From Diplomatic Courier, an article on the value of state-building vs. the cost of nation-neglecting in Afghanistan; an article on One World Government: conspiracy theory or inevitable future; and is the idea of complete nuclear disarmament remotely serious? A review of The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation by Strobe Talbott; and Democracy Without Borders?: Global Challenges to Liberal Democracy by Marc Plattner. An interview with Wesleyan economist Gary Yohe on the economics of climate change. A review of The Letters of George Santayana: Book Eight: 1948-1952. Gentlemen, stop your engines: A NASCAR fan makes the case to euthanize stock-car racing. An interview with former Christian Scientist Robert Y. Ellis on why he left the church he was raised in. Hundreds of thousands of government workers are about to retire, and we're nowhere near ready to replace them; can Obama's agenda survive if no one's around to implement it? The Chicago sit-in: Has Obama's election spurred a new mood of union activism? Conservatives are terrified that a new health care system would be so good we would never want to get rid of it. Lawyers aren't special: Why it's legitimate to investigate the Bush lawyers who approved war crimes. Can the tactics that succeeded against Big Tobacco simply be transferred to oil?