TIME (July 17, 2006) The End of Cowboy Diplomacy oversized cowboy hat embellished with U.S. Presidential logo and boots

TIMEs cover, The End of Cowboy Diplomacy, opened a national dialogue on President Bushs foreign policy.  The image of an oversized cowboy hat that seems to engulf the wearer is stamped with the presidential seal and cast alone against a stark white background.  The image powerfully illustrates how the muscular, idealistic and unilateralist vision of American power that the Bush administration has adopted for so long, has been ultimately ineffective and abandoned by the President. 

The day the cover image was released it immediately became a fixture throughout the blogosphere as well as in print, television and radio broadcasts nationwide.  At the White House briefing on the Monday the issue hit newsstands, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was asked
 by a reporter about TIMEs cover and if the Bush doctrine was indeed over. TIMEs The End of Cowboy Diplomacy cover exemplifies the power of magazines to impact the national agenda.

 
I.D. Magazine (March/April 2006) Design and Religion issue, featuring iPod-like device turned into a crucifix necklace

Designers, who have fashioned ceremonial objects and buildings for as long as people have worshiped, are often called upon to reshape religious practices to align with the modern world. How do they engage in such transformations? That was the theme of this special issue, which reported on contemporary designs for devotion.

Designed by I.D.s art director, Kobi Benezri, the forms are stark and the palette is neutral, with just a hint of red at the top. The eye goes straight to the device that literally illustrates the cover line New Forms for Faith: an iPod Shuffle with a specially designed cap and lanyard marketed under the name iBelieve. For the main cover line, Design and Religion, Kobi added a touch of the medieval by tweaking I.D.s signature typeface Coranto. I.D. covers are often a family affair: The photographer was Mark Weiss, a regular contributor to the magazine, and the model was Senior Associate Editor Monica Khemsurov.

The Economist (July 8-14, 2006) Rocket man Kim Jong-il of North Korea

This cover appeared in the week following North Koreas decision to launch a Taepodong rocket (which fizzled) and half a dozen others (which worked). The launch, noted The Economist, was calculated to blast a hole in the diplomatic effort by America, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia to get Kim Jong-ils regime to give up its nuclear bomb-building. The Economist worried that Kim Jong-ils pyrotechnics would incinerate wider efforts to stabilize a region full of dangerous rivalries. The cover captured the moment by picturing the elusive North Korean leader as dangerous Rocket man. Though considered a serious magazine, the cover demonstrates The Economists often irreverent take on the worlds events.