Reporting from the Middle East, Nir Rosen investigates the growth of al Qaeda in Lebanon; ending urban poverty, with Dalton Conley, Patrick Sharkey, and Stefanie DeLuca.

Pranab Bardhan on myths of Chinese and Indian growth; Vivian Gornick on Hannah Arendt; Dimiter Kenarov on Bulgarian literature; two poems by Tomaž Šalamun.

Abbas Milani and Akbar Ganji on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; William Hogeland explores the troubling embrace of Alexander Hamilton; Colin Dyan on prisoners' right to read.

A short story by Charles Johnson; Elizabeth Willis wins the tenth annual poetry contest; criticism by Reginald Shepherd; a poem by John Updike.

Owen Fiss, Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Jenny Martinez on international criminal courts; Nir Rosen examines the plight of displaced Iraqis. 

Fiction by K. J. Bishop; poems by Mary Jo Bang and Roberto Bolaño; Alan Stone reviews Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn.

Glenn Loury asks "Why Are So Many Americans in Prison?"; Robert Blecher and Jeremy Pressman on Israel's existential crisis; George Scialabba on the curse of modernity; Anatol Lieven on "realist" foreign policy.

A short story by Patricia Engel; Charles Johnson on artistic passion; Forrest Gander on John Ashbery.

Akbar Ganji on changing Iran from within; Hans Blix on global arms control; a look at religion in politics by Catherine Tumber; Nicholas Schmidle on Islamism in Bangladesh.

Fiction contest winner Pama Viswanathan; Katie Peterson on Tomas Tranströmer.

Nancy Birdsall, Abhijit Banerjee, Michael Kremer, and others look at the question, "What helps poor countries grow?"; Sarah Chayes on the future of Afghanistan; Alex Byrne on morality and the brain

A short story by Peter Mountford; poems by Jorie Graham, H. L. Hix, Susan Stewart, and Geoffrey G. O'Brien; poetry criticism by Barbara K. Fischer and Cal Bedient.

Kerry Emanuel leads a forum on climate change; responses and proposals for action from Nicholas Stern, David G. Victor, Judy Layzer and others.

Lawrence Rosen revisits Edward Said's critique of Orientalism; Vivian Gornick discusses reading H. G. Wells; Maureen McLane on the sex-ed wars; new poems by John Ashbery.

Nir Rosen reports on Iraq's descent into chaos; Elaine Scarry on military honor; Anatol Lieven on using American force wisely.

Charles Johnson on John Champlin Gardner;  Marc Gaba wins the 9th annual poetry contest