Obama and the Arts | Newsweek Newsweek Culture

Toward an Era of Trust
Sergey Lavrov 6/27/2009 12:00:00 AM
There is a new dynamic in Russia-U.S. relations—a positive change that reflects the imperatives of these challenging times. The "London spirit" of the first meeting of Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama in London revitalized the equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit that must form the basis of our two countries' cooperation. These are fundamental first steps. As President Medvedev has noted, a crisis of trust developed between us in recent years. Our political relationship became too adversarial. Overcoming this legacy will take time. So Russia and the U.S. must jointly manage expectations to ensure that attempts to "reset" our relationship succeed. This does not mean shying away from setting ambitious goals. But it does require a sober assessment of what is really possible, and the time it will take to accomplish these goals.
The Wall Isn’t Falling
Fareed Zakaria 6/27/2009 12:00:00 AM
whenever we see the kinds of images that have been coming out of Iran over the past two weeks, we tend to think back to 1989 and Eastern Europe. That time, when people took to the streets and challenged their governments, those seemingly stable regimes proved to be hollow and quickly collapsed. What emerged was liberal democracy. Could Iran yet undergo its own velvet revolution?
Ban Smoking in Public Housing
6/27/2009 12:00:00 AM
Ten years ago, I was the doctor for an 18-year-old with cystic fibrosis whose mother was a heavy smoker. The patient told me how she coughed, wheezed, and choked when she was at home. I became close with her; it seemed she was always in the hospital, and I couldn't help but think it was because she wanted to escape a toxic environment. Three years later, at 21, she died—more than 14 years before a person with cystic fibrosis could be expected to live at that time.
ARTS
No Culture Czar
Seth Colter Walls 2/5/2009 12:00:00 AM
Should President Barack Obama create a cabinet-level post for an arts administrator? Music producer Quincy Jones has promised to beg the new president to create a "Secretary of Arts" the next time they speak, while an online petition to similar effect currently claims more than 200,000 signatories. But John Adams, one of America's most-performed living composers ("Nixon in China," "Doctor Atomic"), says he isn't so sure. He spoke with NEWSWEEK's Seth Colter Walls. Excerpts:
Brains Are Back!
Michael Hirsh 11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM
For two days now, Americans have celebrated the idea that we may have finally atoned for our nation's original sin, slavery, along with its long legacy of racism. We can rejoice in the world's accolades over the election of a multicultural African-American to the presidency after nearly eight years of cringing in shame as the Bush administration methodically curdled our Constitutional values and sullied our global reputation as a beacon of hope. Every once in a while, it seems, we Americans do manage to live up to our ideals rather than betray them. Hooray!
THE LAST WORD
The Final Repudiation
George F. Will
In a Presidential contest replete with novelties, none was more significant than this: A candidate's campaign—for his party's nomination, then for the presidency—was itself virtually the entire validation of his candidacy. Voters have endorsed Barack Obama's audacious—but not, they have said, presumptuous—proposition, which was: The skill, tenacity, strategic vision and tactical nimbleness of my campaign is proof that I am presidential timber.