Turkey Could Be the Middle East’s Powder Keg
Maybe it had to come to this, given that Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s bullheaded, probably corrupt prime minister, heads an Islamist government in a nation far down the road to secularism. Erdoğan has lately limited the sale of alcohol and put…
American exceptionalism is a dangerous myth
Move beyond Tea Party lies and phony patriotism. This Memorial Day, let’s remember our history honestly Excerpted from “Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century” At one end of the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., in the expanse between…
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…
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 Global Fiscal and Political “Cliffs” of 2013
The U.S. “fiscal cliff” is one of many fiscal and political precipices to be faced globally in the New Year. Here’s a snapshot of how far the world will have to climb in 2013. SYRIA To begin with the hottest…
Sanctions Will Turn Iran into Another Cuba
The U.S. and European sanctions imposed on Iran earlier this year seem to be working with a vengeance. As if by remote control, the West has thousands of Iranians taking to the streets while the nation’s political elites are splitting…
The Eurozone’s Biggest Challenge: Fear and Panic
It did not take long for the euroskeptics and lemmings to re-emerge in Europe. In a matter of days after the Group of 8 industrial nations met to pledge growth as the Continent’s “imperative,” we now seem to be a…
China Reboot: From Textiles and Tea to High Tech
The tea leaves have not yet settled in China after the ousting of Bo Xilai, a leading figure in the Chinese Communist Party and (until last week) a shoe-in candidate for a seat on the Politburo’s powerful standing committee. But…
Five Things that Worked in 2011 Foretell 2012
2011 will go down as a good year for very few of us. Suspense, crisis, loss, frustration, and anxiety seemed to lie everywhere one turned. What better time to remind ourselves of a few developments during the year that are…
How the Debt Crisis Could Remake Europe
Maybe now we will all understand why the ancient adage “May you live in interesting times” was intended not as a blessing but as a curse. Last week wasmore than interesting in Europe: It was of historical importance—and bone-rattling in…
Recent Comments