Anne Applebaum

More Than a Rock Star

More Than a Rock Star

Rather faster than I would have expected — sometime around the close of play last Wednesday — I began to get a familiar creepy feeling: It was that old “Princess Diana is dead and the media coverage is too much” sensation.

Five Election Myths

Five Election Myths

Election Day, as always, is fraught with peril. Beware the seductiveness of opinion polls, which can mislead badly; beware the even greater attraction of exit polls, which have so often been wrong. Beware the too-early commentary, the too-swift judgment; and, above all, beware the hopeful, reassuring cliches that will be passed around today and tomorrow, …

Five Election Myths Read More »

Why McCain Lost Me

Why McCain Lost Me

Yesterday, while reading the latest polling data on John McCain, Sarah Palin and their appeal — or growing lack of it — to ” independent women voters” it suddenly dawned on me: I am one of these elusive independent female voters, and I have the credentials to prove it.

Laughable and Tragic

Laughable and Tragic

Perhaps it was the elaborate court rituals, perhaps it was the stiff manners of the royal family, or perhaps it was the swiftness of the final collapse: for whatever reason, even the most tragic tales of the latter years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire often lapse into black humor.

The Iceland Syndrome

The Iceland Syndrome

Imagine this scenario: In a medium-size European country — call it Country X — the bank regulators hold an ordinary meeting. These being extraordinary times, the regulators discuss the health of various banks, including the country’s largest — call it Bank Y — which is owned by an even larger Italian financial group.

In Korea, Rituals of Absurdity

In Korea, Rituals of Absurdity

Step out of the bus, walk across the courtyard, stop in front of the low-built, blue buildings: Here, in the Joint Security Area — a neutral space between North and South Korea, under U.N. jurisdiction since the 1953 armistice — is one of the world’s weirdest scenes.

The Smart Money in Afghanistan

The Smart Money in Afghanistan

Kabul — The scene is a small textile factory in a new industrial park on the outskirts of Kabul; the characters are an Afghan businessman, his American partner and a USAID official, the latter straight out of central casting: flustered, important, accompanied by gun-wielding bodyguards.