It will be richer, more powerful—and more volatile
It has a window of opportunity to push Russian forces back
Ukraine defiant: George Packer, Anne Applebaum, and Franklin Foer on democracy’s front lines. Plus the myopia generation, the Benin bronzes’ contested return, Ian McEwan’s anti-memoir, cursive’s demise, redshirting boys, John Roberts v. the Voting Rights Act, the GOP’s extremist history, and more.
Six months into Ukraine’s defiant stand against Russia’s invasion, The Atlantic is publishing a special cover package devoted to life in the country and the state of the war, with new, on-the-ground reporting by staff writers George Packer, Anne Applebaum, and Franklin Foer. Packer, Applebaum, and Foer are three of the most influential and established voices on the perils of war, authoritarian threats to democracy, and Ukrainian and Russian politics.
The artist discusses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Uggs, and finding inspiration on Instagram.
By Louis Menand
I was born with melodies in my head, and I was looking for a way to hear them in the world.
By Bono
October 2022
Affirmative action & the law a symposium
The American affirmative-action regime by Frank Resartus
An agenda for Congress by Gail Heriot
The Voting Rights Act after six decades by James Piereson
Facially neutral, racially biased by Wen Fa & John Yoo
Democracy & the Supreme Court by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
New poems by William Logan, Jessica Hornik & Peter Vertacnik
The Globalist heads to Uzbekistan for the latest on the meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Plus: the Aukus security pact, one year on; how the EU plans to manage big tech; and Andrew Mueller’s round-up of the week’s news.
Northern Mali fell into the hands of armed jihadists in 2012. This resulted in the launch of the French-led “Operation Serval,” designed to liberate the occupied territory. But the crisis only worsened. The crisis in Mali is a story of failure.
The failure of a state, as well as the failure of the international community. This failure created a breeding ground for jihadists. How did it come to this? The crisis began in the early 2000s with the arrival of Algerian jihadists in Mali. At the time, their arrival did not worry those in power, who believed they would be safe if they left the jihadists alone.
As problems arose, the international community looked the other way, continuing to view Mali as an example of democracy at work in Africa. When the jihadists finally took control in the north and introduced Sharia law, France sent in the army. But without a political solution, the army was stymied. Aid money was embezzled and corruption was pervasive.
As France looked for an off-ramp, the crisis in Mali crossed the border into both Burkina Faso and Niger. In all of this, civilians are the forgotten victims. The violence in the Sahel has created more than two million refugees – a number that has quadrupled in less than two years. These refugees are settling wherever they can, as they struggle just to survive.
Scenes from the end of an Elizabethan age
Artwork by Eiko Ojala
The monarchy is an anachronism, yet it thrived under Elizabeth II. That holds lessons for her successor and for democracies elsewhere
