What We're Reading

Preeti Aroon

"Tom Ricks’s Inbox" in the Washington Post. What happens when you’re in Iraq and your digital camera gets hit by a rocket-propelled grenade? The Post's military correspondent shares a hilarious e-mail—which tells a story that probably isn't true—about trying to file an insurance claim. It's good for a quick laugh, even if it's a tall tale.

Blake Hounshell

"The Audacity of Data," by Noam Scheiber in the New Republic. In which Scheiber argues, "Despite Obama's reputation for grandiose rhetoric and utopian hope-mongering, the Obamanauts aren't radicals--far from it."

Prerna Mankad

"Bear market: This is the latest buying opportunity." The Times of London's Anatole Kaletsky provides a rare glimmer of optimism about the current financial turmoil.

Lucy Moore

The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia. Tim Judah's suprisingly readable account of Serbia's messy history sheds light on just why they are so bitter about Kosovo independence.

Carolyn O'Hara

The Myth of the Surge," in Rolling Stone. Rosen reports that the dirty truth of the surge in Iraq is that we’re arming former insurgents and bribing just about everyone.

Caitlin Wall

The Essence of Decision. Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow describe the Cuban Missile Crisis from three different theoretical viewpoints in the field of international relations: the Rational Actor Model, the Organizational Behavior Model, and the Governmental Politics Model. Each viewpoint reveals new truths the others don't, reminding readers to always test every assumption from several different perspectives. It's the "Run Lola Run" of IR theory.