COVER

Only 648 Days Until the Election! (Campaign 2008)

A year before the Iowa caucuses, at least 20 candidates are already in the race or mulling it. Is this good for democracy?

What a Surge Really Means (Cover Story)

Can a couple more divisions in Iraq make a difference? Or is Bush's idea too little, too late?

ASIA

A Troublesome Year in Thailand

Bombings in Bangkok cap an unhappy year for the Land of Smiles, which has been roiled by a coup, economic-policy miscues and an ongoing Muslim insurgency

GLOBAL ADVISER

Hillside Haven (Check In)

Chiang Mai's House of a Hundred Thousand Hills makes for a sumptous, homey retreat

A Light in The Darkness (On Show)

Japanese photographer Eikoh Hosoe outran his shadows to become a master of light and shading

Sails Pitch (Diversions)

Cruising Indonesia's far-flung islands in style

Futures Trading (Amuse Bouche)

Shanghai's stylish set get their grub in at a FuturePerfect

Go Your Own Way (TIME Traveler)

Travel operators for the more discriminating solo traveler

BUSINESS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

BRIEFING

10 Questions For Ken Watanabe (Notebook)

Actor Ken Watanabe talks about his role in Clint Eastwood's new World War II film Letters from Iwo Jima

Letters (Notebook)

Similar and Yet So Different