Osama bin Laden’s death is a moral victory, but it may turn out to be nothing more than that.Over the past decade, he has been isolated and the capabilities of his al-Qaida degraded, but the group has evolved into a social movement that continues to attract new groups and new recruits.Studies on social networks of al-Qaida and its Southeast Asian arm, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), show that both organiza

The security relationship between the United States and Pakistan is at risk of breaking down over the Osama bin Laden case. The U.S. would be disadvantaged in its Afghanistan withdrawal timetable and federal budget pruning if a rupture happened. Pakistan could as penance be made to take a cut in the $3 billion annual military aid it receives, but it will probably manage. Just how bad the relations

Our country has become a shining beacon of hope for luxury brands as Chinese consumers are driving the growth in many luxury sectors.As the luster of luxury fades in Japan, luxury brands are expanding their presence and retail locations in China.McKinsey & Co. estimates that the country’s luxury spending will more than double by 2015. If so, we will surpass Japan to become the world’s largest mark

In a far-off land called I’m Right, You’re Wrong, a fierce drug-legalization debate is raging. Half the people, libertarians, say drug use should be legal. The other half, moral purists, insist it shouldn’t.They disagree even on what to call it when those who buy or sell drugs are led off to jail. The libertarians call this a form of taxation ― specifically, a tax on the time of the buyer and sell

The People’s Action Party’s (PAP) standard line that it starts preparing for the next general election the day after the last one ends has probably never been truer. Traditionally, a committee is formed to study voting patterns. This year, it will have its hands full divining why various precincts cast their ballots the way they did.On the one hand, there is bound to be a secular decline in suppor

The defining characteristic of crony capitalism is the ability of favored elites to loot with impunity and the failure of regulators to do their jobs.We have seen this in the financial crisis that started in 2008 and in an earlier era, when the savings-and-loan industry collapsed.In the Texas “Rent-a-Bank” scandal of the 1970s, for example, two ringleaders created a fraud network of 50 lenders tha

Incheon Transit Corporation has invested 85.3 billion won to build a monorail system linking the major sightseeing spots in Incheon. The project, touted as the nation’s first urban sightseeing light rail, was completed last year but is still not open for public use. The main reason is that serious safety problems were found during trial operations. The system is now under scrutiny by an independen

The divisive debate on tax cuts has resurfaced in the ruling Grand National Party following the election on Friday of Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, a neutral four-term lawmaker, as the party’s new floor leader. Hwang pledged to scrap the planned tax cuts for the companies and individuals in the highest corporate and personal income tax brackets, saying he would use the money for low-income people who suffer

The killing of Osama bin Laden could be a transformational moment for Pakistan and its military. The country has an opportunity now to decide whether it wants to decisively confront Islamist violence or face the consequences of the military’s current policy of giving support to jihadis with one hand even as it slaps them with the other. If Pakistan chooses this second path, it will be increasingly

ISLAMABAD ― Osama bin Laden’s death will profoundly affect Pakistan’s relations with America. The death of al-Qaida’s leader deep in Pakistan, in a city with a heavy military presence, appears to confirm what many have long alleged: Pakistan, not Afghanistan, has become the epicenter of international terrorism.How will bin Laden’s death affect terrorist groups operating not only in Pakistan, but a

Last year I visited a friend of mine, journalist Raul Silva, in a working-class neighborhood of Cuernavaca. A popular destination for tourists and students of Spanish, the city, about 60 miles south of the Mexican capital, was on edge. Only a few weeks before, a drug gang had audaciously displayed its power, issuing a curfew one Friday night, warning that anyone out after 8 p.m. might be “mistaken

Obama pulls another Osama. He signs the orders. The operation succeeds. This time the target is another great enemy: the federal debt.Or so, at least, runs the national daydream.That Americans indulge themselves in such quirky fantasies reflects a desperation about reality. The reality is that in domestic affairs, President Barack Obama moves not like a leader who nailed Osama bin Laden, but like

OXFORD ― Andrew Sentance, an outgoing member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, has outlined a credibility-challenging scenario for the BOE. There are two contradictory forces that could keep inflation significantly above its 2 percent target not only this year and next year, but even in 2013.The dilemma is that any depreciation of sterling increases the level of imported inflatio

The nation’s political parties are in a state of flux. Party leaderships are in serious disarray and analysts see the possibility of a major regrouping when parliamentary and presidential votes draw near. Popularity ratings fluctuate wildly while President Lee Myung-bak’s approval rate keeps sliding. The ruling Grand National Party’s by-election loss last month in Bundang, long considered a conser

While there is a near zero possibility that Kim Jong-il will accept President Lee’s offer of inviting the North Korean leader to the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul next March, which carries heavy preconditions, the gesture shows the government’s sincerity to bring the rogue regime to the international arena. President Lee also reminded Pyongyang of what it can expect from the international socie

President Obama should take full advantage of the opportunity provided by the death of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to reshape dramatically U.S. policy related to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.For a decade, this country has expended an inordinate amount of its resources, not to mention the more than 1,500 soldiers killed, to fight a war in Afghanistan that never promised to yield compara

Nguyen Van Giau sighs audibly and shifts in his chair when I ask him the dreaded question: Is Vietnam losing its inflation battle?It’s one the country’s central bank governor can barely go an hour without fielding these days. Such is life in a nation where consumer prices climbed almost 18 percent in April from a year earlier.Giau’s assurances that he’s committed to taming inflation aren’t resonat

JERUSALEM ― During the turmoil of the French Revolution, a popular saying arose: “How beautiful was the republic ― under the monarchy.” The Revolution aimed at achieving Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Instead, it wrought for France ― and much of Europe ― Jacobin terror, right-wing counter-terror, decades of war, and eventually Napoleonic tyranny. A similar challenge now faces North Africa and

BANGKOK ― The military skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia that have claimed more than two dozen lives, caused scores of injuries, and displaced tens of thousands of people since February are primarily attributable to domestic politics in both countries. Rooted in ancient enmities and the legacy of the colonial era, the fighting is damaging the entire region. So virulent is the dispute that e

There is something surreal about Pakistani officials’ reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden.Their focus has been wholly on the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty by the U.S. raid, rather than the fact that bin Laden was living well in their country. The army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, warned he would not tolerate any repeat of such covert action; the country’s foreign secretary, Salma