Is It Too Late to Stop Iran
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The peril increases daily that Iran will become a nuclear power. Arab leaders are as alarmed as Israel. The West huffs and puffs, and huffs and puffs again, but is nowhere near blowing the house down. It is behaving as if it has all the time in the world. It does not. While the Iranians are enriching, the United States is hesitating

The Middle East's Private Little War
Joel Brinkley

It's not at all surprising that one of the Arab world's most senior diplomats is eager for the United States to attack Iran. The unusual part is that the diplomat said that at a very public forum. There seems to be an unwritten rule that little if anything be said in public, even though Iran and the Arab world are actually fighting a private little war. The reason for that is simple.

Reality and Reform for How the EU Keeps Its Peace
William Pfaff

The meeting of nearly forty EU academic analysts and non-academic observers, coming when it did, during the present crisis in the world economy, inevitably made economic and financial issues its principal subjects. The collective political inhibitions of the EU inserted themselves into the discussion, as they always do because of the institutional and national tensions within the EU

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Sinking Support
William Drozdiak

Recent German polls report plummeting support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition, with Merkel's policies and leadership coming under particular fire -- especially regarding the euro crisis, in which she was seen as indecisive by a public concerned about its own national interests

Even a Few Words Matter
Victor Davis Hanson

Sometimes deterrence against aggression is lost with just a few unfortunate words or a relatively minor gesture. The Obama administration has made a number of seemingly insignificant remarks and gestures -- many well-intended and reasoned -- that might be interpreted as a new U.S. indifference to aggression

Stopping Nuclear Proliferation Before It Starts
Gregory L. Schulte

North Korea has built and tested nuclear weapons, while Iran is on the threshold of being able to build them. Rather than fixating on the proliferation they are unable to prevent, concerned countries should pay attention to preventing proliferation to states that have not yet decided to build nuclear weapons, particularly states in the Middle East.

Veiled Truths: The Rise of Political Islam in the West
Marc Lynch

Too many in the United States and Europe are confronting the wrong enemy. Violent Islamists do not pose the greatest danger; instead, it is their so-called moderate cousins, who are able to draw well-meaning liberals into a poisonous embrace. Their rejection of violence is both partial -- not extending to Israel or to U.S. troops in Iraq -- and misleading

Steps to Stop Iran From Getting a Nuclear Bomb
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The peril increases daily that Iran will become a nuclear power. Arab leaders are as alarmed as Israel. The year-end 2009 deadline set by the West for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue came and went and nothing happened. While the Iranians are enriching, the United States is hesitating. What is at stake here is too menacing for the world to delude itself that Iran will somehow change course

China Is the Key to Handling Nuclear North Korea
Will Marshall

Engagement with North Korea has been a bust -- at least in South Korea's eyes. In sinking the South Korean warship Cheonan, the regime in Pyongyang also torpedoed the South's 'sunshine policy' of humanitarian aid and economic investment in the North. Let's hope the incident also shatters some illusions in Washington.

Russian-American Obstacles Overshadow Obama-Medvedev Meeting
Paul J. Saunders

The diplomatic tone between Russia and the United States has improved considerably as the two countries have signed an arms control agreement, and Russia supported new United Nations Security Council Sanctions on Iran. These are important accomplishments. Yet the progress in U.S. - Russian relations remains very fragile

The Afghan Challenge Is Far Tougher
Arjun Chowdhury and Ronald R. Krebs

Sheri Berman identifies important parallels between the circumstances confronting state builders in Afghanistan today and those their counterparts faced in seventeenth-century France. But the differences between the two cases are as instructive as the similarities -- and point to rather different conclusions.

The Challenge of Reconciliation in Kenya
John Githongo

For many in the West, Kenya, with its Anglicized urban population, modern cities, and relatively well-developed infrastructure, epitomized everything positive about Africa. A highly successful tourism industry in a land of breathtaking beauty and world-class athletes had served to consolidate the image of Kenya as somehow different.

The Tyranny of Unity in Zimbabwe
Robert I. Rotberg

More than a year into a supposed unity government between President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe continues to stagnate. There has been little unity, even less partnership, a wholesale denial of basic political and human rights, and only marginal economic improvement

World Cup Soccer Can Have Political Impact
Andres Oppenheimer

Like many of you, I'm already glued to the TV set watching the soccer World Cup. But while enjoying every minute of the world's biggest sports event, I can't help wondering whether its outcome will help or hurt governments in several soccer-crazy countries.

Israel Should Selectively Reveal Its Nuclear Arsenal
Louis R. Beres

Israel now requires a complex and nuanced counter-terrorism strategy to survive. At the same time, the major threats to its physical survival lie in certain mass destruction attacks by enemy states. Israel's existential security, therefore, must ultimately rest upon nuclear deterrence.

Israeli Flotilla Raid Raises Tensions Over Gaza
Alex Kingsbury

When Turkish activists organized a flotilla of six aid ships to test the Israeli blockade of Gaza, they sought to provoke a response from the Jewish state and draw international attention to the plight of Palestinians living in the coastal territory. In that, they succeeded. The blockade controversy has complicated Washington's strained relationship with the Israeli government

Israel's Gaza Blockade: It Works
Jonah Goldberg

Only one blockade is deemed indefensibly beyond the pale: Israel's blockade of Gaza. Why? Because it imposes 'collective punishment.' The U.N. Human Rights Council, which rarely finds time to condemn the barbaric practices of its own members, routinely denounces the blockade as a crime against humanity

The New Wannabe Ottomans
Victor Davis Hanson

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan clearly identifies more with the old transnational Ottoman sultanate than with Kemal Ataturk's modern, secular and Western nation-state. Indeed, he has bragged that he is a grandson of the Ottomans and announced that Turkey's new goal was to restore the might of the Ottoman Empire

CIA Drone Strikes Draw United Nations Fire
Alex Kingsbury

The CIA's campaign of using drones -- unmanned aircraft -- against enemies of the United States is one of Washington's most open secrets. Last week, al Qaeda said its most recent No. 3 leader, an Egyptian named Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was killed in Pakistan along with family members -- apparently by a CIA drone missile

Gulf Oil Spill Could Bring U.S. and Cuba Closer
Andres Oppenheimer

Here's an interesting theory: the disastrous British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will help increase U.S.-Cuba ties.

BP Oil Spill: First, Do No Harm
Robert C. Koehler

As Planet Earth continues to hemorrhage crude oil from its wound we grope, beyond our anger and guilt, simply to imagine what damage we have done in the pursuit of human empowerment. This is bigger than BP, blameworthy though the company may be. It's a crisis of civilization, which means all of us

Don't Lift the International Ban on Whaling
Bonnie Erbe

The idea sounds positively loony on its face (and it is). But the hope by some anti-whaling countries is that by allowing the three nations that slaughter whales commercially to whale commercially, they can save more whales by persuading those nations to whale in lower numbers. The argument against lifting the ban is that Japan, Iceland and Norway are not trustworthy

Why No Outrage for Anti-Israel, Phony Flotilla?
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

Israel paid close attention when the flotilla of some 700 activists, dominated by members of an extremist Islamist organization in Turkey known as IHH and other radical groups, boarded ships filled with tons of 'humanitarian aid' stating that their real mission was to bust the Israeli blockade and establish a sea lane between Gaza and the rest of the world

U.N. Probe of Israeli Raid Is a Joke
Andres Oppenheimer

Latin America's immediate condemnation of the Israeli raid on a pro-Palestinian flotilla is understandable, but the region's support for an investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Council is outrageous. The U.N. group is dominated by some of the world's worst dictatorships and most viscerally anti-Israeli regimes

When Doing What You Need to Do Goes Badly
Ross Mackenzie

If you were running Israel, what would you have done? About what? About the flotilla of 'peace activists' organized by a Turkish 'philanthropic' and 'humanitarian' entity closely tied to jihadist terror groups such as al Qaeda. The flotilla set out to provoke an incident by running the blockade of Gaza imposed in 2007

The Convenient Villain
Jonah Goldberg

In fairness, the majority of 'peace activists' on the ships were nonviolent, offering passive resistance. But on the last boat Israelis boarded, the supposed disciples of peace attacked the Israeli commandos. These new Gandhians beat the Israelis with metal bars and even threw one Israeli overboard

An Act of Piracy on the High Seas
Bill Press

Forget what country did it. Consider, first, the facts: Armed commandos attack an unarmed ship in international waters, open fire and kill nine civilians, including one American. What do you call that? An act of piracy. It doesn't matter what country did it

History Returns to Europe
Victor Davis Hanson

So naturally, there is a general sense of satisfied accomplishment among European social democrats. They believe that finally a quiet sameness across their continent has replaced two millennia of constant European warring and revolution. But beneath the genteel European Union veneer, few remembered that human nature remains constant and gives not even nice Europeans a pass from its harsh laws

Colombia Vote Showed Social Media's Limits
Andres Oppenheimer

The crushing defeat of Colombia's opposition candidate Antanas Mockus -- who had a record following on Facebook -- in Colombia's first-round elections confirms what I have long suspected: The political and business impact of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube has been widely overrated.

Political Tremors in Tokyo
Sheila A. Smith

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's resignation after just eight months in office has triggered shock across Japan and raised new doubts about the country's political stability. The fact that a U.S. military base figured centrally in his decision has also generated concerns about the damage to the crucial relationship with Washington under his government.

Managing a More Assertive Turkey
F. Stephen Larrabee

Turkey's recent diplomatic differences with the United States and its sharpened deterioration of relations with Israel come from Turkey's desire to reestablish its role as a major influence in the Middle East and Central Asia, says F. Stephen Larrabee, an expert on Turkey

Obama's New Security Strategy Looks Much Like the Old One
William Pfaff

The 'new' American national security strategy emphasizes cooperation with allies and the solicitation of help from other governments, replacing the Bush administration's aggressive unilateralism and its demand that others declare themselves either for the United States or against it. However the overall goals and framework of national policy, as expressed in the speech, were largely unchanged

Sticking to the Iraq Withdrawal Timetable
Jules Witcover

While President Obama grapples with his proper role in dealing with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, his administration is pressing on with the fight against terrorism, seeking to pivot from seven years in Iraq to the growing challenge in Afghanistan and new threats at home.

Israel Is a Key Ally and Deserves U.S. Support
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

If the Obama administration wants to leave a decent mark in history for its handling of the Middle East it should do something right now that would clear the air. It's simple. Just invite the Palestinians to declare that both sides have genuine claims to this land, that both sides have the right to live in peace, and that a viable compromise is possible.

Israel: Re-Run
Cal Thomas

Does it strike anyone else as beyond coincidence that within hours of Israel's commando raid on a flotilla of ships bound for Gaza that demonstrations broke out in Europe and outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington? And how about the U.N. Security Council, which often acts in slow motion, except when it has the opportunity to criticize Israel.

Korean Tensions: Waiting for China
Sheila A. Smith

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, after a measured response to the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel two months ago, announced Seoul's own actions, including a freeze in trade with the North. Lee also said that should another such incident occur, South Korea would take all steps necessary for self defense

Our Chief Confessor
Victor Davis Hanson

The first duty of national leaders is to worry about the self-interest of their own countries; utopian internationalism can come later. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, despite her soaring European Union rhetoric, is relearning that lesson. Barack Obama should take note

New Political Winds in Latin America
Andres Oppenheimer

There is a growing consensus among Latin American diplomats that new political winds are blowing in the region -- after a decade of radical leftist populism, we are entering a new era of centrist pragmatism. Are such forecasts right? Let's look at the evidence

What Next for NATO?
William Pfaff

The European Union doesn't know where it stands at this moment. NATO thinks it knows and is gambling. Has the EU a future, or has disintegration set in? The behavior of the Germans under the conservative Merkel government is taken by many to signal that the end, if not nigh, is foreordained.

European Union Funding Proposal Is Only the Beginning
Ian Bremmer and Preston Keat

The dramatic European Union funding proposal is an important first step. Next comes enforcement of tough fiscal reform guidelines, which introduces a series of new political challenges and risks.

Afghanistan - Marinestan
Victor Davis Hanson

The Marines are now starting to redeploy to Afghanistan from Iraq and are building a huge base in Delaram. They plan to win over southern Afghanistan's remote, wild Nimruz province that heretofore has been mostly a no-go Taliban stronghold.

Farideh Farhi on Shifts in Iran on Nuclear Policy
Bernard Gwertzman

The agreement reached in which Iran would send about half of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be enriched signaled a new unity in the leadership in Tehran, says analyst Farideh Farhi. She says that while the regime continues to worry about its perceived legitimacy domestically, the agreement with Brazil and Turkey has strong public support

Brazil Diplomacy Needed Closer to Home
Andres Oppenheimer

Brazil's self-proclaimed diplomatic victory in Iran led pundits to speculate that the South American country has become a major new player in world affairs. But they were most likely wrong, or at the very least spoke to soon.

Do Great Leaders Make History or Are They Carried Along by the Tides of Change
Paul Kennedy

Are Great Leaders really all that decisive in altering the tides and currents of world affairs? This is a general question which has attracted attention from historians, philosophers and political scientists for over 2,000 years, and rightly so, because it is about the causality of changes over time. What, after all, changes the course of history?

France Offers Lesson in How Not to Integrate Immigrants
Mary Sanchez

My transoceanic lyricism goes flat when I hear about things like France's preposterous plan to fine Muslim women for wearing a full-face veil in public. In our globalized age, there is no shortage of hostility on the part of native populations for the immigrants among them. What explains this law is a familiar pattern of cultural politics akin to what psychologists call displacement

Euro Crisis has American Fingerprints
William Pfaff

The obituaries written of the European currency, the euro, have demonstrated the divergences in national and cultural temperaments, the European funereal and laden with gloom about the future, but unyielding, and the American and British cheerfully and self-satisfiedly shoveling earth onto a casket of euros already six feet into the ground. Defy the markets, will they, these Europeans!

European Debt Crisis Affects Investments
Rob Silverblatt and Ben Baden

Despite the initial confidence boost, a number of questions remain unanswered. Chief among them is what European Union countries will do to keep the problem from spiraling out of control after this temporary stopgap expires. Here you'll find explanations as to what has already happened and tips for what's on the horizon

Greece: Model of Socialistic Excess
Ross Mackenzie

Greece is one of the poorest kids on the European bloc. It also is one of the most carelessly socialistic, which largely explains why it is so poor. The birthplace of democracy, today it is a model of socialistic excess. Unable to reduce its debt by inflating its own currency, Greece has had to call upon other EU countries to bail it out.

Afghanistan: Papering Over Afghan Woes
Jules Witcover

That was quite an official lovefest that President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai put on recently in an effort assure American and Afghanistan audiences that harmony reigns in spite of their recent contentious relationship.

Expeditionary Economics: Spurring Growth After Conflicts and Disasters
Carl J. Schramm

The United States' experience with rebuilding economies in the aftermath of conflicts and natural disasters has evidenced serious shortcomings. The economies of Iraq and Afghanistan continue to falter and underperform. Meanwhile, the earthquake in Haiti revealed deep economic problems. Yet there is a proven model for just such economic growth right in front of U.S. policymakers' eyes

Why More Diplomacy Won't Keep the Financial System Safe
Marc Levinson

The global financial crisis that began in 2007 marked the failure of an ambitious experiment in financial diplomacy. International agreements on the regulation of banking and securities did little to protect against a financial meltdown that severely damaged the world economy

Bigger Is Better: Case for Transatlantic Economic Union
Richard Rosecrance

The 27 states that now compose the European Union will soon be accompanied by almost ten others, making Europe stretch from the Atlantic to the Caucasus. Something similar, if more gradual, has been occurring on the other side of the Atlantic as well with the formation of NAFTA. Perhaps, the time has come for establishing a transatlantic free-trade area.

European Union: A Fragile Partnership
William Pfaff

The present crisis of the European Union was inherent in the creation of the institution itself. It is a political-economic hybrid and was intended to be an alliance of mutually supportive qualities. The qualities have instead proven a contradiction

The Brussels Wall: Tearing Down the EU-NATO Barrier
William Drozdiak

There is a great deal of talk about the dawn of an Asian century. Meanwhile, the fractious Atlantic alliance, enfeebled by two wars and an economic crisis, is said to be fading away. But the West is not doomed to decline as a center of power and influence. A relatively simple strategic fix could reinvigorate Europe and North America: bring together the European Union and the NATO

Muddling through Greece's Tremors
Marc Levinson

Global markets plunged as investors continued to react with nervousness to the prospects of Greek's debt crisis spreading to other countries on the European Union's periphery. This is primarily because Greece remains in a murky situation despite its parliament's approval of tough new austerity measures linked to its bailout

Greece Financial Crisis Raises Doubts About European Union
Bonnie Erbe

The European Union's woes over Greece's financial crisis strikes me as neither odd nor unexpected

Greek Debt Crisis May Hurt Latin America Economy
Andres Oppenheimer

I don't want to be a party pooper, but I'm not convinced by the latest headlines projecting that foreign investments in Latin America will soar by up to 50 percent this year. If the problem remains restricted to Greece, the forecast for Latin America stands. However, if the financial crisis spreads to other European countries, especially Spain, it's a different story

The U.S. Mission in Iraq
Jules Witcover

As the rival political parties in Iraq maneuver for control in the wake of March's indecisive parliamentary election, it may be a propitious time for a reminder of why American forces are supposed to be in the country.

Shared Goals for Pakistan's Militants
General David H. Petraeus

There is clearly a symbiotic relationship between all of these different organizations; al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, TNSM (Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi) states General Petraeus. Petraeus added that it's not surprising that militants would look to wage attacks on American soil

Bringing Change From Below in Afghanistan
Seth G. Jones

In Afghanistan top-down state-building and counterinsurgency efforts must take place alongside bottom-up programs, such as reaching out to legitimate local leaders to enlist them in providing security and services at the village and district levels. Otherwise, the Afghan government will lose the war

The Global Glass Ceiling: Why Empowering Women Is Good for Business
Isobel Coleman

When women are educated and can earn and control income, a number of good results follow: infant mortality declines, child health and nutrition improve, agricultural productivity rises, population growth slows, economies expand, and cycles of poverty are broken. But the challenges remain dauntingly large

The Future of American Security Assistance
Robert M. Gates

Strategic reality demands that the U.S. government get better at what is called 'building partner capacity': helping other countries defend themselves or, if necessary, fight alongside U.S. forces by providing them with equipment, training, or other forms of security assistance.

Questioning the Wisdom of American Restraint
Michael Mandelbaum

For Jack Matlock, Giulio Gallarotti, and Christopher Preble, the authors of three new books about power and U.S. foreign policy, the essence of 'the power problem' is that the United States has too much of it. But the era in which U.S. foreign policy could be driven in counterproductive directions by an excess of power is in the process of ending

RIP a Cold War Heroine the 'Mother of Solidarity'
Bonnie Erbe

I often write about U.S. women's issues, but I came across a woman of note whose legacy has been largely neglected by Western historians. Her life and death should be more widely known to American women. So here goes

Is Latin America Booming? Not Quite Yet
Andres Oppenheimer

If a Martian had descended on earth last week and read the headlines, he would have thought that Latin America is the world's new superpower.

Brits Borrowing from American Political Playbook
Jules Witcover

The British have borrowed one of the most popular American political institutions by holding a series of televised debates among their three candidates for prime minister. It appears to have been a success, at least in heightening public interest in the race.

Enforcing Human Rights for World's Poor
Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros

Efforts by the modern human rights movement over the last 60 years have contributed to the criminalization of violent human rights abuses, including those against Hilda, Sriram, and Veronica, in nearly every country. The problem for the poor, however, is that those laws are rarely enforced

The Geography of Chinese Power
Robert D. Kaplan

China's blessed geography is so obvious a point that it tends to get overlooked in discussions of the country's economic dynamism and national assertiveness. Yet it is essential: it means that China will stand at the hub of geopolitics even if the country's path toward global power is not necessarily linear

The Rise of Asia's Universities
Richard C. Levin

The rapid economic development of Asia since World War II has forever altered the global balance of power. These countries recognize the importance of an educated work force to economic growth, and they understand that investing in research makes their economies more innovative and competitive.

On Israel: Obama Playing the Middle East Game Wrong
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The Middle East peace process is stalled thanks to a second deadlock engineered by the United States government. President Obama began the process with his call for a settlement freeze in 2009 and escalates it now with a major change of American policy on Jerusalem.

What's Happening With Israel?
Victor Davis Hanson

Current American relations with our once-staunch ally Israel are at their lowest ebb in the last 50 years. The Obama administration seems as angry at the building of Jewish apartments in Jerusalem as it is intent on reaching out to Iran and Syria, Israel's mortal enemies. President Obama himself, according to reports, has serially snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Exaggeration of Iranian Threat Could Have Dire Consequences
William Pfaff

It is a dismaying reflection that the facilitators of major violence thus far in the 21st century have been lies told by democratic governments. The lies are continuing to be told, about the supposed 'existential' menace posed by Iran to Israel, America and Western Europe

Obama's Nuclear Policy Enhances America's Moral Position and Security
Lawrence J. Korb

The purpose of nuclear weapons, or any weapon in the U.S. inventory, is to enhance the security of the United States. By declaring that the United States will not use nuclear weapons against states that do not possess nuclear weapons, President Obama has enhanced the security of the country in two ways.

New Obama Nuclear Policy Could Spur Proliferation and Harm America
Buck McKeon

President Obama, in an effort to appease the world community, recently altered the long-standing policy on when the United States would utilize a nuclear response to protect citizens, allies, and interests. While some may admire the president's goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, we need to consider French President Nicolas Sarkozy's reminder: 'We live in a real world, not a virtual one'

U.S. and Russia Should Share Anti-Iran Missile Defense
Henry Kissinger

I favor developing a joint missile defense with Russia against Iran. But the U.S. also needs missile defenses controlled by the United States against strategic attack from other directions. So, let's cooperate with Russia on Iran, but we cannot relinquish missile defenses aimed at other threats

Obama's Promise to Work With Foreign Governments
Kenneth T. Walsh

During his 2008 campaign, President Obama promised to work more closely with U.S. allies around the world and to end the perceived go-it-alone attitude of his predecessor, George W. Bush. It's now clear that Obama was quite serious about these pledges, and the latest evidence came when he convened a 47-nation nuclear security summit in Washington

The NATO Nuisance
William Pfaff

Large and firmly implanted bureaucratic organizations are almost impossible to kill, even when they have no reason to continue to exist, as NATO has not since the Soviet Union, communism and the Warsaw Pact all collapsed.

Cuban Cardinal Says Too Little Too Late
Andres Oppenheimer

After many years of shameful passivity, Cuba's Roman Catholic Church leader is finally beginning to speak out against the most blatant abuses of Cuba's dictatorship. But he may be doing it too timidly and too late.

The Starving Armenians
Paul Greenberg

They were the first victims of one genocide among so many in the 20th century, but it's not diplomatic to say so. The Turkish government might be offended. So the Obama administration pulled out the usual stops the other day, urging the House Foreign Affairs Committee to shelve a resolution taking note of the Armenian massacres during the First World War

Change for U.S. Nuclear Strategy: Nuclear War Planning and Non-proliferation
Alex Kingsbury

Hans Kristensen heads the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, a group founded by some of the scientists who built the first atomic bomb in 1945. FAS keeps a running public tally of the world's nuclear arsenals. Kristensen spoke about the new nuclear status quo and what's being done to change it.

Obama's Nuclear-Weapons Conference Fatally Flawed Before It Began
William Pfaff

The meeting on nuclear security convoked by Barack Obama was meant to prevent nuclear proliferation. This is a worthy cause, but -- while I am writing before the meeting closes -- I would assume that it will at best produce empty promises, as the meeting itself is fatally flawed.

Fear Factor: Swine Flu, Nuclear Weapons, Reacting to Doom
Alex Kingsbury

A child of the early Cold War, Robert Muthnow says he's always had an interest in how society copes with the fear of its own extinction. His new book offers some surprising insights into how humans think about themselves and their capacity to face peril. Muthnow recently chatted about science, existential threats, and his own fears

Documents Reveal Al Qaeda Cyberattacks
Alex Kingsbury

Buried inside hundreds of pages of heavily redacted court documents from the case of a man accused of being one of al Qaeda's chief recruiters, is evidence that the terrorist group has launched successful cyberattacks, including one against government computers in Israel. This was the first public confirmation that the terrorist group has mounted an offensive cyberattack.

Iran - Sanctions on Iran
Louis R. Beres

President Barack Obama finally acknowledges that Iranian threats to annihilate Israel are serious. Still, Obama fails to understand that applying so-called economic sanctions to Iran will be ineffectual. Somehow, despite very good reasons to the contrary, the president is now insisting that Israel learn to 'live' with a nuclear Iran

Iraq Elections - So What Happened to Iraq?
Victor Davis Hanson

Indeed, as we look back at our years in Iraq, almost all of what once passed for conventional wisdom has been proven wrong. Yes, there is still terrorist violence in Iraq -- especially recently as the leadership of the country's next government remains in doubt. And, yes, there are still around 130,000 American soldiers in Iraq. However, ...

Mexico's Big Hope: Get 5 Million U.S. Retirees
Andres Oppenheimer

Mexico is silently working on proposals aimed at drawing millions of U.S. retirees to this country, which could eventually lead to the most ambitious U.S. - Mexican project since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

U.S. Latin Policy: Big Gestures and Little Substance
Andres Oppenheimer

President Obama's official proclamation declaring April 11-17 Pan American Week was a nice gesture, but it's time for him to turn from words to action and take specific steps to improve U.S. - Latin American ties. Granted, Obama has bigger fish to fry. The U.S. economy is still hurting, al Qaeda terrorists may strike at any time and America is waging two costly wars abroad.

United States - 5 Ways to Keep America Great
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

Altogether Americans are a little sadder. Everyone seems to be talking about decline and recession, about an aging America that no longer leads the world and is falling behind a rejuvenated China. Worry has always preceded reform in America. We have had periods of decline and loss of confidence. But America has always bounced back. And, there is a developing consensus on what we have to do

Iran - Sanctions on Iran
Bernard Gwertzman

A consensus seems to be growing for a resolution punishing the economic activities of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards, which control much of Iran's domestic and foreign economic activity, says Kenneth Katzman, an expert on Iran sanctions

Securing Afghanistan - Pakistan Connection
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

History has been unkind to great powers seeking to subdue Afghanistan. All have failed. The vanquished include the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great, who invaded in the 6th century B.C., Alexander the Great, who rolled in 300 years later, the British in the 19th century, and the Soviets from 1979-89. Now it's our turn, and the situation is more complex than ever.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai Ungrateful Puppet
Cal Thomas

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has blasted Western governments, which have long supported him, and accused them of interfering in Afghan affairs by pushing hard for reform amidst widespread corruption. Worse, Karzai has threatened to join the Taliban, which he said would then become a legitimate resistance movement if Western meddling in Afghan affairs doesn't stop.

As Iraq Threatens to Come Apart Problems in Afghanistan Mount
William Pfaff

Washington once again finds itself dangerously entangled with the hostile policies, nationalistic interests and supporters, and personal ambitions of a foreign figure whom it counted on to serve American interests. This time it is in Afghanistan, the latest in what, alas, must be described as America's quasi-imperial foreign military adventures

Latin America Must Diversify Trade With China
Andres Oppenheimer

There are reasons to worry about the future of the China-Latin America love affair. While China's massive purchases of Latin American goods have been a godsend to the region growing numbers of economists say China-Latin America trade flows are likely to grow at a slower pace in coming years.

Cuba After Fidel and Raul Castro
Andres Oppenheimer

Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas is making headlines around the world with his 6-week-old hunger strike to denounce Cuba's dictatorship. But what struck me the most in an interview from his hospital bed was the modesty of his demands, and the pragmatism of his expectations. Farinas says he does not believe there will be any changes in Cuba while Fidel Castro and his brother Raul are alive.

China Should Be Ashamed of Its Aid to Haiti
Andres Oppenheimer

When China's President Hu Jintao visits Latin America, somebody should tell him in unmistakable terms: If China wants to be a well-respected world power, it should be a better global citizen. That's the first thing that came to my mind when I read the results of the UN Donors Conference for Haiti. The Chinese contribution was, to put it nicely, pitiful

Pivot to Foreign Policy: American-Russian Cooperation
Jules Witcover

The United States' new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia marks a sharp pivot from domestic to foreign policy, and in some ways a welcome one. Beyond characterizing the treaty signing as a tangible 'resetting' of the American-Russian relationship

Nuclear Roulette: The Obama Doctrine
Paul Greenberg

Nuclear strategy can be as vague as it is dangerous. The good news is that the new Obama Doctrine turns out to be a lot vaguer than first, unreliable reports indicated. The administration may talk of restricting the use of nuclear weapons to those cases in which nukes are used against us, but it has left a loophole in its Nuclear Posture Review.

Al-Qaeda has Lost the Battle. But has it Won the War?
Chris Thomas

In retrospect, 9/11 seems to have become an even more iconic day then we thought. Tactically, it was of course the most catastrophic attack ever on US soil. On the surface we have viewed 9/11 as a geopolitical event. But in longer range terms, and with the benefit of hindsight, it may be fair to ask: Has al-Qaeda achieved its strategic aim of bringing down the United States as a world power?

Why Natural Disasters Are More Expensive But Less Deadly
Matthew Bandyk

The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile come at the end of what may be history's most expensive decade for natural disasters. The Inter-American Development Bank estimates that the Haitian earthquake dealt about $14 billion in damage. As large as that figure is, it's relatively small compared with the costliest disaster of the past decade: Hurricane Katrina

Dangerous Bias of United Nations Goldstone Report
Dore Gold

Last year's Goldstone Report by the U.N. on the Gaza War is not going away. It was promoted at the time by Cuba, Egypt, and Pakistan -- not exactly beacons of human rights -- and had no support from Western democracies. However, the number of states backing the report has been growing. And yet, it remains one of the most potent weapons in the arsenals of terrorist organizations.

Greek Financial Debt Crisis Only Part of EU's Woes
William Pfaff

Today's European crisis has been precipitated by Greece acting with possibly reckless honesty, and Germany behaving badly toward Greece. The latter a case of the pot calling the kettle black; Germany itself is running a deficit of some 3 percent over the EC stability pact limit -- promising, like Greece, to do better in the future.

Remember the Pacific War
Victor Davis Hanson

Sixty-five years ago, on April 1, 1945, the United States Marines, Army and Navy invaded Okinawa. The ensuing three months of combat resulted in the complete defeat and near destruction of imperial Japanese forces on the island just 340 miles from the mainland. Okinawa and the war in the Pacific are back in the news these days with the airing of a 10-part HBO series, 'The Pacific'

Strange Sighting in Iraq
Paul Greenberg

What can this be approaching across the sands of Iraq? It can't be. It's not possible. It's not found in this unnatural habitat ... and yet there is. It shows the outward signs, including some of the innate strengths and inevitable weaknesses and distinctive eccentricities of that rarest of creatures in those Mesopotamian climes: democracy.

Mexico Facing Six Wars Not Just One
Andres Oppenheimer

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to Mexico drew a lot of media attention to the bloody U.S.-backed war on the drug cartels along the border. But Mexico is facing five other wars that nobody is talking about, and that may pose even bigger threats than the drug lords.

Mexican Violence Rising but Less Than in Washington
Andres Oppenheimer

Despite the escalation of drug-related violence in several Mexican cities, and the pictures of mutilated bodies dumped on the streets of Ciudad Juarez and other cities along the U.S. border, a dispassionate look at Mexico's murder rates shows that some parts of the country are indeed dangerous, but the country as a whole is safer than what the latest headlines suggest.

Pakistan's Shrewd Shift in Dialogue
Daniel Markey

Pakistan's delegation, led by army chief General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, cleverly changed the subject. He came armed with a fifty-six page book on ways the United States should do more to help Pakistan. Kayani also left his chief spymaster at home, practically eliminating potential for in-depth counterterrorism debates.

The Google Syndrome: China's Corporate Woes
Rob Silverblatt

As business relations between the United States and China sour, many see Google's partial exit from the Chinese economy--the company still hopes to maintain a limited presence in mainland China--as a test case that other foreign firms will use to evaluate whether they can afford to ruffle Beijing's feathers.

In Middle East Public Diplomacy Is Wrong Approach
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

Who would have thought that a decision by a community planning board in the third year and at the fourth level of a seven-step process that still has years to go before construction can begin could ignite a firestorm between Israel and the United States?

Iraq - Reflections on an Anniversary
Robert C. Koehler

'Everything feels obscene,' a friend said seven years ago, when we bombed Baghdad, launching the invasion. It still does, but in a dull, chronic, 'used to it' way -- outrage mixed, these last few years, with 'hope,' smearing the war effort with a thick, national ambivalence. It is still going on with a grinding pointlessness that's not worth talking about or even debating anymore

Iraq - The Story That Won't Go Away
Jules Witcover

As the Obama administration continues to leave the invasion of Iraq to history, the pesky British who believe they were hoodwinked into being a part of it are not letting this sleeping dog slumber on.

Side by Side in Need for Green Growth: China and America try cooperation
Joshua Kucera

Jolt for Energy Innovation: Government Investing
Kent Garber

The United States, as pretty much anyone will tell you, is racing China to develop clean energy technologies -- the wind turbines and solar panels and advanced batteries and energy storage devices of the future -- and there are a lot of people who are worried that the country is lagging, even losing, when it comes to innovation.

Side by Side in Need for Green Growth: China and America try cooperation
Joshua Kucera

When President Obama took office last year, two of his top priorities were stronger action to stem global warming and a more collaborative, cooperative approach to solving international problems. By making climate change a primary focus in America's relationship with China the president sought to accomplish two goals in a single stroke.

Latin America Leads in School Laptops
Andres Oppenheimer

The massive delivery of free laptops for schoolchildren -- begun on an experimental basis nearly three years ago in Uruguay -- is booming throughout Latin America, and will have both positive and disturbing effects on future generations in the region.

How Greece's Debt Crisis Affects America
Matthew Bandyk

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou traveled to the United States to promote a message: We're in this together. The debt crisis that has threatened the Greek economy and the stability of the European Union's monetary policies very much involves America's interests, Papandreou stated in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Euro's Fiscal Policy Will Give Pause to Reserve-Currency Allocators
Ian Bremmer & Jon Levy

The Greek crisis is making clear a reality long ignored or glossed over: Eurozone fiscal policy is messy and opaque. This is not a short-term phenomenon, nor can any concerted action change this fact. Global central banks, sovereign wealth firms and other major entities are going to revise their currency-allocation strategies based on this new recognition.

Some Latin Currencies May Be Too Strong
Andres Oppenheimer

Just when Latin America had come out relatively unscathed from the world economic crisis, a new threat could endanger the region's growth: its increasingly strong currencies. On the surface, the steady appreciation of most Latin American currencies has a feel-good domestic effect. But, at the same time, strong local currencies will hurt the region's exports.

U.S. - North Korea Stalemate
Bernard Gwertzman

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is reportedly scheduled to visit China for a visit that would likely include China urging a return to the Six Party Talks on denuclearization, which have been at a standstill. It will be an impasse difficult to break, according to Scott Snyder, with the United States demanding denuclearization and North Korea demanding a peace treaty

The Truth About American and Israeli Interests Comes Out
William Pfaff

The relationship between the United States and Israel has always rested on a number of pretensions, politically useful to politicians on both sides, but because they are untrue, certain eventually to prove destructive to both countries. The destruction has now begun, as the pretensions and hypocrisies begin to fall. The cause of this is external and unexpected

Israel's New Enemy: America?
Cal Thomas

Despite Joe Biden's recent pledge of unswerving fidelity to Israel, the rhetoric and pressure directed by the Obama administration against the only fully functioning democracy in the Middle East more accurately resembles the behavior of an enemy. The latest pretext for putting more pressure on Israel comes from a decision by Israel to construct 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem

Trees for Haiti Campaign Starts -- Slowly
Andres Oppenheimer

Shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I wrote that the hundreds of millions of dollars pledged by the international community to rebuild the country would be a waste of money unless accompanied by a massive re-forestation effort. Nearly two months later, we're beginning to see the first -- admittedly limited -- steps in that direction.

Is There a Middle East Peace Solution
William Pfaff

Internationally speaking, there are only two subjects to talk about in the Middle East. These are Israel, the Palestinians and the Americans; and Iran and Israel. The two subjects dominated the annual meeting here of the Institute for Mediterranean Political Studies otherwise known as the Club of Monaco

In World's Economic Crisis, Competition in Ignominy Remains Keen
William Pfaff

I read about the vultures making serious money out of the poorest national economies in the current international crisis. They buy debt from very poor countries in the expectation that generalized debt relief will eventually be organized by the international community. These speculators then elude such debt settlements through various subterfuges, mainly by reassigning the debt

No Allies -- But Plenty of Enemies
Victor Davis Hanson

Almost 30 years after losing a war over the Falkland Islands, Argentina is once again warning Britain that it still wants back what it calls the Malvinas. In response, the Obama administration announced that it would remain neutral. There are many reasons why American neutrality here is a bad idea.

Europe U.S. Allies in Europe Begin to Pull Back
William Pfaff

Five NATO governments made it known that they want American nuclear weapons removed from their territory. They include the Benelux three, together with Germany and Norway. The five reportedly will ask that all the European NATO governments endorse their position before a meeting in New York in May.

Europe's Chance to Punch Its Weight: New Treaty New Influence
Anthony Luzzatto Gardner and Stuart E. Eizenstat

After nearly a decade of acrimonious debate, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force across the 27 member states of the EU. The treaty reforms EU institutions, making the EU more accountable to voters and enhancing its ability to address European and global challenges. Over the long term, the treaty may make the EU a more coherent international actor

The Progress of Man
Robert C. Koehler

It's time, I think, to resacralize progress. One way to start is to recognize the rights of native peoples around the world not to be displaced, to see in their determination to remain in reverent connection to a piece of the earth not something quaint and primitive and of value to them alone, but the heart and center of humanity's struggle with itself.

Winning the War to Secure the Peace
Jessica Rettig

The actual goal of war shouldn't be the destruction of the hostile world. The reason we're fighting . . . is because another side has decided to attack. The purpose of a war is to reverse that hostile decision. What we were after in Japan in 1945 -- and in Germany, for that matter -- was to end those countries' drives for aggressive military dominance.

India's Rise, America's Interest
Evan A. Feigenbaum

Until the late 1990s, the United States often ignored India. India's weak and protected economy gave it little influence in global markets, and its nonaligned foreign policy caused periodic tension with Washington. When the United States did concentrate on India, it too often fixated on India's military rivalry with Pakistan. Today, however, India is dynamic and transforming.

Enemies Into Friends: How United States Can Court Its Adversaries
Charles A. Kupchan

In his inaugural address, President Obama informed those regimes 'on the wrong side of history' that the United States 'will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.' Obama soon backed up his words with deeds, making engagement with adversaries one of his administration's priorities. Over a year later, the jury is still out on whether his strategy of engagement is bearing fruit

Global Energy After The Economic Crisis
Christof Ruhl

Commercially traded energy is what classical economists used to call a 'basic good': directly or indirectly, it enters the production of every other produced commodity or service. Because these resources are finite and unevenly distributed, they seem to become increasingly hard to come by when global economic activity expands. This is the logic behind the concept of energy security.

From The Sun King to Karzai
Sheri Berman

Calls for strengthening Afghanistan's state institutions have become commonplace, duly repeated in every major speech or report on the war. Yet there has been relatively little serious discussion about just what buttressing these institutions would actually entail. Perhaps this is because the deeper one digs, the more entrenched the obstacles appear.

Israel and Palestine: An Interim Agreement
Ehud Yaari

More than 16 years after the euphoria of the Oslo accords, the Israelis and the Palestinians have still not reached a final-status peace agreement. Indeed, the last decade has been dominated by setbacks -- the second intifada, Hamas' victory in the Palestinian legislative elections and then its military takeover of the Gaza Strip -- all of which have aggravated the conflict.

Obama's Hesitant Embrace of Human Rights
Kenneth Roth

In a series of speeches around the world, carefully tailored for each audience, President Obama has set forth a compelling vision, emphasizing that respect for human rights is not only right but also broadly beneficial for the United States and the world. The challenge facing his administration is translating that rhetoric into policy and practice.

Warnings of Violence Ahead of Iraq's Election
Alex Kingsbury

Voting in Iraq has already started for the disabled and the military. The chief electoral issues are the same ones that have long mired Iraq in violence: dividing the country's immense oil revenues, the sectarian power balance, and the influence of neighboring countries, particularly Iran. Meanwhile, millions of Iraqis are still displaced, both internally and internationally.

Offensive Against Taliban Test of Afghan Strategy
Anna Mulrine

Some 15,000 U.S., British, Afghan National Army forces launched the largest attack on Taliban forces since Obama signed orders to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. What happens in the aftermath of this offensive will be a considerable test of the U.S. military's ability to work with Afghan forces and to protect Afghan civilians, a centerpiece of the new American strategy

Europe Needs to Lose Belief in Its Own Inadequacy
William Pfaff

Much has been written and said about making the European Union a 'world player.' The Lisbon Treaty was expected to accomplish this by bestowing a president, foreign-policy representative and diplomatic service. It was another expression of Europe's inability to come to terms with the reality of Europe present and past, and thereby liberate its future potentialities.

Hubris Behind Brazil's Ties With Iran
Andres Oppenheimer

Brazil's key diplomatic support of Iran's increasingly isolated regime is baffling the international community. There are several theories about Brazil's behavior, some of them quite troubling.

Iran's 'Excruciating' Human Rights Record
Bernard Gwertzman

The UN Human Rights Council issued its review of Iran's human rights record, on the heels of what was widely seen as the Iranian government's stifling of protests during the Islamic Revolution celebrations. The protests are an extension of the ongoing unrest in the country since the disputed presidential election results. Iran accepted some of the recommendations, but rejected many others.

Iran's Political 'Gridlock' - Farideh Farhi on Iran
Bernard Gwertzman

Analyst Farideh Farhi says Iran is in a state of stalemate as Iran marks the 31st anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's revolution. This will remain true, she says, regardless of the type of street demonstrations that unfold or the government response to them. The problems of Iran, highlighted by ongoing protests since flawed presidential elections, remain unsolved

Diplomacy in Afghanistan? Not Until U.S. Identifies Why It's There
William Pfaff

Richard Holbrooke's comments on reconciliation with the Taliban in Afghanistan echoes earlier remarks by UN officials and American military commanders in Kabul that suggest that diplomacy might be coming alive. This could be true despite, or in coordination with, a new NATO offensive in southern Afghanistan. For it to succeed, however, it has three enormous obstacles to overcome.

U.S. Foreign Aid Cutback Plan Sends Wrong Message
Andres Oppenheimer

Perhaps, Obama's 2011 foreign aid budget request reflects priorities in world affairs as it looks like Obama is saying 'adios' to Latin America. Obama's foreign aid request to Congress calls for a 13 percent increase for Africa, 7 percent increase for the Middle East and nearly 60 percent increase for South and Central Asia. By comparison, a nearly 10 percent cut in aid for Latin America.

First Choose Your Future War, Then Choose Your Weapons
Paul Kennedy

What does a nation do when it faces plenty of external challenges and plenty of potential threats -- and has interests and obligations across the world? Well, perhaps it should think harder and more coherently than it might previously have been doing. The United States in today's troubled world needs to re-assess its global position and its global future.

A Less-Confident Iran May Become Even more Dangerous
Ian Bremmer

For those worried over Iran's nuclear ambitions, Iran's defiant and self-confident government created plenty of trouble. A wounded and more isolated Iranian regime will become more dangerous and less predictable. Sanctions won't be tough enough to force Iran to renounce its nuclear ambitions, but they'll be harsh enough to encourage an increasingly anxious Iranian government to lash out

Who Will Be the New Global King of the Hill
William Pfaff

China and India stopped being part of what was called the third world when the Communist world disappeared in a shattering of global illusions in 1989. Since then there has been a search to find a new King of the Global Hill. The United States rejoiced for a few years in being the sole superpower, considering it an opportunity to remake the world according to its own advantage.

America Rides off Into the Sunset
Victor Davis Hanson

National leaders have only long-term self-interests and so seek to expand their influence whenever they can. Obama better understand that. As such, a world without strong U.S. leadership really would become a far more dangerous place where the strong do as they please and the weak obey as they must.

New Palestinian Statehood Push and Nuclear Threat to Israel
Louis R. Beres

The Palestinian Authority still makes its aggressive intentions plain. On its official emblem, Israel is covered with an Arab Keffiyah headdress, next to a Kalashnikov rifle, and a picture of Yasser Arafat.

U.S. Must Remain Active Diplomatic Player in Iraq
Henry A. Kissinger

So far, the Obama administration has recoiled from discussing Iraq's geo-strategic significance and especially America's relation to it. Yet while Iraq is being exorcised from our debate, its reality is bound to obtrude itself on our consciousness. America's withdrawal from Iraq will not diminish the geo-strategic importance of the country even as it alters the context of it.

Pentagon Wrestles With Haiti Relief
Anna Mulrine

In one of the largest humanitarian efforts in its history, the U.S. military has sent nearly 20,000 personnel, 23 ships, and an estimated 100 flights a day in and out of Haiti since it was hit by a horrific earthquake. But as the casualty figures mount and the scale of the destruction becomes more clear, Pentagon officials are now wrestling with what comes next

Haiti: Reforestation Should Be Part of Rebuilding Process
Andres Oppenheimer

Haiti has long been the poorest country in the hemisphere, to a large extent because of deforestation. Early in the 20th century, about 60 percent of Haiti's landscape was covered with forests. But since then, Haitians have cut down nearly 99 percent of the trees in the country to use them as firewood or charcoal for cooking.

Don't Let Haiti's Tragedy Fade Away
Carl Hiaasen

The situation in Haiti is not incomprehensible, and it's not indescribable -- just the opposite. A graphic rendition of hell is what it is, a nightmare of nightmares. Officials still don't know how many people died in the earthquake, and they'll never know. The current estimates range from 50,000 to 200,000, but it's all grim guesswork. Those who survived are in dire peril

Upcoming Iraqi Elections - Political Tremors
Brett H. McGurk

Recent news that Sunni candidates were banned from upcoming Iraqi elections has focused attention on that March 7 vote -- a crucial election for a new government to serve through 2014. Much is at stake, and the United States will have to maneuver carefully, supporting but not overtly interfering with the vote, cabinet formation, and then a new Iraqi government.

U.S. & China Trade Barbs After Google's Ultimatum
Alex Kingsbury

What began as a quiet post on Google's official blog has ballooned into a full fledged international tempest, with the U.S. and China trading barbs about the role of the government in regulating the Internet. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday condemned cyber attacks and called for an Internet where all have equal access to knowledge and ideas

Why Neither Ronald Reagan Nor United States Won the Cold War
Alex Kingsbury

Ronald Reagan never claimed to have bested the Soviet Union and won the Cold War. Indeed, the very idea that a winner of the decades-long rivalry between the superpowers emerged was a political formulation. The notion that the United States forced the collapse of the Soviet Union and vanquished communism is not only a myth but a dangerous canard, Jack Matlock says in his new book ...

Economic Risk in 7 Countries Spooking Investors
Matthew Bandyk

Despite federal spending consuming 27.2 percent of GDP, the United States maintains a Aaa rating. But you can't say the same about many countries in both the developed and developing world where continued fallout from the economic crisis is hurting their credit ratings. As a result, investors have viewed the economic situations in these countries as increasingly risky bets.

 

Devastation in Haiti
(c) Paul Tong

Earthquake Buries Progress in Haiti
Joshua Kucera

Even before Haiti's massive earthquake, the news from Haiti could seem relentlessly grim, from hurricanes to political violence to desperate poverty. But for the last year or so, things had actually started to look up in the hemisphere's poorest country.

Beyond Haitian Relief Effort, How to Fix Haiti
Bonnie Erbe

Rescue and cleanup efforts following the horror of Haiti's incalculable earthquake losses will continue for months and reconstruction will continue for years. But as large parts of the nation are rebuilt, foreign policy experts are asking, how does Haiti rebuild in a way that leads to long-term economic gain and political stability?

Haiti Needs a Version of the Marshall Plan
Andres Oppenheimer

President Barack Obama and other world leaders reacted swiftly to the devastation that hit Haiti in the first days after the earthquake that may have left up to 50,000 dead. But, considering the magnitude of the tragedy, what they have offered so far is peanuts.

Tough Love Only Long-Term Cure for Haiti
Jonah Goldberg

Despite the heroic efforts of aid workers and the battered Haitian government, it looks as if Haiti's problems will persist well into the 21st century, long after the debris is cleared and the houses are rebuilt. While the scope of the tragedy in Haiti is nearly impossible to exaggerate, it's important to remember that last week's earthquake was so deadly because Haiti is Haiti.

Haiti: The Media Spectacle
Robert C. Koehler

Haiti falls apart and America's journalists are on the ground, bringing us the spectacle of devastation. We care, we donate, we shake our heads in horror at the human toll of poverty.

Pat Robertson
(c) Dan Wasserman

Pat Robertson & Rush Limbaugh: Absence of Conscience
Leonard Pitts Jr.

As Haiti reeled and staggered, two icons of conservatism offered their analyses of the earthquake that devastated Haiti. Pat Robertson opined that Haiti's woes stem from the deal with the devil two centuries ago. Rush Limbaugh suggests the relief effort would 'play right into' Obama's hands. It left me wondering whether conservatism has a conscience, whether conservatism has a soul.

 

Pat Robertson Again Blaming the Victims
Carl Hiaasen

It's no secret that the Rev. Pat Robertson is a yammering fool, but last week he hit a new low. During a chatty sit-down segment of his television program, the 700 Club, the prominent Christian preacher offered his viewers a unique explanation of the terrible earthquake in Haiti ...

Haiti - Tragedy and Opportunity for Haiti
Kara C. McDonald

The January 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, is the first test of the Obama administration's ability to mount a full-scale international disaster response, and it is no ordinary test. Haiti is the poorest nation in the hemisphere, with abysmal infrastructure, struggling to stabilize

Haiti - Sometimes the Earth is Cruel
Leonard Pitts Jr

That is ultimately the fundamental lesson here, as children wail, families sleep out of doors, and the dead lie unclaimed in the rubble that once was Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Afghanistan: Report Calls Military Intelligence Ignorant and Oblivious
Anna Mulrine

A bracing critique of U.S. military intelligence in Afghanistan came from an unlikely source earlier this month: the head of U.S. military intelligence in Afghanistan. Widely circulated and hotly discussed, the report was remarkable for its blunt candor regarding the intelligence community's mode of operation in Afghanistan.

Politics Behind Hugo Chavez's Currency Devaluation
Andres Oppenheimer

A lot has been written in recent days about the economic impact of drastic devaluation of the Venezuelan currency announced by Venezuela's authoritarian-populist President Hugo Chávez. But the measure's political impact may be just as important, if not more.

Iran Sacrifices Its Future
Paul Greenberg

I have just read about a new high-water mark in the persecution of intellectuals. Or just the intelligent. For setting it, the world can thank Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and his clerical keepers, notable among them the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Global Political-Risk Outlook for 2010
Ian Bremmer and David Gordon

The biggest risk for 2010 comes from the point at which these trends converge: U.S.-China relations, Iran, European Fiscal Divergence, U.S. Financial Regulation, Japan ... Our top 10 geopolitical concerns for 2010 and their impact on the world

Two Ways of Looking at the World
Mary Sanchez

The perspectives of two elderly men crossed my desk recently. Both are men of the World War II era. I will not compare our times to theirs. But the world remains a dangerous place. And our nation remains vulnerable to serious economic setbacks. And what worries me is how we will respond to the challenges ahead ...

Fight Against Terrorism Could Shift to Yemen
Joshua Kucera

In the wake of the airplane bombing attempt over Detroit on Christmas, President Obama vowed to take an aggressive stance against those who were behind the plot. 'The United States will do more than simply strengthen our defenses,' he said. 'We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us.'

Al-Qaida Using United States to Accomplish Goals
William Pfaff

The real reason for attacking Westerners in the West, or in airplanes on the way there, is to provoke the Western governments to send more Western soldiers to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere in the Muslim world to attack Muslim jihadists on the Islamists' own ground, where the latter have tactical and human advantages that Western soldiers can never overcome.

2010: Our Year of Decision
Victor Davis Hanson

Sometimes long-festering problems collide -- and explode -- in a single memorable year. We can go as far back as the fifth century B.C. to see this phenomenon -- and we may see it again in 2010. Events may come to a head and overwhelm the existing American-led global order

Integration and Disintegration: The Future of Our Puzzling World
Paul Kennedy

The world really does seem to have changed for the better. There are signs of progress and prosperity. However, there are the many indicators of disruptive tendencies, of environmental catastrophes, financial instabilities, currency turbulences, civil wars, failed states, quarrels over contested historic lands and borders, human-rights abuses, terrorism, and displays of angry, egoistic nationalism.

Overcoming the Obstacles to a Nuclear-Free World
Charles D. Ferguson

Over the past three years, a remarkable bipartisan consensus has emerged in Washington regarding nuclear security. This presents a conundrum, however: In a world where the strongest conventional military power cannot envision giving up its nuclear weapons before all other nations have abandoned theirs, how will humanity ever rid itself of these weapons?

Nuclear Disorder - Surveying Atomic Threats
Graham Allison

The current global nuclear order is extremely fragile, and the three most urgent challenges to it are North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan. In fact, the global nuclear order today could be akin to the global financial order was two years ago, when conventional wisdom declared it to be sound, stable, and resilient

Tension Simmers in Iran
William Pfaff

Continued post-election protests in Iran identify either a pre-revolutionary situation or that condition which the French call 'fin de regime' -- political decadence suggesting that the end may be near, but might also be very bad. Recent events in Iran resemble those that led up to the revolution that compelled the Shah to flee Iran in 1979 and were followed by the creation of the Islamic Republic. The question is what will the outcpome be this time and what impact it will have on stability in the Middle East

2009 Chickens and Their 2010 Roost
Victor Davis Hanson

2009 may seem to have ended relatively quietly for the world. But in foreign relations, in the war against terror, in massive borrowing, and in energy policies, we created chickens that soon will come home to roost in 2010

Helping Women Help the World
Isobel Coleman

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn argue that "the brutality inflicted routinely on women and girls in much of the world" is "one of the paramount human rights problems of this century." Their statistics are numbing: every year, at least two million girls worldwide "disappear" due to gender discrimination. But Kristof and WuDunn go beyond moral outrage.

Why International Aid Does Not Alleviate Poverty
Jagdish Bhagwati

The African silence has been broken by Dambisa Moyo, a young Zambian-born economist with impeccable credentials. Educated at Harvard and Oxford and employed by Goldman Sachs and the World Bank, Moyo has written an impassioned attack on aid that has won praise from leaders as diverse as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Preventive Force, Terrorism and International Security
Abraham D. Sofaer

Preventive action endorses using force against states that supported terrorism or failed to prevent it. This was a controversial position, since using (or threatening) preventive force is generally considered a violation of international law. However, preventive action is now an essential element of U.S. national security. And it appears that Obama will continue this aspect of Bush doctrine

The New Energy Order
David G. Victor and Linda Yueh

The last decade has seen an extraordinary shift in expectations for the world energy system. After a long era of excess capacity prices for oil and most energy commodities have risen sharply and become more volatile. As such, a crisis is looming which will be difficult to resolve.

Why Failing to Complete Green Revolution Could Bring Next Famine
Carlisle Ford Runge

Rising food prices have intensified the risks of large-scale hunger. The reasons are complex, but one of them is that demand for food is increasing as populations and incomes grow even as the supply of food is increasingly being diverted to other uses, such as the production of biofuels. As a result famine is again stalking the world's poor

Nuclear Disorder - Surveying Atomic Threats
Graham Allison

The current global nuclear order is extremely fragile, and the three most urgent challenges to it are North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan. In fact, the global nuclear order today could be akin to the global financial order was two years ago, when conventional wisdom declared it to be sound, stable, and resilient

Solving World Health Issues a Few Dollars at a Time
Philippe Douste-Blazy and Daniel Altman

Starting in this quarter, hundreds of millions of people will have an unprecedented opportunity to help the world's most unfortunate inhabitants. When purchasing airline tickets through most major reservation Web sites or through a travel agent, consumers will be asked if they want to make a direct contribution to the fight against the world's three deadliest epidemics

The New Population Bomb
Jack A. Goldstone

Averting this century's potential dangers will require sweeping measures. Policymakers must adapt today's global governance institutions to the new realities of the aging of the industrialized world, the concentration of the world's economic and population growth in developing countries, and the increase in international immigration.

Facing Realities on North Korea
Henry A. Kissinger

It is time to face realities. We are now in the 15th year during which America has sought to end North Korea's nuclear program through negotiations. These have been conducted in both two-party and six-party forums. The result was the same, whatever the framework

Mind of Martyr: How to Deradicalize Islamist Extremists
Jessica Stern

Is it possible to deradicalize terrorists and their potential recruits? Saudi Arabia, a pioneer in terrorism prevention and rehabilitation, claims that it is. And yet so far, the Saudis have shared very little information about their program's successes and failures.

Obama Talking Peace While Making War
Jules Witcover

When President Obama went to Oslo, he knew he was bringing with him a major contradiction. He was there to accept the Nobel Peace Prize at a time he was carrying out his responsibilities as a war president waging armed combat in two foreign countries.

Has War Really Changed
Victor Davis Hanson

Human nature, after all, does not change. And since the beginning of civilization the point of war has always been for one side through the use of force to make the other accept its political will. We should remember that and get back to basics in Afghanistan. Here's why ...

'The Great Global Security Underwriter' Will Pay a High Price
William Pfaff

Most surveys on America's two current wars and on foreign policy generally, find majority support for staying at home and minding America's own business. Especially now, when it has become no longer possible to treat the national deficit as if it doesn't matter, and when the president has just ordered another 'surge' of troops to the Afghanistan war.

China Takes Tiny Steps on Climate Change
Kent Garber

China says that it's getting serious about tackling global warming. After President Obama pledged two weeks ago to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, China came out with its own plan, promising to slow the growth of its fast-rising carbon pollution

A Visit with China's New Moguls
Clarence Page

As a guy who was raised in Cold War America, the dazzling ease with which communist China has accommodated capitalism is hard for me to fathom, but I was there to learn.

Voting Present on Iran
Victor Davis Hanson

Instead of complying with international requests to stand down, Iran has decided to step up efforts to enrich uranium, which, despite the government's denial, is all but certainly intended for a bomb. Here's why ...

Obama Playing Nice With China
Joshua Kucera

When President Obama visited China, he had a good case to make to his hosts that he was trying to see things their way. He'd recently declined a meeting with the Dalai Lama in Washington and said that he wanted a strategic partnership with China. What did he get for his troubles?

Financial Crisis, Enron, Hurricane Katrina Examples of Leadership Gone Wrong
Tamara Lytle

The New Orleans masses who huddled in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, the Enron retirees who lost their life savings, and the laid-off workers buried under the economic ruin of financial companies all live with a simple truth. Just as spectacularly as great leadership can spark success, failed leadership can bring down cities, businesses, and economies

New Corruption Ranking Says a Lot
Andres Oppenheimer

A new survey on corruption around the world confirms what many of us have long suspected: Fiery populist leaders who rise to power vowing to eradicate corruption often end up leading sleazier governments than their predecessors

Afghanistan: A Missed Turning Point
Jules Witcover

President Obama offered only a change in approach in his long-awaited plan to press on with the war in Afghanistan. His decision to approve of most of the troop surge requested by General McChrystal, with more finely tuned schemes for troop deployment in Afghanistan, is a thinly veiled agreement to continue Bush's stay-the-course commitment.

Free Markets, Free Muslims
Jon B. Alterman

Vali Nasr's new book, Forces of Fortune, was written largely in the exuberant phase of Dubai's story, but it is being published in a more sober time. It reflects some of the old enthusiasm for the notion that 'the Dubai model' -- a multiethnic, capitalist society insulated from violence and ideology -- could save the Middle East from a downward spiral of intolerance and political extremism.

The Taliban Vs. Global Civil Society
Paul Kennedy

Almost two generations ago, out of the ashes that were the Second World War, our forefathers bequeathed to us the idea and the very institutions of global civil society. Those visionaries pointed us to many rights, and thus to many futures, but key to it all was the rule of law, the right to free speech, and the right to vote

G-2 Talk Aside, United States & China Hardly on Equal Footing
William Pfaff

I have never understood the widely touted idea or assumption of China-U.S. equality or partnership or joint rule of the world or superpower-partnership. In what ways do any of these descriptions really fit the situation?

Palestinians Start to Show Progress
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

There is still a ways to go, but the progress being made by the Palestinians, especially in terms of controlling the terrorists and criminal gangs, is one of the most promising developments to have occurred in decades.

Reagan, Obama and Legacy of the Berlin Wall
Kenneth T. Walsh

The fall of the Berlin Wall was a conclusive sign that the United States and the other Western democracies had finally won the Cold War. In the end, two presidents deserve much of the credit: George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Twenty years later there are plenty of lessons for President Obama's approach to foreign policy.

Possible New U.S. Option in Afghanistan: Getting Out With Grace
William Pfaff

There are two tried and disproved methods for dealing with insurrection in a non-Western country. The third and reliable method is not to go there in the first place. The fourth is get out with such grace as is possible, as rapidly as possible.

Disillusionment in Afghanistan
Jayshree Bajoria

The international community is increasingly concerned about whether Afghan President Hamid Karzai can be an effective partner. Karzai recently won another term after an election fraught with accusations of fraud; his previous term was beset with allegations of corruption.

A Year With Obama and U.S. Foreign Relations Have Only Worsened
William Pfaff

Who would have thought a year ago that most of the issues of conflict in America's foreign relations would be made worse during the first year following Barack Obama's election as U.S. president?

Circling Sharks Smell American Blood
Victor Davis Hanson

On his recent trip to Asia, President Obama found China, Japan and South Korea -- like many nations these days -- in no mood to hear more American lectures. The United States needs to re-establish itself as financially credible and responsible so that when we lecture -- about everything from global warming to Iranian nukes -- we do so from a position of strength.

The New International Dialogue
William Pfaff

The international conversation among policy makers has since the cold war and the Second World War tended to be Anglophone and something of an American monologue. Today, the United States is widely perceived as a large part of the present world problem. Today the effort is how to cultivate new institutions of international cooperation and governance. Washington used to do it all alone, but a major part of the world is restless.

When Freedom Was at High Tide
Paul Greenberg

The great tide had been building for years, for decades. But it would take daring and determination to release it. Walls do not come tumbling down by themselves, however much it might seem that way looking back. There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to freedom. High tide came November 9, 1989, when the Wall came down

Despite Obama's Concessions, Russia Remains Unhelpful on Iran
Joshua Kucera

The Obama administration's announcement last month that it was scrapping plans to build missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic removed a prime irritant in the U.S.-Russian relationship; Russians felt the missile defense network was targeted as much at them as against the purported threat, Iran. And the move appeared at first to pay dividends. However ...

For Europe, U.S. Is Country That Cries Wolf
William Pfaff

Officials such as Philip Gordon regularly travel to Europe to ask for support for American initiatives. The Europeans reply that they have not been consulted in making these policies. The Americans say we will be happy to discuss them, but we are putting up most of the men and money, so it's too late to change anything. Maybe next time.

Afghan Mythologies
Victor Davis Hanson

As President Obama decides whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, we should remember that most of the conventional pessimism about Afghanistan is only half-truth. Remember the mantra that the region is the 'graveyard of empires,' where Alexander the Great, the British in the 19th century, and the Soviets only three decades ago inevitably met their doom?

With al-Qaida Diminished, There's No Sense in Expanding Afghan War
William Pfaff

Al-Qaida's relations with the Taliban today are troubled. Effective counter-terrorism strategy in Afghanistan is on the brink of completely eliminating al-Qaida. There will be no organization to return. This is the result of effective international and domestic intelligence cooperation as well as good police work. So why, one asks, is the U.S. expanding its war in Afghanistan?

In the Quicksands of Somalia
Bronwyn Bruton

The U.S. government needs to change its Somalia policy -- and fast. For the better part of two decades, international attempts to create a government have failed. And since 9/11, U.S. attempts to prevent Somalia from becoming a safe haven for al Qaeda have visibly backfired, alienating the Somali population, and propelling an indigenous Salafi jihadist group, called al Shabab, to power

Obama's Missile Defense Concession Holds Opportunity for European Security
Paul J. Saunders

It's a concession, but it could present an opportunity as well. While the move highlights the unhappy geography and tough political choices facing Central European leaders, it could also create an important opportunity to strengthen European security. The administration would do well to use this chance to try to encourage new and different relationships between the former Soviet bloc and Russia.

A Simple Plan for Killing al Qaeda
Alex Kingsbury Interviews Howard Clark

Howard Clark's answer is to both amplify the nihilism of its message and promote moderate Islamic voices. Clark, a former marine who served two tours in Iraq, now works as a consultant on counter-terrorism problems for the Department of Defense. He is also president and founder of Seventh Pillar, a nonprofit that seeks to combat al Qaeda's ideology. He recently spoke about his three-part plan for strengthening moderates and defeating extremists

Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan and Memories of Indochina
William Pfaff

The United States is in Afghanistan for its own reasons. The Afghan president said what he did to encourage the U.S. to keep him their man in Kabul. If the Afghan people should decide that he's nothing more than an American puppet, they will get rid of him. But Washington will get rid of him, too, since he would have lost his plausibility, and hence his value

Puzzling & Dangerous U.S. Foreign Policy Comes to an End
William Pfaff

President Barack Obama's cancellation of his predecessor's missile-defense scheme for Poland and the Czech Republic presumably brings to a close one of the least explicable and most dangerous American policy initiatives since the cold war officially ended.

Three Dangerous Stooges: Gadhafi, Ahmadinejad & Chavez
Victor Davis Hanson

Recenty, three dictators -- from Iran, Libya and Venezuela -- delivered lunatic hate speeches at the UN General Assembly. Why do these dictators feel so free to damn America from downtown New York? Why do their abettors spurn our requests for help? And why do creepy regimes plot to get nukes, and fund terrorists? Easy. They do not fear, much less listen ...

Afterthoughts from Obama U.N. Address
Jonah Goldberg

The United Nations is an odd venue to say such things. The Security Council is premised on nothing if not a balance of power, and the U.N.'s roots go nowhere if not deep into the chilled soil of the Cold War. It is odder still for the president of the United States of America to say such things

Iran: Words Without Action or Resolved to Be Unresolved
Paul Greenberg

'Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow, endangering the global nonproliferation regime, denying its own people access to the opportunity they deserve, and threatening the stability and security of the region and the world.' No, that wasn't Israel's tough-talking prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu, warning against Iran's aggressive tendencies again. It was Barack Obama addressing the UN Security Council.

Interview with India's Environment Minister
Jayshree Bajoria

India and China have long maintained their economic growth will suffer if they accept binding emission targets under an international agreement on climate change. Instead, they have called for mitigation commitments by the developed world and financial support from rich countries to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

Tutu: Religious Strife due to Faithful, Not to Faith
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Interview

Amina Chaudary of Islamica Magazine recently sat down with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Second World War -- Seventy Years Later
Victor Davis Hanson

Seventy years ago World War II broke out with the German invasion of Poland. Thousands of books have been written about the war. And by now revisionist historians of revisionist historians engage in an endless cycle of disagreement over why the war started, how it ended and what it all meant. Here are a few more controversial thoughts on the horrific conflict that killed 60 million people, wrecked Europe and set the stage for an ensuing half-century Cold War.

Iraq War -- What War
Victor Davis Hanson

The war in Iraq is scarcely in the news any longer, despite the fact that 141,000 American soldiers are still protecting the fragile Iraqi democracy, and 114, as of this writing, have been lost this year in that effort. But after the success of the surge, there are far fewer American fatalities each month

An Agenda for NATO: Toward a Global Security Web
Zbigniew Brzezinski

NATO now confronts historically unprecedented risks to global security. The paradox of our time is that the world, increasingly connected and economically interdependent for the first time in its entire history, is experiencing intensifying popular unrest. Yet there is no effective global security mechanism for coping with the growing threat of violent political chaos stemming from humanity's recent political awakening.

The Default Power and American Declinism
Josef Joffe

Every ten years, it is decline time in the United States. Declinism took a break in the 1990s, but by the end of the Bush administration, it had returned with a vengeance. The history of declinism shows that doom arrives in cycles, and what comes and goes, logically, does not a trend make. Today, as after past prophecies of imminent debility, the United States remains first on any scale of power that matters--economic, military, diplomatic, or cultural--despite being embroiled in two wars and beset by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The Diplomatic Myths and Illusions of the Middle East
by Robert Schlesinger

Incorrect preconceptions and misguided conventional wisdom hamper American policy in the Middle East, Dennis Ross and David Makovsky write in Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East.

Journalists freed from North Korea
(c) M. Ryder

Relief Over Freed U.S. Journalists Tempered by Long-Term Implications
Henry A. Kissinger

Amidst the widespread relief that the two American journalists have avoided the brutal fate meted out to them by a North Korean court, it may seem captious to consider the long-term implications. The impulse to save two young women from 12 years of hard labor in a North Korean gulag is powerful. Yet now that this goal has been achieved, we need to balance the emotions of the moment against the precedent for the future.

'Never Again' in North Korea? Think Again
Jonah Goldberg

For decades now, we've known that what's going on in North Korea is too terrible to contemplate. Even so, what once haunted us as an ill-defined and foreboding suspicion has clarified into the secure knowledge of broad and systemic evil.

The Arrogant and the Ignorant
Cal Thomas

On my last visit to the UK three months ago, Members of Parliament were embroiled in a scandal involving outrageous expense claims for such things as moat cleaning, a baby crib and second homes that were sometimes occupied by friends and relatives, or not at all

Time to Get Out of Iraq
Joe Galloway

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has suggested that he might speed up our withdrawal from Iraq by pulling out an additional brigade combat team by year's end. Good idea! How about pulling out FIVE more brigades by then

One Year to Prove Strategy Is Working in Afghanistan
Robert Gates Interview

The clock in Washington on Afghanistan is going to depend on what happens on the ground. I think we need to show we are making some headway by next spring or early summer. We are not going to win it by next summer. We aren't going to be on the verge of winning it next summer; this is a long-term prospect.

General McChrystal: The New Strategy In Afghanistan
General McChrystal Interview

General Stanley A. McChrystal is commander of international forces in Afghanistan. In his interview with Julian Barnes, General McChrystal discusses the strategy and progress in Afghanistan.

Iran at Crossroads of History
Will this Regime Fall Like Shah's
Abolhassan Bani-Sadr

Within six short weeks since the recent election, the government of the Islamic Republic has been publicly divided, delegitimized, challenged and weak. As a result, we can now draw some analytical parallels between the current regime and the pre-1979 monarchy, and between the two occasions of political unrest.

Israel Fortifies Presence in Latin America
Andres Oppenheimer

Following three years of frantic Iranian activities in Latin America that included three trips by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the region -- a fourth visit is scheduled in August to Brazil -- and the opening or enlargement of a half-dozen Iranian embassies, Israel is beginning to raise its own profile in the region.

Working Together, Brazil, Russia, China and India Increase Leverage
Ian Bremmer

In 2003, a report authored by Goldman Sachs economists popularized the term BRICs -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- to describe a whole new category of emerging-market powerhouse. The report argued that with sound political leadership and relative international stability, the BRIC economies would together outpace the original G6 industrialized nations in dollar terms by 2040 -- a fundamental shift in the global balance of power. Since then, these four countries have assumed ever-greater importance in the international investment community's collective imagination.

Growth With Equity: Brazil's Path to Economic Recovery
by Patrus Ananias

The financial crisis has left few corners of the global economy unscathed, but many of the loudest cries reflecting the deepest pain are largely ignored. These are the cries of the world's poorest citizens whose suffering is not measured in battered portfolios and retirement plans but in their daily survival

'U.S. Bases' in Colombia May Be Less Than Meets the Eye
Andres Oppenheimer

What's most surprising about South America's growing uproar over Colombia's plans to allow 'U.S. military bases' on its territory is that there may be no such thing in the making -- but rather a major Colombian PR blunder.

What's most surprising about South America's growing uproar over Colombia's plans to allow 'U.S. military bases' on its territory is that there may be no such thing in the making -- but rather a major Colombian PR blunder.

Partisan Split on Honduras Can Be Costly
Andres Oppenheimer

The conflict in Honduras is rapidly becoming the focus of a fierce partisan fight in Washington, D.C. -- and that may not bode well for the future of U.S. policy in Latin America. Sources in Washington tell me that 17 senators -- mostly conservative Republicans and not part of the usual crowd of legislators interested in Latin American affairs -- are trying to open a new front against Obama on top of healthcare accusing him of being "soft" on anti-American leaders in Latin America.

China Rising in Latin America, but Won't Overtake United States
Andres Oppenheimer

The latest figures showing that China is emerging from the global crisis sooner than anticipated is triggering speculation that China will soon overtake the United States as Latin America's top business partner. Granted, speculation about China's impending leap to becoming Latin America's top economic partner spread like wildfire recently when Brazil announced that it will trade more with China than with the United States this year for the first time. It sounds very interesting, but don't bet on it.

Britsh prime minister Gordon Brown
(c) Nancy Ohanian

Why Sometimes Pays to Be Like Gordon Brown
by William Pfaff

Flamboyance of the Latin kind gets you into the newspapers, but for bad reasons as well as good.

Nicolas Sarkozy of France is not a man noted for charm but for his unchecked energies and the restless activity. Italy's Silvio Berlusconi is another matter entirely. He is a success in politics apparently because the majority of Italians like him.

Indeed, sometimes pays to be a nondescript politician like Gordon Brown of Britain.

 

Israeli - Palestinian Peace
(c) M. Ryder

Obama, Solana Mean Business About Two-State Solution
by William Pfaff

The Israeli press reports with alarm that the United States has threatened to reduce by $1 billion the guarantee the U.S. Treasury customarily provides for Israel state borrowings, which assure them the best commercial terms.

This is evidence that the Obama government is serious about halting Israel's colonization of the Palestinian territories -- and about imposing, rather than merely inviting, a two-state Middle East solution.

 

From Iraq to Afghanistan, U.S. Foreign Wars Not Going According to Plan
by William Pfaff

In Iraq, tension was reported to be increasing between the Americans and the Iraqi military and security forces, who were supposed to take over the Americans' responsibilities. Move to another front: Pakistan-Afghanistan. Here there was also supposed to be a straightforward job to do: drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan, into the Tribal Areas of the Pakistan border. There, the Pakistan army, with American urging and help, would defeat and disarm them.

How to End the Insurgency and Win the War in Afghanistan
by Anna Mulrine

A longtime Afghanistan expert with the Rand Corp. and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, Jones talks about how the United States should handle Afghanistan.

War and the Balance of Power
(Nancy Ohanian)

War By Other Means
Robert C. Koehler - International Politics & World Affairs

We live in a world where arrogance and power are concentrated to an unbelievably fine point, while responsibility is diffused into a global mist.

A few fanatics can plot and wage a war, stirring up consequences infinitely beyond what they are capable of imagining, then retire, when things go bad, into a luxury tinged with disgrace.

 

Bearing Witness 2.0: You Can't Spin 10,000 Tweets and Camera Phone Uploads
Arianna Huffington

China just delivered a stunning, real-world demonstration of the changes rocking -- and transforming -- modern journalism. When deadly riots broke out in the western province of Xinjiang earlier this month, the Chinese government sprang into message control mode. It choked off the Internet and mobile phone service, blocked Twitter and Fanfou (its Chinese equivalent), deleted updates and videos from social networking sites, and scrubbed search engines of links to coverage of the unrest. At the same time, it invited foreign journalists to take a tour of the area.

Heart of the Future Between Russia & United States
by Robert C. Koehler

Last week's announcement from Moscow, of a new treaty between the U.S. and Russia to begin cutting their nuclear stockpiles by a quarter to a third, is indeed "modest" and perhaps downright "disappointing" in its tentativeness, as critics have pointed out. Even so, the heart of the future beats here.

Europe: Battle Over the Burqa
by William Pfaff

Since President Barack Obama in his recent Cairo speech made a tut-tutting remark about countries that restricted wearing religious garb in school, the controversy over the Muslim burqa has resumed in Europe

Another Swine-Flu Casualty: Good Journalism
by Andres Oppenheimer

The swine flu outbreak that has wrecked Mexico's economy may become a case study in reckless journalism. Like most of you, I had taken it for granted that the disease had started in Mexico.

Iranian Elections 2009: Iran's Crisis of Legitimacy

Islamic Republic Acronym
(David Horsey)

Iran Election Mess Is Just a Reflection of Global Human Failings
by Louis Rene Beres

Today's dramatic Iranian instability is more a specific symptom of general civilizational fragility than an isolated disease.

Beneath the surface, all world politics readily reveals a distinctly common disorder. This is the incapacity of human beings to find both meaning and identity as individuals, within themselves.

CONTINUE >>

 

Missing Our Moment in Iran
by Victor Davis Hanson

Last month, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest a rigged presidential election. Our president was extremely cautious in his initial criticism of the Iranian government's fierce crackdown against the protestors. At first, President Obama said that the United States -- given our history in Iran -- should not be "meddling" in

The Nation-State is Back & How
International Politics & Foreign Affairs
by Paul Kennedy

About 500 years ago, in parts of Western Europe, a funny thing happened to human society. The national state had arrived, and the world would never be the same.

Asia Economy: Tamed Asian Tigers, Distressed Chinese Dragon
by Brian P. Klein and Kenneth Neil Cukier

Since the 1960s, Asian economies have focused primarily on exports. It was the key to success in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Much of Southeast Asia and China soon followed suit. Over the past decade, the region's exports have increased from 37 percent to 47 percent of GDP. By hitching their wagons to exports, however, Asian countries left themselves vulnerable to a drop-off in Western consumption

 

Essence of Islamist Resistance:
Different View of Iran, Hezbollah & Hamas
by Alastair Crooke

Most Western analysts of political Islam make the same mistake. They instinctively assume that conflict with the West has mainly to do with specific foreign policies, particularly of the U.S. with respect to Israel, the Arab world and Iran, and, if those changed, all would be well.

A Bright Star on the World Stage: Smiles & handshakes a Start But Obama's real challenge will be to show results
by Thomas Omestad

White House officials say Obama's appeal extends beyond just the leaders of the world. "What has happened is that anti-Americanism isn't cool anymore," says top Obama adviser David Axelrod.

But this initial repositioning of the American leadership brand onto more popular terrain internationally will be the easier part of Obama's task. For all the sense of fresh starts and of goodwill, the seeds of perhaps inevitable disappointments are present as well.

Who's Ready if Swine Flu Pandemic Comes Knocking
Andy Coghlan, Linda Geddes & Rachel Nowak, New Scientist Magazine

Doomsday visions of curfews, sealed borders, travel bans and scuffles over food are a long way from materializing in the current crisis regarding swine flu. But if the World Health Organization declares a pandemic, countries could bring in draconian measures to isolate and treat infection, prevent further spread and keep societies functioning. The question, then, is which countries are ready and prepared to handle a Swine Flu Pandemic.

The West's Reckless Approach to Relations with Russia
by Wiliam Pfaff

The failure last week of Russian talks with the European Union on energy supplies to Europe is one more occasion for Russian-Western tension.

Obama's Moment in South Asia
International Current Events, News & World Affairs

Afghanistan and Pakistan are at the very top of President Obama's list of foreign and security priorities. The U.S. military has embraced this new emphasis, as indicated by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen's recent statement that the war in Afghanistan is now more important than the struggle in Iraq.

The increased emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan is laudable, because what happens in these two countries is critical in determining the future of extremism and terror -- a defining security challenge of our time.

Brazil Stretching Clout to Central America
Andres Oppenheimer

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's largely unnoticed trip to Central America last week underscored an interesting phenomenon: Brazil is making big inroads into a region that was traditionally seen as Mexico's backyard

Will Colombia's President Uribe Run Again?
Latin American Current Events, News & Affairs - Andres Oppenheimer

After Tuesday's vote in the Colombian Senate many well-placed Colombians tell me they are convinced that President Alvaro Uribe is serious about running in 2010.

Many Believe End of Argentina's 'K' Era Nears
International Current Events, News & World Affairs

Seven weeks before Argentina's much-awaited June 28 legislative elections, there is a growing consensus that populist President Cristina Fern�ndez de Kirchner will lose her majority in Congress, and that there will be major political changes in this country.

Free-Market Economy Fundamentally Healthy
Global Economic Viewpoint

Last week at the Milken Global Conference, three Noble Laureates in Economics sat down to discuss the global recession -- Gary Becker (Nobel Prize, 1992), Roger Myerson (Nobel Prize, 2007) and Myron Scholes (Nobel Prize 1997).

All three agreed that this is not going to be a depression and that the free-market economy is fundamentally healthy.

Brazil, China & India Can Mitigate Global Crisis
Global Economic Viewpoint

Brazil, India and even China will not be able, by themselves, to correct the dysfunctions that produced the global crisis. But it is true that the economic power of these three countries can mitigate its negative consequences. ...

Obama's Foreign Policy Challenge - Henry Kissinger

The first overseas trip of a new president always has a significance beyond its itinerary. The president has an opportunity to test the impact of his policies; his interlocutors begin to assess the leader with whom they will have to deal over at least four years.

The Global Economy: Worse & Worser

Today's global economic debacle shares a disturbing number of similarities with the early stages of Japan's "lost decade" of the 1990s.

Without good policy and better luck, the world may well fall into a prolonged period of slow GDP growth, high unemployment, and stagnant living standards like that which unfolded in Japan almost 20 years ago.

Today's Global Economic Debacle: The Japan Fallacy

As the United States sinks deeper into recession, many observers fear the country could reprise Japan's "lost decade," the decade of stagnation that followed its mammoth property bubble in the late 1980s. But this fear is unawarranted.

 

Deng Undone: China Halts Market Reform

Since the present Communist Party leadership took power, fresh market-oriented liberalization has been minor. Such policies have been wound down and supplanted by renewed state intervention. In privatization, prices, even foreign trade and investment, the PRC was heading away from the market well before the financial crisis erupted.

 

Why China & U.S. Not Ready to Upgrade Ties

Calling on the United States and China to do more together has an undeniable logic. Both Washington and Beijing are destined to fail if they attempt to confront the world's problems alone, and the current bilateral relationship is not getting the job done.

But elevating the bilateral relationship is not the solution. It will raise expectations for a level of partnership that cannot be met and exacerbate the very real differences that exist between Washington and Beijing.

 

Officials: Floods kill at least 430 in Pakistan (AP)

AP - The death toll from three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 430 on Friday, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides.

25 dead as forest fires rage across Russia (AP)

AP - Forest fires raged across Russia on Friday, destroying villages, surrounding one southern city and killing at least 25 people, including three firefighters. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin consoled survivors at one smoldering village and urged officials to redouble their efforts against the blazes.

US senator hopes to quiz UK witnesses on Lockerbie (AP)
AP - A U.S. senator wants to send investigators to Britain to question key witnesses on the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

Saudi, Syrian leaders make rare visit to Lebanon (AP)

AP - The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented effort Friday to defuse fears of violence over upcoming indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

US expert: China oil spill far bigger than stated (AP)

AP - China's worst known oil spill is dozens of times larger than the government has reported, and some of the oil was spilled deliberately to avoid an even larger disaster, an American expert said Friday.

Afghanistan's Oprah: A Singer's Talk Show Tackles Taboos (Time.com)
Time.com - She's also the Hannah Montana of the nation -- adored by everyone and, somehow, finding ways of discussing taboo social issues

Italy speaker refuses to resign, deepens crisis (Reuters)

Reuters - The influential speaker of Italy's lower house refused to step down on Friday after being censured by his own party, and said his supporters could vote against the government of his former ally Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Iran report: Cigarettes implicated in Western plot (AP)
AP - An Iranian official says cigarettes smuggled into Iran have been tainted with pig blood and nuclear material as part of a Western conspiracy.

Argentine couples wed under new gay marriage law (AP)

AP - An architect and a retired office worker are the first couple to wed under Argentina's historic law legalizing same-sex marriage.

Uganda court charges 3 men over deadly blasts (AP)

AP - A Ugandan court has charged three men with terrorism and murder related to July 11 twin blasts that killed 76 people in the capital.

Minority Islamic sect under fire in Indonesia (AP)
AP - A minority Islamic sect told followers Friday to prepare for war after rock-throwing mobs attacked one of their mosques in central Indonesia, calling its members heretics.

Economic growth ticks higher in May (Reuters)
Reuters - Growth in Canada's economy edged up in May after stalling unexpectedly in April, helped by strength in the goods-producing sectors led by oil and gas extraction, while the service sector faltered for a second straight month.

Former Australian PM Rudd hospitalised (AFP)

AFP - Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd was Friday admitted to hospital for surgery to treat severe stomach pain -- one month after he was dramatically removed from office by his own party.

Pentagon rethinking who can access secret information (McClatchy Newspapers)
McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — A low-ranking Army soldier suspected of leaking thousands of classified documents had access to the documents because U.S. officials have pressed to make sure secret information is available to combat units.

Black Eyed Peas join Mexico in protesting Arizona immigration law SB1070 [video] (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - Mexico staged a handful of protests today against the new immigration law in Arizona, where up to 530,000 undocumented workers live and 88.6 percent of the Hispanic population is Mexican.

Cameron Courts India to be Britain's New Trade Buddy (Time.com)
Time.com - Forget the U.S., British Prime Minister David Cameron looks East in an attempt to boost Britain's economy -- and breaks with tradition by mixing big business with foreign policy

Spreading the Floating Farms Tradition (OneWorld.net)
OneWorld.net - CHANDRA, Jul 29 (IRIN) - As swollen monsoon rivers and rising sea levels threaten to engulf more land across Bangladesh, NGOs are training thousands of farmers in traditional soil-less farming on water.

Yahoo! News: World News
World News

 

Swedish police chief jailed for rape
A former Swedish police chief and expert in equality and sexual harassment cases was jailed today for rape.

US urges end to Afghan leak papers
The US government today pleaded with website Wikileaks not to post any more classified documents about the Afghanistan war, saying national security was at risk.

Three US Embassy staff poisoned after opening mail
French police have said a mobile lab has been deployed at the US Embassy in Paris where three people have reportedly been poisoned.

Riot police break up Bangladesh wages protest
Police used riot gas to disperse thousands of rampaging Bangladeshi clothing workers protesting over low wages today.

Judge rules Venables' identity must stay secret
The new identity of killer Jon Venables must be kept secret because of the “compelling evidence” of a threat to his safety, a judge said today.

Forest fires ravage Russia in hottest summer on record
Forest fires have swept across central Russia killing at least five people and forcing large areas to be evacuated.

Rebels kill four soldiers in India
Suspected separatist rebels triggered a land mine explosion today that killed at least four paramilitary soldiers and injured 25 others in India’s remote north-eastern state of Assam, police said.

Ex-Australian PM to have gall bladder surgery
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd was admitted to hospital today for gall bladder surgery.

Serbia urges UN to oppose unilateral secession
Serbia’s foreign minister warned that an international court ruling backing the independence declaration by Kosovo opened a “Pandora’s box” for secessionist movements around the world.

Berlusconi splits with key ally
Italy’s prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has split with a key political partner but insists his government is not at risk.

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