Pope Francis

Trust and faith help any relationship, including the relationship between citizens and their government. What happens when trust is at a record low, and faith seems to be in mutually incompatible beliefs in a polarized society? Garry Wills, professor emeritus at Northwestern University, and an author of many books on faith and on politics, reflects on how the challenges of democracy and faith, and how America might seek a better path.

Americans have been worrying that their country’s best days are behind it since before the American century began. And now? China’s economic rise has persuaded many that China will supplant the US, if it hasn’t already. But China’s challenges are bigger than they look, and the US still has an edge when it comes to smart power, argues Harvard Professor Joseph Nye, author of “Is the American Century Over?”