It has been just over 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the last great additions to the world’s list of independent nations. As Russia’s satellite republics staggered onto the global stage, one could be forgiven for thinking that this was it: the end of history, the final major release of static energy in a system now moving very close to equilibrium. A few have joined the club since — Eritrea, East Timor, the former Yugoslavian states, among others — but by the beginning of the 21st century, the world map seemed pretty much complete.

At his appearance at the New America Foundation last Friday, Smith said he knew of Powell as a Supreme Court Justice appointed by Richard Nixon, “a man with an aristocratic background of old southern Virginia, a man of modest temper and demeanor.” ...

For those who've been paying attention, much of what follows will be familiar. The notion that the GOP is pushing policies that are enriching the wealthy at the expense of the middle class was one of the pillars of Michael Lind's book “Up From ...

There's never been a better time to visit North Korea. The specter of U.S.-South Korean military exercises, a potential nuclear test, assassinations of defectors in South Korea, and general saber-rattling haven't prevented a record 4,000 tourists from arriving in Pyongyang this year. There's even a hopeful air among diplomats that the two Koreas, as well as China and Japan, might find the right balance of words and gestures to smooth out their emotional grievances that fuel regular nationalist flare-ups.