Next door to Ukraine, where people are being killed every day for wanting to join the European Union, Polish leaders are waging what they have called a war on two fronts -- against both Russia and the EU. As a result of this “war,” the country’s populist government, led by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, has failed to unlock the 160 billion euros ($170 billion) that was allocated to P...

While the world’s powers may not agree on much these days, most recognize that the world is at a critical juncture. US President Joe Biden’s National Security Strategy calls this the “decisive decade” in the contest for the future of the international order. Similarly, Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the world is entering “the most dangerous, unpredictable, and at the same time most ...

Amid challenges to democracy around the world and military escalation in Asia, the United States, South Korea and Japan are discussing how to strengthen security cooperation. But Koreans have ample reason to feel uneasy. Will they be asked to ignore a territorial infringement that began 118 years ago? On Feb. 22, 1905, Japan arbitrarily “incorporated” Dokdo, a group of rocky islets known as Take...

Just what do the Academy Awards tell us about the world we live in? I began thinking about this after I was contacted by Carl Plantinga, a research fellow and professor of film and media studies at Calvin University in Michigan. Plantinga was pushing a theory that, for better or worse, Oscars for best picture tend to honor films with simple, straightforward, morally clear messages and are less l...

When you take a taxi, the driver will ask, “Where to?” Upon knowing your destination, he will try to figure out the fastest way to reach it, avoiding traffic congestion and wrong turns, so you can arrive safely without any problems. Likewise, your political leaders should know your desired destination and choose the best way to reach it. If they happen to choose the wrong path or become blocked ...

The Chinese balloon that floated across the United States this month, apparently on a mission to collect intelligence, began its journey as a curiosity. Then it became a political metaphor: a symbol of US weakness to Republicans, a sign of President Joe Biden’s prudence to Democrats. Now, more than a week after the US Air Force shot it down, the errant balloon is gone, but its impact is still re...

Here at the intersection of the news media, policy and politics, the unsubtle destabilizing -- and sometimes deliberate sabotaging -- of our democracy is proceeding on pace. America’s please-lie-to-me voters, who prefer to get their news and their political promises from folks who know how to make them feel good, knew where they could turn on State of the Union night. And all of us who want to u...

Voltaire famously warned that anyone who can make people believe absurdities can make them commit atrocities. Two and a half centuries later, an insurrection at the US Capitol by those who believed Donald Trump’s lies confirmed Voltaire’s point. And now, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives is doing everything it can to “flood the zone” with even more absurdities. Exhibit ...

A colleague recently sent me a TikTok she thought I’d find interesting. I clicked the link but immediately regretted it. I quickly cleared my browser history but felt it was too late and that the Chinese government was probably in my phone for good now. As a former US diplomat, I might be unusually sensitive to that possibility, having served in places where we took for granted that foreign stat...

There are moments, during horrific natural disasters such as the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, when you can witness the best that mankind is capable of -- the noble behavior that often emerges during a crisis. A Greek search and rescue team and Turkish special operations police -- whose members might have been fighting each other in wartime -- worked side by side to rescue a small girl through...

On my visit to Korea last fall, I was lucky to have enough time for many long walks in Korean cities. On a walk through central Seoul, I passed by Sewoon Arcade, the famous commercial-residential complex across from Jongmyo. In the 2010s, the city of Seoul pushed plans to preserve the complex, but redevelopment of surrounding areas is going forward. Since it was built in 1966, the complex dwarfed...

About 100 million people used ChatGPT in the month of January, according to one estimate, which would be the fastest-growing user base ever. Yet I often speak to people who are less than impressed with ChatGPT, citing its mistakes and banalities, and they suggest it is a passing fad. In response, allow me to offer a short guide to using ChatGPT. It can do many things for you -- organize your not...

With the beginning of 2023, unusual diplomacy meetings between South Korea and the US were busily under progress. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is extremely busy dealing with the Russia-Ukraine war and military cooperation with the Philippines, visited Seoul on Jan. 30. Soon after Mr. Austin’s visit, the US sent F-22 Raptors over the West Sea and participated in combined military drills ...

Hallyu initially attained popularity with romantic or historical Korean television dramas such as “Winter Sonata” or “Dae Jang Geum.” In those series, young people love each other despite ordeals and obstacles, or strive to accomplish noble goals of becoming the best in their fields of expertise. Such dramas portrayed South Korea as a romantic and historic place foreigners wanted to visit. Recen...