When President Obama performed his “Comeback Kid” act late last year, pushing through Congress a number of important bills, observers marveled at the sudden transformation. The president had morphed from the hapless, listless victim of the midterm shellacking and surprised everyone by becoming a new deft, cunning politician. But watching the Obama who came before the cameras on the day of the Tu...

The next 12 months will be a critical period for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as the top leadership prepares to step down and hand over the reins next year. It will be no less critical for Vice-President Xi Jinping, named last year to head a new generation of CCP leaders who will take center stage at the 18th national party congress. No political succession takes place without inten...

It’s a bad sign for civility when you can’t have a civil conversation about it. In the days since a deranged assassin gunned down Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 19 other innocents ― six of whom are now dead ― President Barack Obama, Speaker John Boehner and pundits from across the political spectrum have issued calls to raise the discourse and practice mutual respect. Even Fox News Presid...

Wednesday was a solemn and sorrowful day for everyone in Haiti and for all those who lost friends and loved ones on Jan. 12, 2010. The unsparing earthquake that struck one year ago killed 300,000 people, an unfathomable toll in a country so small. The 7.0-magnitude shock represents one of the greatest catastrophes of modern times. One year later, a debate rages over Haiti’s future, but today it ...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to reduce the Pentagon budget over the next five years is appropriate, overdue and even brave. The politics and emotions will be intense. For a federal budget awash in red ink, no government role is above review, and cutting. The Pentagon has avoided scrutiny for a decade, with soaring growth in the budget taxpayers nominally know about, and two expensive war...

Nine percent of Americans think Japan is the world’s top economic power, and that raises an obvious question: Huh? If we knew exactly who that current-events-challenged minority was, we could make a bundle sending them e-mails on how to redeem unclaimed fortunes in Nigerian banks. Thankfully, most Americans got it right in a Jan. 5-9 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press...

Today (Jan. 10) marks Coming-of-Age Day, when 1.24 million people born in 1990 start a new chapter in their life. We hope they will take a firm first step into adulthood while retaining their self-awareness and recognizing their responsibility as adults. Nevertheless, many of them will be apprehensive about what their future holds amid the job market’s “ultra-ice age” caused by the protracted an...

During his preview of Indonesia’s 2011 foreign policy, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa rightly highlighted the demanding schedule of the next 12 months. As chair of ASEAN for 2011, Indonesia will host more than 300 meetings at various levels. The meetings will cover various areas of cooperation of the 10-member grouping, including trade, investment and defense. Mingled among the multiple ASEAN...

You might have noticed a new brand of car called “Luxgen” on Taiwan’s roads. Luxgen was founded by Taiwan’s biggest carmaker, Yulon, as a separate, indigenous Taiwanese auto company in 2009. Luxgen (the name is a combination of the words, “Luxury” and “Genius”) is doing very well. The company’s website claims that Luxgen is now number six in the Taiwanese market. Yulon is, of course, just one of ...

The results of coming local elections in Osaka and Aichi prefectures could have a great impact on the shape of Japan’s local government. The people concerned need to carefully watch and consider the moves of two men ― Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto and Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura. Hashimoto has the idea of dissolving the Osaka city and integrating the Osaka city and prefectural governments into a m...

For eight years, Ed Rendell was governor of Pennsylvania. The eight years before that, he was mayor of Philadelphia. In all that time, he never got the national attention he’s received in his last two weeks as governor, since unburdening himself about what he called “the wussification of America.” He was upset that the NFL postponed the Dec. 26 game between his beloved Philadelphia Eagles and th...