Excerpt
List of Excerpt articles
America’s Democracy Was Never That Healthy
Since its founding, the country has been in a perpetual state of division.
The British Countryside’s Forgotten History of Slavery
Britons tend to downplay the empire’s slave-trading history. But its links to Virginia tobacco are all over the landscape.
The U.S. Needs a New Purpose in the Middle East
It’s time to ditch both romantic ideals of remaking the region and the policy of retrenchment.
Democracy Needs an Economic NATO
Fighting Chinese coercion requires new alliances.
China and the U.S. Are Numb to the Real Risk of War
The pair are dangerously close to the edge of nuclear war over Taiwan—again.
The Divine Marketplace Is Pretty Crowded
Religions aren’t just spiritual communities. They’re also businesses.
Duke Ellington, the Jazz Legend Who Became a Diplomat
The band leader broke new ground in U.S. cultural diplomacy even as he faced racism at home.
How Globalization Rose and Fell With Nord Stream
The pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe was once seen as a triumph for borderless business—but Putin’s invasion of Ukraine put an end to that fantasy.
Xi’s Imperial Ambitions Are Rooted in China’s History
Myths of peacefulness belie a record as expansionist as any other power.
How ‘Made in China’ Became American Gospel
The canny marketing of imports from vodka to basketballs transformed the U.S.-China trade relationship.
China’s Secret to Controlling the Internet
The CCP uses manpower, not just technology, to limit speech.
The Man Who Conned the World
How one of the greatest scam artists of all time used Ghana’s colonial past to get rich.
Confusion and Ambition Caused the My Lai Atrocities
A rare combination of failures led to an infamous massacre.
The Song and Dance of American Secrecy
Espionage law hasn’t changed much since William Howard Taft—yet recent presidents have wielded it as a cudgel more than ever before.
How the U.S. Created Its Own Reality
Historian Heather Cox Richardson charts the roots of 21st-century disinformation—and how American democracy began to falter.
