A window onto internal conflicts and social issues, Culture and Society offers a fresh perspective on the religious, ethnic, gender, class, and cultural divisions that characterize societies. Recent issues included articles on the failed American public diplomacy efforts in Iraq; the future of Afghan women's rights; and the new generation of American foreign policymakers. Analysts, journalists, scholars, and policymakers of diverse expertise are selected to contribute.

Losing Hearts and Minds:
Understanding America's Failure in Iraq

By Samer Shehata

Although the future of Iraq remains uncertain, the United States has already lost the war for Iraqi hearts and minds. The war of diplomacy was lost not because of biased reporting in the Arab media or the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, but primarily because of a series of policy mistakes, broken promises, and the failure to meet basic obligations. Nearly two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, significant parts of Iraq remain entrenched in a Hobbesian nightmare. In addition to the absence of law and order, basic services have only recently reached prewar levels in much of the country. In Tikrit, Fallujah, and Baghdad, cities favored under the previous regime, residents have less electricity and clean water than they did before the war. more...