This special publication, which we have called the Thanksgiving 2001 issue, consists of nine essays and an extended conversation about the problems and choices before us. We make no claim to cover every aspect of those present circumstances that occupy our thoughts, only to touch on some of the most immediate questions and to offer a few particularly time-sensitive analyses about the initial theater of war and near Afghanistan.

Read excerpts from the issue online, and pick up the print edition in stores this week.