Gaddis was a great American novelist, who failed to attract a great American audience. Perhaps that's to his credit.
American democracy is a fine soil for growing the great oaks of freedom and opportunity, but that same rich earth has also been especially accommodating to the rank weed of snobbery. There’sno aristocracy of birth to keep Americans in their place. Envy and scorn send them up—and down—in the society.
Few thinkers are more difficult to categorize than architect Christopher Alexander. Is he a visionary genius of the built world? An intolerant utopian? A New Age Martha Stewart for narcissists? Or all of the above?
Throughout its history, Ukraine has straddled the border between East and West. Now, barely a decade after breaking away from the crumbling Soviet Union, it is leaning strongly toward Europe. But Europe is wary.
Striking a balance between unilateralism and multilateralism.
How does America's global power compare with that of the great empires of the past?
Advocates of empires will face big challenges at home as well as abroad.
Since 9/11, the United States has pursued both "arrogant unilateralism" and "reflexive multilateralism." Could there be a third way?
In some realms, America's future interests will be better advanced by law; in others, by power. The challenge is to determine which is which.