Foreign Policy, September-October 2001
A Christopher Hitchens essay vivisects Jesse Helms. Now that the North Carolina senator is on his way out, many praise him for his ideological focus and his folksiness, but he doesn’t deserve it. Supporters say his isolationism mirrors that of most Americans, but he’s not a real isolationist. He hates the United Nations, sure, but he likes forcing other countries not to do business with Cuba and exporting Christianity through foreign aid programs. “In this way,” Hitchens writes, “the parochial and the imperial instincts are jointly served.” And even if he were a strict isolationist, “did such a worldview have to be expressed in a parochial, chauvinist, and philistine manner?”—J.D.
New Republic, Sept. 17 The cover package takes contradictory views on what to do with the Social Security surplus. The first article, by Robert B. Reich, proposes borrowing money from the surplus to fund initiatives for education, mass transit, health care, etc. The second, by Jonathan Chait, argues that we should use it to pay down the national debt. Reich’s analysis, Chait argues, ignores politics, which would likely force whatever we borrow to be divided between public spending and tax cuts—“all in all, a dubious trade-off for fiscal discipline.”… A piece suggests that the Boy Scouts of America has not always been, as the organization’s ban on gay Scout leaders suggests, a culturally conservative group. In fact, the BSA’s founders espoused a big-tent philosophy and a “strict ecumenism” in terms of religion. The solution: “decentralize the BSA—allowing different troops to define their own moral and sexual rules.”— B.C.
Economist, Sept. 8 A special report praises the infallibility of market capitalism (surprise). A rising crop of anti-corporate intellectuals argues that branding and marketing are taking over our culture. But in fact the expansion of markets gives consumers more choice, so they control the way businesses sell their goods. Pretty soon no brand will be viable unless it advertises its social responsibility because that’s what consumers now demand (Nike and sweatshops, for example).… A piece explains why violence in Northern Ireland is again on the rise. Wealthy Protestants have fled “the troubles,” and wealthy Catholics have moved into their neighborhoods. Now poorer Protestants see Catholic domination all around them, and their rage bubbles over into bloodshed.—J.D.
New York Times Magazine, Sept. 9 The issue is filled with photo essays devoted to women and power. One shows a day in the life of Hillary Clinton: 2:55 p.m., the senator, slouched on a sofa with her feet in the air, waits in the Capitol’s Presidential Room for a meeting; 10:20 p.m., she stands on a deserted runway, staring at the moon. … Another follows the R & B group Destiny’s Child, decked out in “tight, crotch-skimming jeans, high-heeled sandals and little pink tops.”… The magazine’s “Exhibit A” feature shows a pair of Rwandan nuns standing trial for crimes against humanity. During the Hutu-Tutsi conflict, the nuns allegedly informed murderous Hutu militiamen of the thousands of Tutsis hiding in their convent. When the refugees fled to a nearby garage, witnesses say the nuns brought the militiamen gasoline.— B.C.
Time, Sept. 10
The cover story tries to understand why Colin Powell has been a lackluster secretary of state. Bush’s foreign policy team is full of hard-line America-first types, so Powell’s voice of caution gets drowned out. He could get his way by leveraging his heroic reputation, but he’s a lifelong org man who’s uncomfortable making waves and repudiating accepted hierarchies.… A piece marvels at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s 70 percent approval rating. Ehud Barak was destroyed by the impossible balancing act of running military operations while moving ahead with peace negotiations. Sharon is fundamentally hawkish, but he has avoided giving right-wingers the massive violence they want.—J.D.
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Newsweek, Sept. 10
The cover story profiles Mormons, who are sprucing up their image in preparation for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. Tired of the cult label, today church leaders stress Jesus more and the religion’s founder Joseph Smith less and infuse the liturgy with more Baptist-sounding evangelism.… An article reports that perhaps only two dozen of the ballyhooed 64 existing stem-cell lines are usable. Many lack pluripotency, the property that allows stem cells to morph into human cells.… A piece follows Berlin’s struggle to become the center of Europe. Culturally and politically, it should rule the continent, but it can’t shake its Nazi and Cold War legacies. City fathers are beaming about the Jewish Museum opening next week because they think it will help put the Holocaust behind them. But the average Berliner still maintains a xenophobic opposition to immigration that recalls the city’s ugly history.—J.D.
U.S. News & World Report, Sept. 10
The cover story laments America’s emergency room crisis. ER visits have exploded (14 percent increase between 1992 and 1999): Years of awareness campaigns have conditioned people to call 911, the uninsured have nowhere else to get health care, and swamped doctors make patients wait so long for appointments that they go to the hospital instead. Meanwhile, capacity is sinking fast (between 1994 and 1999, 370 emergency departments closed nationwide): Emergency rooms are money losers for hospitals and doctors. … A piece blames fishing for the destruction of sea life. Although dredging and runoff have done their share of damage, fishing knocks out species and forces ecosystems find new equilibriums. Seas are so depleted that restaurants are serving species that were never fished before (the slimehead has been renamed the orange roughy to make it sound more tasty).—J.D.
The New Yorker, Sept. 10 An article suggests that President Bush’s anti-Washington rhetoric is changing America’s political calculus. His party is increasingly that of the South and the farm states, and the ascendancy of Tom DeLay-style firebrands has alienated Northeastern good-government moderates born out of the Progressive tradition. Bush could forever lose states like Connecticut and Delaware for the GOP.… A piece exposes the futility of the prohibition on performance-enhancing drugs in international sports. Athletes easily stay one step ahead of doctors, so all testing does is punish those unlucky or careless enough to get caught. The rules should aim not to stop drug use but rather to ensure drug parity.— J.D.
