The Great Debate

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk toward the Syrian border, Aug 11, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said/Files

An Oscar statue stands near the Dolby Theater during preparations for the Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 19, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Ukrainian servicemen who fought in Debaltseve are seen in a bus before leaving for home, near Artemivsk, Feb. 19, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

A fighter from the Shi’ite Imam Ali Brigades militia runs after taking control of a village from Islamist State militants, on the outskirts of Dhuluiya, north of Baghdad, Dec. 29, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

Craft beer taps at a bar in New York, January 21, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Whether you like craft beer brewed in small batches or the mass-produced variety, the most costly ingredient that goes into every pint of beer in the United States is taxes. With federal, state and local levies, taxes make up, on average, more than 40 percent of the cost of beer purchased in the United States. In an effort to reduce the excessive tax bite, two competing bills have been proposed this month on Capitol Hill, along with legislation at the state level.

Bradley Cooper playing Chris Kyle in ‘American Sniper.’ REUTERS/Warner Bros. Entertainment

Members of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic army collect parts of a destroyed Ukrainian army tank in Vuhlehirsk, about 10 km (6 miles) west of Debaltseve, February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Russian Aircraft Carrier “Kuznetsov,” January 1996. WIKIMEDIA/Commons

A Tunisian fan soccer fan. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Earlier this month, Tunisia’s newly elected parliament cobbled together a coalition government led by a secular party that included its Islamist rivals, who had been democratically ousted from power. The new government, coming on the heels of a historic presidential election, a new constitution and the first democratic elections to be held during the Arab Spring, marks an astonishing democratic culmination in the birthplace of the movement. It has also proven hard to replicate.

(L-R) President Barack Obama, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the G20 in Brisbane, November 16, 2014. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque