Trump’s Path to Mount Rushmore
Pundits are terrible at predicting presidencies; remember the hymns to the greatness of the Second Lincoln, the New Roosevelt, and the Democratic Reagan that wafted to the heavens during the Obama...
View ArticleThe Future of US-Cuban Relations
The AP ran a long analytic piece over the weekend, trying to parse how Castro’s death might affect U.S.-Cuban relations—especially with Trump coming into office. While Obama tried to offer a carefully...
View ArticleSouth Korea’s Crisis Deepens
Protests against South Korean President Park Geun-hye show no signs of abating, as her approval numbers plunge to record lows and parliament broaches the possibility of impeachment. And as the...
View ArticleNo Happy Ending for Brazil
Here we go again: A handful of opposition politicians in Brazil are filing for the impeachment of the country’s President. Michael Temer, who replaced Dilma Rousseff after she was impeached earlier...
View ArticleThe Crimes of the Future Are Already Here
San Francisco’s light rail system was hit with a cyber attack on Friday, as a hacker held its computer systems hostage and demanded a ransom to unscramble the data. Washington Post: The San Francisco...
View ArticleMerkel’s Migrant Rethink
The German government’s brief, politically disastrous experiment with welcoming mass migration from the Middle East and beyond is coming to an end as the Merkel government looks at the consequences on...
View ArticleThe Smart Money Wants Out Of China
Signs point to more trouble for the Chinese economy, as Beijing prepares new measures to restrict capital flight. The Financial Times offers a helpful explainer: China is preparing to impose new...
View ArticleTrump Rediscovers An Old Form of Governance
The big news in Trumpland this morning is that the President-elect has arranged to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana. From the FT, if you haven’t already heard: The deal would represent an early...
View ArticleHuman Rights Activists Lose Faith In Burma’s Leader
Human rights advocates are accusing Burma’s leader, Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, of inaction during a brutal counterinsurgency drive against a Muslim minority. The New York Times: As the...
View ArticleWhat the Taiwan Call Means
The ten minute telephone call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen to Donald Trump will not, by itself, cause a crisis in US-China relations, but it tells us a lot about the President-elect’s approach...
View ArticleTrump’s Third Ring of Suburbs
President-elect Trump’s allies like to compare him to Ronald Reagan, a political outsider who overcame elite disdain and hostility to make a lasting mark on American history. Trump detractors note that...
View ArticleTurks “Hate” and “Are Disgusted” by Syrian Refugees
Some troubling—but absolutely in no way surprising—figures out of Turkey: The Evrensel daily on Saturday reported the findings of a survey conducted jointly by İstanbul Kemerburgaz University and Kent...
View ArticleThe Big American Question
Just a few weeks ago, the press was hailing the glories of the Obama economic recovery; now that the election is over, a darker picture is beginning to emerge. Life expectancy is falling in the United...
View ArticleGerman Investors Return to Russia
Reports of Russian isolation have been greatly exaggerated. The Wall Street Journal reports that German companies are leading a quiet resurgence of foreign investment into Russia: In the past two...
View ArticleWhat The Coptic Bombing Means
A bomb went off in Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral on Sunday, killing dozens and exposing once again the stark religious tensions that still divide Egypt. The Wall Street Journal: A bomb...
View ArticleRussia No Longer A Top 5 Defense Spender
Russia is increasingly flexing its military muscle on the world stage these days, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the raw numbers. A new report on global defense spending finds that Russia is...
View ArticleCongress and the Coming Pensions Crisis
There are lots of problems with blue model governance, but the one that is about to upend the status quo around the country is the financial irresponsibility of public sector unions and politicians....
View ArticleWhat the Murder of the Russian Ambassador Might Mean
With the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Russia set to meet in Moscow tomorrow to discuss Syria after the fall of Aleppo, an unexpected tragedy shook the diplomatic world earlier today: Russia’s...
View ArticleThailand Gets Cozy with China
More evidence that Obama’s vaunted “pivot to Asia” is ending in retreat and confusion. Reuters: Thailand and China are in talks about building military production facilities in Thailand, a Thai defense...
View ArticleThe Democrats Turn on Obama
The rising stars of the Democratic Party have been airing criticisms of President Obama lately, covering them with only the thinnest of veils. The Wall Street Journal reports: Though they rarely...
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