The comments on Slashdot are usually terrible, but occasionally there are incredibly insightful comments or links. Case in point: this essay linked by jACL. Titled "Was Democracy Just a Moment" and written by Robert D. Kaplan, the essay covers democracy, economic stability, globalism, regimes, and more. I used to "borrow" my stepmom's issues of Atlantic Monthy and read them cover to cover; this article just inspired me to get my own subscription.
On a completely unrelated note, I stumbled across this collection of interesting articles by Jamie Zawinski.