In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.

“The quest for freedom,” President George H.W. Bush said in November 1989 after the Berlin Wall fell, “is stronger than steel, more permanent than concrete.” The president’s ally and contemporary, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, cheered that an “epoch in history is over.”