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…
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…
The Diminishing Role of the U.S. in the Middle East
You knew something important was afoot when Israel and Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip, agreed to a ceasefire in their missile-trading conflict ten days ago. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not broker this deal, as an…
3 Foreign Hotspots that Will Test Obama’s Mettle
The “four more years” now stretching out in front of our forty-fourth president will be dense with challenges overseas, and meeting them will be essential if America is to regain a competitiveness already slipping. It would be hard to list…
As Asian Economies Grow, American Influence Shrinks
INCHEON, South Korea—Whoever wins the presidential election this week will have to acknowledge that the Asia we forgot about when we started our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq a decade ago is no longer there. The Asia we now purport…
Why Obama’s Iran Strategy is All Wrong
The good news: We now have a new set of talks on Iran’s nuclear program scheduled for mid April in Istanbul. The bad news: Washington and its allies have not prepared the ground for these talks. We are a negotiating…
Unthinkable: Conflict between Israel and Iran
The guessing game as to whether sanctions imposed last month against Iran for its nuclear program will work is over. They are already working. This past week the Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, struck a notably conciliatory tone as…
Reengineering Defense: Good, but Not Good Enough
At last, Americans can now say, we have broken the habit of preparing for the last war. The strategic defense initiative President Obama unveiled late last week is every bit the departure from previous practice that Obama and Defense Secretary…
Iran Sanctions: Another Cuban Missile Crisis?
And two more hotspots: Iraq and Egypt Is 2012 destined to be a year of Middle East challenges—not to say calamities—for the Obama administration? It has certainly started out ominously. The White House already has three fires to put out…
U.S.-China: Obama Foolishly Taunts the Dragon
The most striking outcome of President Obama’s busy crisscrossing of the Pacific last week is this: The U.S. is now going to station 2,500 Marines in Australia and develop (it hopes) a trade-enhancing organization called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP….
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