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Sonia Zjawinski of the Underwire blog points to a cool new architectural creation being mulled over by our good friends in the Middle East. Despite the coolness factor of having […]

Chinese authorities have detained Ai Weiwei, an outspoken critic of China’s government and one of its most famous contemporary artists—he is one among dozens recently held by the state.

One of my favorite scenes from Objectified is the IDEO toothbrush brainstorm. It never struck me before how hard it would be to redesign a product that has become so […]

With oil now over $112 per barrel, is it time to panic? While the American psyche is disproportionately influenced by oil prices, our economy is suited to weather the current storm.

Between the WikiLeaks scandal and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, Frederick Siedel’s “Our Gods” is the perfect poem for our times.

After the euphoria of Tunisia and Egypt, Qaddafi’s defiance provides a reminder that revolutions are often bloody and uncertain for their duration, says Wendell Steavenson.

Michael Desch, Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, speaks to the importance of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process to America’s national security interests.   

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s recent abduction is a testament to how powerfully the Chinese government fears the combination of art and communication technology.

The question raised by the wave of protests spreading across the Middle East is not whether to deal with autocrats, but how to deal with them.

How does the greatest poet of the English language speak to our most pressing contemporary issues? A distinguished panel finds in Shakespeare some striking analogies to our expectations of Obama as a leader, the turmoil in the Middle East, and America’s love of revenge. 

Essentially, Saudi Arabia has to make a choice: is it worse to have chaos and civil war in Yemen or to have yet another regime fall in the Middle East with all potential implications for Bahrain and at home?

Michael T. Klare on the collapse of the old oil order: Only the rapid development of alternative sources of energy…might spare the world the most severe economic repercussions.

Parag Khanna says that a choice made ten years ago—not by the State department but by American universities—could have the greatest influence on whether new Arab governments move toward or away from the West. 

The U.S. economy is dealing with its problems by printing trillions of dollars. As these dollars flood the markets, investors have increasingly turned towards gold to hedge their currency doubts.

As political upheaval spreads across North Africa and into the Persian Gulf, 2011 may turn out to be as momentous as 1971, the year when the nature of the region’s petro-states first took shape.

With governments toppling around the Middle East, what will this moment bring to bear on Iran? Its nuclear program continues while intervention is considered riskier than ever.

“In the long term the best way to beat radical ideas is to make them redundant,” says Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a politician and ardent critic of fundamentalist Islam. 

Leading author on democracy promotion and democratization, Thomas Carothers debunks the myths surrounding the Arab world’s new governments—and wonders what role the West should play.

What should be a right in the digital age? On March 21st, the occasion of the human rights celebration in South Africa, a blogathon will address this question.

Did you know that within six hours the world’s deserts receive more energy than humankind consumes within a year? How awesome would it be to be able to tap into […]

Amidst the radical change in the Middle East, JFK’s first inaugural address remains a prescient reminder that our nation is founded upon the ideals of revolution and social progress. 

Michael Desch, Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame, speaks to the importance of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process to America’s national security interests.

Having a positive concept of the national interest is what produces the element that’s missing from the Obama policy: national initiative.

How a riddle involving one river, two islands and seven bridges prompted a mathematician to lay the foundation for graph theory

Desperate to avoid involvement in Libya in the event of prolonged civil unrest, the U.S. have asked Saudi Arabia to supply weapons to the rebels in Benghazi, reports Robert Fisk.

By the time the Persians destroyed the Roman military garrison at Dura-Europos in 256 AD, the city high above the Euphrates River existed for almost six centuries since its founding […]

The plural of Texas? My money’s on Texases, even though that sounds almost as wrong as Texae, Texi or whatever alternative you might try to think up. Texas is defiantly […]

A new study from the University of California has found that younger Internet users become more socially engaged in the real world, not just online, thanks to their use of social media.

Oil markets don’t like surprises. The sudden ousting of Mr. Mubarak and the unrest in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Algeria had added 20% to oil prices by the middle of last week.

Millions of people in the Middle East want freedom. Twenty years ago, the West was a role model, but it betrays its own values. It is also strengthening its enemy: militant Islamism.