There they go again. The Republicans in the House of Representatives are acting like jackasses. And they’re doing it on the critical issue of the debt ceiling, which could undermine confidence in the United States around the world if it is mishandled. The Republican-dominated House of Representatives recently said they would refuse to raise the national debt limit unless their draconian spendin...

This year’s Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarian regimes included many prominent women: There was a Tunisian blogger who was among the first to alert the world to the country’s growing turmoil. And there were demonstrators, journalists, bloggers and tweeters in Egypt who forced the February ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. But since those inspiring days, the news from this region has pa...

CAIRO ― In the months since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, his successors have signaled a shift in foreign policy by reaching out to former adversaries. Egypt’s government has welcomed Iranian diplomats and embraced the Palestinian group Hamas. Many interpret such moves as clear evidence of Egypt’s desire for a diplomacy that is not subordinate to American interests. But Mubarak...

North Korea appears to have begun to experiment with Chinese-style economic development. The reclusive state and its ally have started work to create two joint economic zones that they plan to develop into commercial and industrial centers by attracting foreign investment. On Thursday, high-ranking officials of the two countries broke ground in Raseon, a port city at the northeastern tip of Nort...

Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, said Thursday that corruption seemed to permeate all subsidiaries of Samsung Group. “Corruption can take the form of receiving lavish entertainment and taking money. But the worst type is a manager forcing his subordinates to engage in corrupt practices,” the tycoon said. What led Lee to chastise the executives and employees of Korea’s largest busin...

It is easy to see how a commercial against nuclear power could influence a voter. A Taiwanese family is enjoying supper when alarms ring out. Images of people in hazmat suits fill the television screen as an announcer reports horrific events: thousands dead, millions evacuated, parts of northern Taiwan unlivable for generations. This theoretical TV spot then ends with the tagline: “Is Nuclear Pow...

Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear energy is a monumental policy shift that might threaten the competitiveness of the German industry. The country’s coalition government decided Monday to abolish all of its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022. Older nuclear reactors built before 1980, which have already been taken off the grid, will remain offline permanently. The remaining nine reactors will be phas...

Philippine President Aquino told reporters in Brunei last week that a military confrontation between the Philippines and China would be “no contest.” In terms of military strength, China has “a great advantage,“ he said. “Even in a boxing match, there’s one and half billion of them, (while) we are barely 100 million.” All true, of course. But stating the obvious seems totally unnecessary and cou...

Media reports that the prices of new homes in major Chinese cities are plummeting at double-digit rates amount to nothing more than bunkum and wishful thinking. Admittedly, shrinking sales of new apartments can be observed in most Chinese cities nowadays. But this is just a possible harbinger, not evidence, that property prices have begun to drop. China’s rocketing housing prices are so unpopul...

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is not just an official U.S. policy on homosexuals serving in the military. It also refers to the business practice Korean credit card companies are accused of resorting to when issuing cards to applicants with questionable credit standings. Now regulators are out to put an end to these ill-advised card issuances and other business practices. They say they will start week...

Friday is the 24th anniversary of massive civil disobedience against a military-backed strongman. White-collar workers as well as student activists rose up against President Chun Doo-hwan, a former Army general, demanding that democracy be restored. Chun capitulated three weeks later, on June 29, promising a direct popular vote to elect the next president. Students are set to stage another prote...

The Pentagon is developing a new cyberwarfare strategy that calls for the use of military force ― including conventional weapons ― in response to certain kinds of damaging online attacks on U.S. institutions. That’s fine in theory; if foreign agents launch a cyberattack on, say, the nation’s electrical grid, it may be both reasonable and proportionate to fire missiles at, say, the attacker’s ener...