Tag Archives: america

A Historian’s Take on Obama

Last year’s gripping campaign and the wave of popularity behind Barack Obama have focused tremendous attention on the White House and the presidency. As the country marks Presidents Day, TIME spoke with author and historian Richard Norton Smith about America’s “schizoid” relationship with its President, the lofty expectations for Obama and the way history’s verdicts can shift over time. What interests you as a historian about our new President There is a theory, and I think it holds some credence, that every 30 years or so America is in a regenerative mood

Afghanistan to help review U.S. war on terror

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that his country would join the strategic review of the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Karzai said he is “very, very thankful” that President Barack Obama accepted his proposal to join the review

Why Chemical Warfare Is Ancient History

The prospect of chemical and biological warfare in this age of anthrax scares and WMD can feel — like the threat of nuclear Armageddon before it — like a uniquely modern terror. But a British archaeologist’s recent find offers a reminder that chemical weapons are nothing new — in fact, they are nearly 2,000 years old. Simon James, a researcher at the University of Leicester in the U.K., claims to have found the first physical evidence of chemical weaponry, dating from a battle fought in A.D