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By Max Fisher, Published: August 29 at 12:50 pm  The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians. If you found the above sentence kind of confusing, or aren’t exactly sure why Syria is fighting a civil war, or even where Syria is located, then this is the article for you. What’s happening in Syria is really important, but it can also be confusing and difficult to follow even for those of us glued to it. Here, then, are the most basic answers to your most basic questions. First, a disclaimer: Syria and its history are really complicated; this is not an exhaustive or definitive account of that entire story, just some background, written so that anyone can understand it. Read award-winning novelist Teju Cole’s funny and insightful parody of...

It’s common advice among job seekers: when you’re interviewing, you need to interview the employer right back. After all, you’re the one who is potentially going to fill this position, so you need to know if it’s going to be a good fit, right? Except that while salary ranges, benefits and schedule flexibility are important details you deserve answers to, hiring managers don’t appreciate questions like these until at least your second interview (or maybe even after they’ve made you an offer). During your first interview, the “impress me dance” is still in full swing. When a potential employer asks if you have any questions, they don’t want inquiries about parking validation; they want to see if you’re prepared, educated and inquisitive. Here are six questions to ask at the end of your interview that will help you master the twisted tango of getting hired: 1. If I were to start tomorrow, what would be the top priority on my to-do list? The answer to this question will give you...

2 THUMBS UP !! NEW DELHI: Former president Pervez Musharraf on Friday took India's media to task for fabricating and cooking up false stories against Pakistan’s armed forces. Speaking on Indian TV channel Times Now, live from London, Musharraf said India was fabricating false stories to put Pakistan’s army and ISI in bad light through its media. When asked by anchor why Pakistan was not acting against Lashkar-e-Taiba, Musharraf questioned as to why India was not doing anything against extremist party Shiv Sena. “Can Indian government dare to take action against Shiv Sena? Are not they extremists? ,” he shot back at the anchor. Responding to a question about the long march, Musharraf said India had no right to ask about Pakistan’s internal affairs. But he said that Pakistanis want change.  “Pakistan army did not mutilate the body of any Indian soldier and it never does so,” he replied to a question commandingly. He said India was deliberately escalating at the Line of Control. ...

Editor’s Note:   When the members of the class of 2010 entered business school, the economy was strong and their post-graduation ambitions could be limitless. Just a few weeks later, the economy went into a tailspin. They’ve spent the past two years recalibrating their worldview and their definition of success. The students seem highly aware of how the world has changed (as the sampling of views in this article shows). In the spring, Harvard Business School’s graduating class asked HBS professor Clay Christensen to address them—but not on how to apply his principles and thinking to their post-HBS careers. The students wanted to know how to apply them to their personal lives. He shared with them a set of guidelines that have helped him find meaning in his own life. Though Christensen’s thinking comes from his deep religious faith, we believe that these are strategies anyone can use. And so we asked him to share them with the readers of HBR. To learn more about Christen...