The prevailing exclusionary logic of selfishness has at times crippled the ability of the General Assembly to fulfill its mandate. This logic must be transformed. All of us without exception share responsibility for the state of the world.

Insight on the Economic Meltdown.
Joseph Stiglitz talks about misplaced priorities in handling the economic meltdown and what we should do next.

"Everything was possible because the banks had to be rescued. So will someone now call free trade into question, free trade which is the very heart of the system? Utopian? But everythiing is possible when it comes to banks…"

The New York Times described the election of Obama as a "national catharsis" - a return to the American dream that was destroyed - politically, economically and socially - under Bush. And now the country hopes to rediscover its belief in itself.

In a nation founded on genocide and then built on the backs of
slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity:
Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change
to Washington and the majority of the country liked that idea.

Dr. King's great dream was of "the beloved community." Asutopian as his idea sounds, King always insisted it could be realized in a world where human conflict was a reality.

As Americans prepare to vote, historian Eric Foner speaks to Spiegel about the current crisis of confidence in the United States, the roots of US exceptionalism and the country's ever-changing concept of freedom.

In his two terms in the White House, US President George W Bush has presided over a precipitous fall in America's reputation around the world. Historyis likely to judge him a failure. Now, his successor will have to dig the US out of a deep hole.