In thinking about the reconstruction of Iraq, many have looked for insight to the American experiences in rebuilding Germany and Japan after World War II.

As the saying goes, history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

Picking their way through the rubble, officials early in the Truman administration had little clue about the eventual outcome of their experiments ... They saw little choice but to grope forward as best they could, responding to immediate problems and fast-moving events while trying to keep their eyes steady on a grand long-term vision.

Knowing how the story ended, it is difficult for us to escape the tyranny of hindsight and see those earlier cases as they appeared to contemporary observers -- in their full uncertainty, as history in the making rather than data to be mined for present-day polemics.

The United States has Fukuyama, Huntington, and Kagan as its prophets of the coming world order.

Who does Europe have? The answer is Robert Cooper.

"Two revolutionary forces are transforming international relations: the breakdown of state control over violence, and the rise of a stable, peaceful order in Europe. The system of nation-states and power politics is being undermined by a postmodern Europe and a premodern world of failed states and post-imperial chaos.

In the worldwide best seller The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton M. Christensen exposed a crushing paradox behind the failure of many industry leaders. Now, Christensen cuts the Gordian knot of the innovator's dilemma with The Innovator's Solution.

The Internet has become an integral part of our lives because it is interactive. That means people are senders of information, rather than simply passive receivers of 'old' media. Most importantly of all, we can talk to each other without gatekeepers or editors. This offers exciting possibilities for new social networks, which are enabled -- but not determined -- by digital technology.

PLoS Biology is the premier open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science.

PLoS Biology features works of exceptional significance in all areas of biological science, from molecules to ecosystems, including works at the interface with other disciplines.

A Public Debate on Telecommunications Policy, entitled "Competing Visions for an Evolving Telecom Market", featuring:

US Senator Sam Brownback, Chair, Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology & Space, with keynote remarks and introductions;

Marilyn Showalter, Chair of Washington State Utilities Commission, Seattle, WA; First Vice Pres. of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners;

Thomas Hazlett, Senior Fellow, Center for a Digital Economy, Manhattan Institute, Washington, DC; Former FCC Chief Economist.

Stark, mysterious, potent, looming, seductive, beautiful, iconic Mount Fuji. Overcommercialized, stereotypical, omnipresent, overcrowded Mount Fuji.

Typically seen as a backdrop to Japanese life, Chris Steele-Perkins offers a different frame to Japan's magical mountain.

Americans love Japan.

Japan has always had a cachet of cool, but it was a type of subcultural cool that appealed only to certain tastes. Now, however, Japan's cultural cool is appealing to a wider base ... It only makes sense that American films would want to appropriate this cool.

Lost in Translation, Kill Bill, and The Last Samurai all feature American protagonists fighting their way, either figuratively or literally, across the landscape of Japan.

... the essence of being alone in a foreign place ...