December 25, 2006 Issue

Cover art by: Cover by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels

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Feature

Iraqis Seek to Stem Sectarian Violence

As the situation worsens and pressure builds for new US strategies, Iraqi groups are making tentative moves to stem sectarian violence.
David Enders
Free-Trade Bondage in Jordan

The Jordan-US free-trade agreement was supposed to be a labor-rights model. It’s been a disaster.
Kristen Gillespie
The Soviet Union, R.I.P.?

The collapse of the Soviet Union was far from inevitable: A historic opportunity to democratize and marketize Russia by more gradual means was lost–and the people paid the price.
Stephen F. Cohen
9/11: The Roots of Paranoia

Public paranoia and a credulous establishment media that have failed to aggressively report on 9/11 have allowed a cult-like ”Truth Movement” to fill in the gaps.
Chris Hayes

Editorial

Globalization with a Human Face

Globalization must not be allowed to become financial imperialism: Capitalism's strongest-takes-all rule must give way to one that ensures that the poor have a place and a piece of the action.

Mohammad Yunus
Nation Note

After a memorable thirty-five years, Grace Schulman steps down as Nation poetry editor.
The Editors
Brady Kiesling’s Tale

A disenchanted diplomat who lost faith in the Bush-era State Department and resigned over the war in Iraq remains idealistic.
Scott Sherman
Latin Left Turn

Hugo Chávez was re-elected not for his admiration of Castro but for presiding over a robust economy and aggressively improving the lot of Venezuela's poor.

Daphne Eviatar
The Other Lieberman

Many Israelis and their US supporters are sleeping through the rise of the virulently anti-Arab Avigdor Lieberman, seen as a threat to democracy itself.
Ben Lynfield
No Graceful Exit

The Iraq Study Group report may slow the impetus for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Those who seek genuine military disengagement must make their voices heard.
The Editors
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Column

Counting Our Casualities in Iraq

We are fast, too fast, approaching the 3,000th American combat death in Iraq.
Nicholas von Hoffman
The Rumsfeld Legacy

Donald Rumsfeld pops over to Iraq to tell his final lies.
Robert Scheer
Sweepstakes of Greed, 2006

It’s getting close to New Year’s and time for annual awards. And in the 2006 Sweepstakes of Greed, the winners are…
Nicholas von Hoffman
Point, No Counterpoint: The Conservative Beat

The New York Times editors do a service by covering right-wingers: It would make sense to similarly cover progressives. Why don’t they?
Eric Alterman
America to Me

What, exactly, does America look like to people like Michael Richards, Mel Gibson and Richard Viguerie?
Patricia J. Williams
On the Iraq Memo Donald Rumsfeld Wrote as He Was About to Be Fired

Goodness, gracious! He was right all along.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

The Anthropic Principle

Two red drinks–pure alcohol, with a maraschino cherry–in
the bar next door, deep in the afternoon. While I hide in my
Eleanor Lerman
The Mayans

The scowl is caught in jadeite.
The flattened face on a green bead
displayed in the orchestral light of the museum
also boards the train on Steinway Street.
Eleanor Lerman
The Bondage Club

In the morning we put on our sharp blue suits and
go to hear the delegates speak through broken teeth.
These are the women whose names the press must be
Eleanor Lerman
That Sure Is My Little Dog

Yes, indeed, that is my house that I am carrying around
on my back like a bullet-proof shell and yes, that sure is
my little dog walking a hard road in hard boots. And
Eleanor Lerman
2006 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize: Eleanor Lerman

Eleanor Lerman’s poems sing a song that is bravely gloomy, but they sing it with a fierce and earned dignity.
Tony Hoagland
Uncle Tom’s Shadow

The Annotated Uncle Tom’s Cabin explores one of the most influential novels in American history.
Darryl Lorenzo Wellington
The Plot Against Equality

Walter Benn Michaels’s The Trouble With Diversity challenges us to remove our race-tinted glasses and view the world in the class-based terms that, he argues, define it.
Robert S. Boynton
The Soviet Union, R.I.P.?

The collapse of the Soviet Union was far from inevitable: A historic opportunity to democratize and marketize Russia by more gradual means was lost–and the people paid the price.
Stephen F. Cohen
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

If It’s Broke, Fix It…

Ashland, Ore.
Katrina vanden Heuvel and Our Readers

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December 25, 2006 Issue

Feature

As the situation worsens and pressure builds for new US strategies, Iraqi groups are making tentative moves to stem sectarian violence.

The Jordan-US free-trade agreement was supposed to be a labor-rights model. It’s been a disaster.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was far from inevitable: A historic opportunity to democratize and marketize Russia by more gradual means was lost–and the people paid the price.

Public paranoia and a credulous establishment media that have failed to aggressively report on 9/11 have allowed a cult-like ”Truth Movement” to fill in the gaps.

Editorial

Globalization must not be allowed to become financial imperialism: Capitalism's strongest-takes-all rule must give way to one that ensures that the poor have a place and a piece of the action.

After a memorable thirty-five years, Grace Schulman steps down as Nation poetry editor.

A disenchanted diplomat who lost faith in the Bush-era State Department and resigned over the war in Iraq remains idealistic.

Hugo Chávez was re-elected not for his admiration of Castro but for presiding over a robust economy and aggressively improving the lot of Venezuela's poor.

Many Israelis and their US supporters are sleeping through the rise of the virulently anti-Arab Avigdor Lieberman, seen as a threat to democracy itself.

The Iraq Study Group report may slow the impetus for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Those who seek genuine military disengagement must make their voices heard.

GET UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS FOR LESS THAN $3 A MONTH!

Column

We are fast, too fast, approaching the 3,000th American combat death in Iraq.

Donald Rumsfeld pops over to Iraq to tell his final lies.

It’s getting close to New Year’s and time for annual awards. And in the 2006 Sweepstakes of Greed, the winners are…

The New York Times editors do a service by covering right-wingers: It would make sense to similarly cover progressives. Why don’t they?

What, exactly, does America look like to people like Michael Richards, Mel Gibson and Richard Viguerie?

Goodness, gracious! He was right all along.

Books & the Arts

Two red drinks–pure alcohol, with a maraschino cherry–in the bar next door, deep in the afternoon. While I hide in my

The scowl is caught in jadeite. The flattened face on a green bead displayed in the orchestral light of the museum also boards the train on Steinway Street.

In the morning we put on our sharp blue suits and go to hear the delegates speak through broken teeth. These are the women whose names the press must be

Yes, indeed, that is my house that I am carrying around on my back like a bullet-proof shell and yes, that sure is my little dog walking a hard road in hard boots. And

Eleanor Lerman’s poems sing a song that is bravely gloomy, but they sing it with a fierce and earned dignity.

The Annotated Uncle Tom’s Cabin explores one of the most influential novels in American history.

Walter Benn Michaels’s The Trouble With Diversity challenges us to remove our race-tinted glasses and view the world in the class-based terms that, he argues, define it.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was far from inevitable: A historic opportunity to democratize and marketize Russia by more gradual means was lost–and the people paid the price.

The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

Letters

Ashland, Ore.

Two red drinks–pure alcohol, with a maraschino cherry–in
the bar next door, deep in the afternoon. While I hide in my

The scowl is caught in jadeite.
The flattened face on a green bead
displayed in the orchestral light of the museum
also boards the train on Steinway Street.

In the morning we put on our sharp blue suits and
go to hear the delegates speak through broken teeth.
These are the women whose names the press must be

Yes, indeed, that is my house that I am carrying around
on my back like a bullet-proof shell and yes, that sure is
my little dog walking a hard road in hard boots. And