Ozymandias redux.

• Author: Gillespie, Nick
• Position: Editor's Note

I'M WRITING THIS as U.S.--excuse me, coalition--troops are rolling into Baghdad virtually unopposed. As statues of Saddam Hussein are pulled to the ground all over Iraq, it's tough not to think of Shelley's "Ozymandias of Egypt," in which a "traveller" recounts stumbling across a half-buried monument to a long-forgotten tyrant:

And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty and despair!" Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch faraway.

As of press time, it's clear that it's a new day in Iraq, one in which Saddam and his Ba'athist party will play no role. Yet many important questions remain: Is Saddam dead or alive? Will we ever find the "weapons of mass destruction" whose existence was used to justify the invasion? Will the Iraqi people--and those in neighboring countries--view occupying troops as liberators or the latest set of oppressors? Who exactly will be running Iraq? What effect will any of this have on Al Qaeda and other terrorists?

For Americans, no question is more pressing than the one we ask in our cover story, "What Next for U.S. Foreign Policy?" (page 22). Regard less of how you felt about war with Iraq (I was opposed), an unclear and dangerous geopolitical future awaits us all. "The invasion of Iraq has answered some...questions but raised still more, as analysts debate whether such wars will undermine the stability of the Middle East, whether that status quo is worth...