Editor's Picks: February

Mitchell Bosley:
Politico's post-mortem of the Jeb Bush campaign paints a picture of an establishment candidate with an answer for everything — except Donald Trump. Instead of leveraging his political experience, Jeb became Trump's punching bag. In an election cycle where being a political insider is a negative, the latest scion of the Bush clan couldn't shake off his family's legacy. And who can forget "please clap"?

Read "Inside Jeb Bush's $150 Million Failure" @ Politico

Parmida Esmaeilpour:
In her unparalleled account of "a new category of citizen … taking up space in a world that was not designed for them," Rebecca Traiser effortlessly and rigorously weaves historical analysis with electoral theory and demographic politics. Traister argues, “the expansion of the population of unmarried women across classes signals a social and political rupture as profound as the invention of birth control, as the sexual revolution, as the abolition of slavery, as women's suffrage, and as the women's-rights, civil-rights, gay-rights, and labor movements that made this reordering of society possible. By their very growing presence, single women are asking for a new deal from their government.”

Read "The Single American Woman" @ New York Magazine

Stefan Kostic:
Bombing ISIS is never out of vogue with policy-makers, Republican presidential candidates, and the public, despite the ineffectiveness of bombing raids. The Atlantic's Scott Beauchamp highlights how recent campaigns against ISIS have utilized a 'kill-box,' with disastrous consequences for civilians on the ground.

Read "The Moral Cost of the Kill Box" @ The Atlantic

Robert Gorwa:
How is it that the Clintons remain so massively influential, despite constantly being surrounded by a litany of scandal and controversy? Walter Mead's fantastic article elucidates the new network of power, influence, and "honest graft" which characterizes their 'Postmodern' political machine: one not traditionally limited by geography or political office. “The Clintons stand where money, influence, and celebrity form a nexus.”

Read "The First Postmodern Political Machine" @ The American Interest

James Watson:
While Trump-mania and Europe's migratory dilemma grip the international media's attention, another crisis is afoot: Brexit. The referendum date is set and the battlelines are drawn for Britain's leap of faith. Rafael Behr, a German-Londoner, dissects the paradoxes faced by the pro-exit camp and offers a nuanced, balanced opinion as to why this group may find their objectives unfulfilled, despite winning the vote this June. A must read for those who wish to gain insider knowledge on Europe's next crisis of confidence.

Read "Pity the poor Brexiters - they could win yet still lose" @ The Guardian

Emma Saddy:
While the Captain Underpants reference won my inner child's vote for article of the month (vinegar and baking soda cupcakes anyone?), this one still brought up a very important point about the ability to communicate ideas across levels of education. One of the very reasons The Envoy was created was a recognition that academic jargon can be alienating; pushing through these barriers and still conveying meaning is difficult, but necessary if we want all citizens to be able to come to an informed decision on the election. That isn't to say that US presidential nominees should be speaking at a third grade level, but for people estranged by the more complex political jargon, it's certainly affecting their vote.

Read "Donald Trump's 'Captain Underpants' campaign" @ The Washington Post

Behbod Negahban:
Libya feels like the warzone the world forgot—and that's worrying. Since the US-led ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, the country's been ailed by the same political chaos and Islamic State-led terrorism that's infected Syria and Iraq. In this article, The New York Times brings attention back to the country, and—surprisingly—brings then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to account. At a time when her Primary campaign seems increasingly predicated on the "foreign-policy experience" she has over the supposedly naive Bernie Sanders, everyone who cares about US politics should read this story.

Read "A New Libya, With Very Little Time Left" @ The New York Times