe to evangelical Christians in Africa, it is religious believers who are shaping the early 21st Century. Charismatic movements are sweeping throughout the Southern Hemisphere, while high birth rates among immigrants are provoking soul-seeking in the historically Christian West. For this List, FP looks at the fast-growing faiths that are upending the old world order.

A malaise-ridden France just elected the most pro-American president in its history. But Nicolas Sarkozy’s victory doesn’t mean the French are eager to see their socialist perks disappear in a flurry of Anglo-Saxon reforms. France’s new leader will need to be cunning, bold, and downright ruthless if he is to overcome the French resistance—and return his country to glory.

When Rupert Murdoch offered $5 billion for Dow Jones, owners of the Wall Street Journal, eyebrows went up around the world. Is one of the United States’ top newspapers about to descend to trashy light entertainment? Devin Leonard of Fortune magazine doesn’t think so—he sees a media pioneer seizing the future while others are fleeing.

The Bush administration blamed the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib on the work of a few “bad apples.” But as we found out in the Stanford Prison Experiment more than 30 years ago, even the most morally upright individuals can commit horrific acts. Three years after the evil of Abu Ghraib came to light, it’s time for the U.S. government to finally recognize that good apples can quickly decay in a noxious environment—before it’s too late.

Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, is hanging on for his political life in the wake of a scathing report on his handling of the Israel-Hezbollah clash. He’s rejected calls to step down, but those maneuvering to replace him may not need to wait until the scheduled 2010 elections in order to force him out. For this List, FP asked top Middle East experts to rate the chances of the politicians gunning for Olmert’s job.