Mark Bowden, "Jihadists in Paradise"; Joshua Green, "They Won't Know What Hit Them"; James Fallows, "Mr. Zhang Builds His Dream Town"; Sandra Tsing Loh on women's preference for food over sex with their husbands; Ross Douthat on George Bush's Legacy; Ilana Ozernoy on a disintigrating Baghdad Neighborhood; Emily Hiestand travels to Sweden; Mona Simpson reviews Chekhov; and much more.
A kidnapping at a Philippine resort triggered a yearlong hunt for pirate terrorists and their American hostages. A behind-the-scenes tale of intrigue, spycraft, and betrayal. [Web-only: Watch CIA surveillance footage and video interviews with the story's key players]
The software mogul Tim Gill has a mission: Stop the Rick Santorums of tomorrow before they get started. How a network of gay political donors is stealthily fighting sexual discrimination and reshaping American politics
A singing workforce, Mongolian millionaires in Porsches, and saving the planet—inside the empire of a Chinese tycoon with more than money on his mind. [Web-only: "At Home With Mr. Zhang." A narrated slideshow.]
This is the thirteenth in a series of archival excerpts in honor of the magazine’s 150th anniversary.
Bush is fading. Bush Republicanism is here to stay.
The disintegration of a Baghdad neighborhood
The European baby bust; life on two dollars a day; the bovine menace
The Atlantic recently asked a group of foreign-policy authorities about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq
Cheap private schools are educating poor children across the developing world—but without much encouragement from the international aid establishment.
A vote for France’s first female president may not deliver the political change the country wants.
Saparmurat Niyazov (1940–2006), the nuttiest despot
Britain vs. France through the ages
Women prefer food to sex with their husbands—and that’s OK.
A review of Tales of Chekhov
A new history of Orientalism reveals the vagary and variety of the field—and the danger of declaring any area of inquiry off-limits.
A guide to additional releases: Mamet on Hollywood, murder in Chicago, Jane Smiley's latest, and more
A visit to the home of the famed Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus [Web-only: "The Swedish Way." A narrated photo essay.]
Banning trans fats probably makes sense from a public-health standpoint—but will the doughnut survive?
It is the same in the eye of every beholder.
New programs back up everything you do— in real time, online, and automatically.
Kind husbands; the land of iTunesia
