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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (32620)	6/19/2002 11:09:21 AM
From: tekboy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I have been missing a good one with "Atlantic". not really; in the old days you weren't missing much. Michael Kelly took over the mag not too long ago and has made it much more topical, readable, and interesting. I think he's generally a bombastic blowhard jerk as a columnist, but have to give him loads of credit for doing an excellent job as an editor. The new leadership has plowed tons of money into it and taken great pains with it, and the results speak for themselves. The only caution I would offer is that--perhaps unsurprisingly given Kelly's background--they generally rely on journalists rather than true experts to write their pieces. That means the magazine reads well, but is often not as authoritative as some other places, especially when it comes to serious questions of public policy. Three examples, from many possible ones: 1. I think David Brooks may be the single best cultural commentator working in America today, and think that his book Bobos in Paradise is the definitive portrait of the country's new elite. But quite frankly, he knows as much about Arafat as my Aunt Millie, so why I should listen to him on the subject is unclear. 2. Similarly, I saw no particular reason to waste precious time on Michael Kelly's own three-part thumbsucker on what airpower can accomplish (did anybody?)--particularly when I could hear what world-class experts on the topic have to say (as in that Steve Biddle review essay in FA published at the same time). 3. Finally, Mark Bowden is a fine writer and always interesting to read. But his recent profile of Saddam, while fun, was a typical journalistic drop-in: start from scratch, read a bit, talk to a few sources, put it all together in a winning way, and then move on to the next assignment. Some real experts I know were quite disappointed with it. tb@nitpicker.com