In the fall of 2002, the Atlantic Monthly invited Walter Mearsheimer, of the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, of Harvard, to write a feature article on the subject of relations between Israel and the U.S. They worked on the assignment on and off for the next two years in close collaboration with Atlantic editors.

What is happening in the United States of America?Is it the U.S. citizen who has turned from personal pride and personal honor to personal greed and personal destruction?Have we gone insane with vengeance for anyone who does not think as we do, or want a promotion we want, or a political position we want, or climbed the education ladder to success, or makes more money than we do, or maybe finds happiness through hard work and is completely happy at that level of success?