The year when China was brought out of its shell — and the U.S. started learning about unsuccessful interventions.
F.W. de Klerk: Rising to a Shakespearean Challenge
Reflections on the life of the late South African President.
An Evolving American Language
The American language becomes inclusive, gender neutral and racialized, as well as ugly and inaccurate.
San Francisco and Prague: A Double Portrait

Remembering historic times of magic — in two magical cities.
American Newspapers: Disruption, Decline, …Collapse?
U.S. newspapers are dying a slow, but accelerating death. Even Warren Buffet has thrown in the towel.
Kent State at 50: An America Even More Divided

Is it possible that U.S. society is more divided today than it used to be at the height of the anti-Vietnam war protests in the late 1960s?
50 Years After Kent State

50 years ago, on May 4, 1970, the U.S. National Guard opened fire on protesters at Kent State University. Barry Wood traveled to the campus and found somber reminders of that tragic day.
Letter from Berlin: Wealth and Worry
Germans worry about not getting things right. What has happened to Germany’s much-vaunted German efficiency?
Assessing “Phase One” of the US-China Trade Deal
Will China really halt technology transfers that it has required under many joint venture deals with U.S. companies?
Central Europe: Democracy Intact, But Under Pressure

Polarized and despondent, the Czech Republic is not a happy place. Despite rising living standards, Czechs are stuck in a national malaise.