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Big, Bad Wolfowitz
The New Yorker on the World Bank's controversial chief.
By Christopher Beam, Paige Ferrari, Paul Gottschling, and Stephanie Wu
Updated Monday, April 2, 2007, at 3:13 PM ET
The New Yorker, April 9
A profile of former deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz shows a man ever at the center of controversy. Besides being "indelibly associated with the decision to invade Iraq," Wolfowitz has come under fire for his leadership of the World Bank. Staffers complain that he "has been averse to making decisions, slow at filling vacancies, and unwilling or unable to lay out a strategy for the bank, beyond battling corruption." Even Wolfowitz's anti-corruption campaign has its critics, who claim he is using the bank to play politics—selectively suspending aid to certain countries while "expanding the bank's activities in places where the United States and its allies have intervened militarily." … An article details the ongoing debate over juvenile bipolar disorder. Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of children diagnosed with the disorder has "increased more than fourfold." More diagnoses mean more kids are being prescribed potent psychiatric drugs, which can cause obesity, diabetes, and liver failure. Says one concerned psychiatrist, "we are going to have hell to pay in terms of side-effects."—P.F.
Weekly Standard, April 9-16
The first in a pair of Republican presidential candidate-themed cover stories examines frontrunner Rudy Giuliani's mixed-bag platform. Giuliani supports the expected welfare overhauls and "tough, intense interrogation" techniques against terrorists. Paradoxically, he advocates gun restrictions and "domestic partnerships" for same-sex couples. But his comfort in "taking out positions at the further points of the ideological spectrum" stems from his mayoral attempts to transform New York into a socially mobile "city of aspiration," making him "the most economically libertarian presidential candidate since the doomed campaign of Phil Gramm."… The second cover story assesses John McCain's prospects for a Republican nomination. Despite the de facto Republican tradition of nominating the most senior hopeful, McCain now trails Giuliani in the polls. His chief stumbling block: the conservative base, whose trust he shattered with campaign-finance reform. But McCain is bouncing back, and can stay afloat as long as he avoids courting the media, scraps his "maverick" image, and leads his party by steadfastly backing the Iraq war.—P.G.
Newsweek, April 9
In the cover article, Newsweek columnist and senior editor Jonathan Alter details his battle against blood cancer. The recurrence of cancer in Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow has brought the subject into national conversation, but Alter claims that "for all the new openness about cancer, sick people still get sidelined." Competition among oncologists results in an unwillingness to collaborate with fellow researchers, slowing progress toward curing the disease. Alter reveals, "I also found oncology full of the same mammoth egos and petty jealousies that plague any high-powered field." … Another piece describes the U.S. troop surge in Iraq as a "chicken-and-egg conundrum of security and development." In order for the surge to prove successful, U.S. and Iraqi troops must obtain the cooperation of civilians by securing the country for reconstruction and generating more jobs. But the fact that planting IEDs for insurgent militias is the most lucrative job in Baghdad makes both security and development in the country unlikely.—S.W.
Economist, March 31
The cover article advises the U.S. Congress to keep its hands off Iraq policy. The piece argues that the congressional desire to impose a withdrawal deadline would amplify the Shiite oppression of Sunni civilians while eliminating the possibility that Bush's surge strategy could prove effective. "That could lead to a dreadful outcome in Iraq, make Iran bolder in pursuit of its nuclear ambitions and delight anti-Americans everywhere," the article concludes. … Another piece examines the enduring rule of Robert Mugabe. Despite being Zimbabwe's "near-parody of an African dictator," his paradoxical combination of violent repression and a strong educational system has left Zimbabweans too intimidated and admiring to oust him from office. "Though the country is ruined, Zimbabwe's streets still throng with boys and girls in neat school uniforms," the article observes. However, the end may be near for Mugabe, as his continued violence against political opponents makes it "difficult for the region's leaders to sit on their hands."—S.W.
Time, April 9
The cover piece surveys the worldwide reaction to global warming. A consensus has emerged that the planet's mercury is rising, and even global-warming critics' "last good position is to debate the difference between certain and extra certain." The United States plans to increase ethanol production and research injecting atmospheric CO2 underground, corporations are investing in green-friendly buildings, and states want to control industrial emissions. Even burgeoning fossil-fuel consumers India and China are looking for energy alternatives. … An article observes the shifting medical response to cancer. Rather than attempting to cure terminal cancer with "older drugs [that] were like heavy artillery—obliterating cancer cells but causing lots of collateral damage," doctors now treat the disease as a chronic illness whose "wayward cells may not necessarily have to be destroyed." Quality-of-life-minded researchers focus on "torturing cancer cells, and getting them to confess to us which pathways they are dependent on." Consequently, "there is no better time to be living with the disease."—P.G.
New York, April 2
The cover story highlights twentysomethings who eschew the monthly fees of health insurance in favor of betting on reaching financial stability without a scratch. Since "the strivers and thrivers [are] encouraged to jump from one company to the next," young adults face prohibitively expensive plans that their employers won't sponsor. Consequently, they shirk preventative tests and treatments and then wind up footing stratospheric emergency-room bills that plunge them into debt, force hospitals to swallow costs, and jack up premiums for everyone else. … An article profiles charter school entrepreneur Courtney Ross, whose ventures—Ross School in East Hampton and Ross Global Academy in New York City—emphasize exposure to cultural diversity and put to work such principles as "beauty in the classroom affects the quality of the lesson." But the scope of Ross' vision often leads to clashes with architects, city officials, and school administrators, and some of the schools' "proggy ideals have been flung on the pyre as Ross comes under pressure to teach to the test."—P.G.
New York Times Magazine, April 1
The cover piece discusses changing views of education in China. The Chinese government has expanded its education system over the last few decades, but some believe the boom has favored the "stressed-out, test-acing drone" instead of teaching "the skills—creativity, flexibility, initiative, leadership — said to be necessary in the global marketplace." "American high schools are more colorful, more like real life … more complicated," says one student who participated in a program modeled on Western systems. "… [Y]ou feel like you've somehow grown to be a more mature person." … A piece profiles David Axelrod, the Democratic political consultant who has advised Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, and now, Barack Obama. Alexrod believes marketing a candidate's personality is more important than ideology or a set of policies: "I think that in a sense Barack is the personification of his own message for this country, that we get past the things that divide us and focus on the things that unite us. He is his own vision."—C.B.
New Republic, April 2
The cover piece probes the origins of Hillary Clinton's hawkish foreign-policy views. Many observers interpret her 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq war as political opportunism. But, Michael Crowley asks, "what if she really believed in the war?" She supported intervention in Haiti in 1994, then again in Bosnia in 1995, and once again in 1999, when she urged Bill to use force against Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo: "What do we have NATO for if not to defend our way of life?" She insists she voted to authorize force in Iraq only after the administration reassured her it would make a "good-faith effort at diplomacy"—a stance some regard as naive. … A piece bemoans the rise of "Freakonomics" as an intellectual fad. This approach, popularized by the 2005 book, looks for real-world instances of " 'clean identification'—a situation in which it's easy to discern the causal forces in play"—and often "value[s] ingenuity above usefulness." But the popularity of "cute-o-nomics" may come at the expense of more serious inquiry.—C.B.
Christopher Beam is a Slate editorial assistant.
Paige Ferrari is a Slate intern.
Paul Gottschling is a Slate intern.
Stephanie Wu is a Slate intern.
Article URL: slate.com
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