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Pop Culture Roundup: This Week This week ... Star Wars by Ken Burns, Hollywood's Indians and more.

Why the ‘best and brightest’ can be dimmest and worst at governing by Robert Dallek Millions of Americans, led by the Republican presidential candidates themselves, seem to forget what goes into a successful presidency.

The Wrong Side of 'the Right Side of History' by David A. Graham President Obama espouses a facile faith in history bending toward perfection and morality—against evidence and reason.

The fate of foreign refugees, past and present by Caroline Shaw To allow Islamophobia to redefine asylum as dependent on religious confession would be to return to the world of rampant anti-Catholicism of early modern Britain.

The last time an American tycoon exploited terrorism by Mark Ames We’re in new terrorism panic, with polls showing Americans’ fear of terror attacks hitting levels not seen since right after 9/11.

How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS by Kyle W. Orton The Islamic State was born when the desperate dictator turned to religion to shore up his teetering regime.

Can history help us manage humanitarian crises? by Richard Breitman This question is particularly timely given the massive outflow of refugees from Syria and the problems of admitting large numbers of refugees to other countries, including the United States.

While the right fearmongers on Islam, the left condescends by Jonathan Zimmerman Our Muslim citizens need protection from physical assaults, which have multiplied since Paris and San Bernardino. But they don’t need safeguards for their culture, which is stronger than its self-anointed gatekeepers know.

Political Party Meltdown by Kevin Baker The strategists who wanted greater ideological purity may have gotten more than they bargained for.

Can Honest History Allow for Hope? by Tim Tyson The obligations of scholarship diverge from the needs of activists.

Anger: An American History by Stacy Schiff Well before Japanese internment camps, before the Know-Nothing Party, before the Alien and Sedition Acts, New England drew its identity from threats to public safety. We manned the nation’s watchtowers before we were even a nation.