In this issue
Edition: South Pacific
Edition: South Pacific
No. 1
COVER
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
BUSINESS
Asia's Net: Hanging by a Thread
An earthquake off Taiwan crashes Asia's telecommunications system, exposing the surprising vulnerability of the Internet
NOTEBOOK
10 Questions For Ken Watanabe
Actor Ken Watanabe talks about his role in Clint Eastwood's new World War II film Letters from Iwo Jima
Q & A: Xanana Gusmão
TIME talks to East Timor's President

Cartoons of the Week
Asterix at 50: The Comic Hero Conquers the World
Photos: Silvio Berlusconi and the Politics of Sex
Pictures of the Week
Short List: TIME's Weekly Critics' Picks
Piecing Together Nabokov's Last Novel
Photos: Peru's Sacred Glacier Is Melting
New Moon Review: Team Jacob Ascending
Are You Ready? TIME.com's Holiday Gift Guide 2009
Broken Embraces: Death Becomes Almodóvar and Cruz