If the dramatic advances in recent days that have taken opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi toward — then into — Tripoli have thus far elicited only the most careful responses from tight-lipped Western leaders, there’s a good chance those officials are showing more emotion over the conflict, which is apparently nearing …
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How European Leaders Are in the Same Boat as Obama When it Comes to Debt
A few of you, or at least your 401(k)s, may have noticed that financial markets plummeted again on Thursday. European markets closed at or near two-year lows across the board and the Dow closed down more than 400 points.
Asian markets Friday morning opened in the tank: the Nikkei index tumbling more than 2.5%, Sydney down 3.5%, …
Suicide Attacks in Kabul: a Sign of Things to Come?
When suicide bombers attack, the knee jerk response from officials in NATO and the U.S. Military is that the tactic is a sign of desperation and weakness, and that insurgents would only use it because they have exhausted all other alternatives. Well, it looks like the Taliban are getting pretty good at desperation. Friday morning’s …
Basketball Brawl Undermines Biden’s Diplomacy in China
When Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping welcomed his American counterpart Joe Biden to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on his first visit to China in a decade, their remarks were distinctly parallel and overwhelmingly positive. “It is the joint desire of the people of China and the United States and elsewhere in the world to stay …
Why Iraq’s Terror Uptick Won’t Affect Decisions on U.S. Troops
The 32 terror attacks that killed 70 people across Iraq on Monday prompted a knee-jerk question in much of the media: Would or should the uptick in violence prompt a rethink of plans to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq by New Year’s Eve?
The short answer is no, and the longer answer is probably not.
U.S. withdrawal from Iraq …
After Protest, Chinese City Says it Will Move Chemical Plant
After the heavy-handed reaction this spring to the calls to being Jasmine Revolution-style demonstrations to China, it’s easy to think that the authorities’ only response to popular protest is to crack down. But as events in northeast China this weekend indicate, the government can be remarkably receptive to demonstrations, especially …
Why Turkey Holds the Key to the Regional Power Game on Syria
As the Assad regime on Sunday escalated its brutal crackdown by sending gunboats to shell the coastal city of Latakia, yet the rebellion shows no sign of abating despite at least 1,700 deaths so far, Syria’s fate may come to rest less in the hands of its own people, than in the corridors of power in neighboring and more distant …
Tokyo Prepares to Lift Some Evacuation Areas
Residents living in one of the evacuation areas surrounding the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant may see a measure of normalcy return to their neighborhoods next month. On Tuesday, Goshi Hosono, the official overseeing Tokyo’s response to the nuclear crisis, said that the so-called “emergency preparation evacuation zone” …
After Silence, Dissident Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Speaks to State Media
Ai Weiwei, the Chinese contemporary artist who was detained for nearly three months earlier this year, has begun to speak out once again on Twitter. And after a period of silence following his June release, he has given his first lengthy interview, to the English-language edition of the Communist Party’s Global Times tabloid. Ai’s …
No Gloating from India Over U.S. Downgrade
Indian businesses are worried, even if they’re not quite ready to admit it. That was the subtext of the statement issued yesterday by Nasscom, the industry’s main trade group, after the big American downgrade announced on Monday. “The economic crisis in the US, unfolding over the last few days, does not have any major bearing on the …
Amid Chinese Barbs on U.S. Debt, Some Grumbles at Home
As state-run Chinese media outlets continue to blast the U.S. government for the profligacy that led to last week’s credit downgrade, Chinese citizens have begun to weigh in as well. Online, many comments reflect the line of the state press, that the U.S. penchant for irresponsible borrowing and spending led the world’s sole …
U.S. Global Influence Tanks with the Economy
You say you want a revolution? Not now, mate, can’t you see we’re busy?
“It’s the economy, stupid,” was the focal message around which Bill Clinton organized his against-the-odds 1992 campaign victory over President George H.W. Bush. The incumbent had presided over the soft landing of the collapsing Soviet empire and driven Saddam …
After Downgrade, Chinese Press Blasts U.S. Borrowing
Official Chinese media have lashed out at American debt following rating agency Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating. “The U.S. government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone,” Xinhua, the …