Is North Korea Done With Its March Madness?
Another wacky, worrisome week passes on the Korean peninsula. Kim Jong–un, North Korea’s intensely unpredictable leader, has threatened to attack the “U.S. mainland” with nuclear-tipped missiles. He has declared a state of “all-out war” with South Korea. On Saturday, Pyongyang…
The Eurozone Deal Cyprus Could Not Refuse
At last there is a deal on the table to avert financial and economic collapse in Cyprus, a threat to the euro, and bank runs elsewhere in the European Union. At this writing, the terms Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades negotiated…
The Cold War Heats Up Between the U.S. and N. Korea
When Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced last Friday he would deploy14 new missile interceptors on the West Coast to thwart a potential nuclear attack from North Korea, the U.S. was squarely placed back in the Cold War. Hagel was responding…
Is “Abenomics” Japan’s Second Economic Miracle?
Shinzo Abe is proving to be a surprise-a-minute prime minister. This week he will announce his intention to enter talks with the US on a controversial free-trade pact called the Trans–Pacific Partnership, according to Japanese media. It is the latest…
The Post Austerity Way Forward for Europe
Italian voters delivered a hopelessly inconclusive election result last week. But the message they sent–to their political leaders, to Brussels, to Germany, to the global markets–is crystal clear: The austerity policies now in place to remedy Europe’s fiscal and economic…
How a Resurgent Japan Puts Washington on the Spot
“Japan is back.” That was the message Shinzo Abe, the new Japanese prime minister, delivered to President Barack Obama at the White House a few days ago. Obama, in turn, made nice, praising the US–Japan alliance as “the central foundation…
How a Fake Currency War Panicked Global Economies
When Shinzo Abe was elected Japan’s prime minister in December, he immediate announced a $118 billion economic stimulus plan — despite a national debt equal to 200 percent of GDP, the world’s highest ratio. Then he went to the Bank…
China’s Provocative Blunder in the Pacific
China is now making East Asia as unsafe as it possibly can. Tokyo and Beijing are not that far from blows over a few forsaken rocks in the East China Sea. Is Beijing behaving badly because it wants to flex…
The U.S.- Europe Trade Agreement That’s Going Nowhere
German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants it. So do British Prime Minister David Cameron and dozens of prominent business leaders. And Washington sources tell me President Obama will back the idea when he delivers his State of the Union speech on February…
Cameron Rolls the Dice on Britain’s EU Future
Let there be no question about Britain. After Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech last week, there is a strong chance that the UK will abandon the European Union. Indeed, if a vote were held tomorrow Britons would choose by a considerable…
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