DAVOS, Switzerland ― It’s a sign of the times that some Arab journalists attending the gathering of international power brokers here were spending their free time scanning Twitter messages about political protests back home. It’s that kind of moment in the Arab world, when people are nervous about anything that is connected to the status quo. The unrest that toppled a government in Tunisia has spr

LUXEMBOURG ― Much dedication and energy are currently being devoted to institutionalizing a crisis-management mechanism for the euro area. This is a good and important goal. But a far more significant challenge ― largely covered in the accompanying debate ― is the need for crisis prevention.At the European Union’s pre-Christmas summit, European heads of state and government agreed in principle to

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, the president talked at length about the economy. What he failed to point out is that America now has two economies, and only one of them is recovering.The recovering economy is on Wall Street and in large corporations. Profits are soaring. Big companies are sitting on a trillion dollars of cash. People with lots of financial assets, or who are deem

North Korea’s chronic food shortage is no secret. Still, few would have imagined that underfed soldiers go AWOL, take farm animals away from nearby houses for food or rob civilians of their personal possessions. That is what Radio Free Asia of the United States has recently reported, quoting North Korean residents. It also reported the North Korean military has virtually canceled an annual wintert

The foot-and-mouth disease does not show any sign of subsiding. It has already spread to almost all regions in the nation. Shielded so far from the scourge of the animal disease are only two regions ― the two Jeolla provinces and Jeju Island.More than 2.7 million head of cows and pigs have been culled since the first case of the disease was reported in North Gyeongsang Province in late November. T

China and Japan should seek strategic trust to capitalize on the mutual benefits offered by further cooperation Last year was a difficult one for Sino-Japanese relations. The strategic framework in East Asia developed two increasingly distinct features ― China’s peaceful rise and the United States’ “return to Asia” ― that, to a large extent, led to a shift in the Democratic Party of Japan’s China

PARIS ― Is Tunisia the first Arab authoritarian domino to fall? Or is it a unique case that should not be viewed as a precedent for either the Arab world in general or the Maghreb in particular? The region’s dictators have sought to dismiss the “Jasmine Revolution,” but the spark that started in Tunisia could spread ― perhaps in a matter of months or years ― to the entire Arab world.Indeed, the wa

Slow but steady efforts must be made to reduce the burden shouldered by residents of Okinawa Prefecture in hosting U.S. military bases there, a task that needs to be fulfilled to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in the prefecture.On Tuesday, the national and prefectural governments held another round of talks on policy issues related to U.S. bases. At a section meeting on how to

Thailand is enjoying a break from political upheaval, but with reds and yellows both calling for the prime minister’s head, how long will this fragile peace last?Thailand’s Democrat Party is looking strangely isolated. For the first time in its term, the largest party in the coalition government is facing back-to-back protests by the red and yellow shirts. To add to that, the ongoing tussle over c

ASEAN’s planned bid for the World Cup in 2030 has already become one of the biggest news items of its 43-year-old history. It has already generated a tsunami-like hype and public interest at all levels within the region of 600 million football-obsessed population. Malaysia has been tasked to prepare a detailed proposal for the bid which will be presented to ASEAN leaders for a final decision durin

WASHINGTON ― Last week we celebrated the anniversary of President Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address, with its ringing call to “pay any price, bear any burden” for the nation’s security. But a better guide to the choices we face today is President Eisenhower’s farewell address, delivered three days earlier, and his call to restrain the “military-industrial complex.” Trimming the defense budget is on

As Afghan President Hamid Karzai works to overturn a parliamentary election that did not turn out the way he wanted, the United States continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on “good governance” initiatives.This $760 million program, to strengthen government agencies, was America’s single largest non-military expense in Afghanistan over the last year. All of it was money thrown away.Th

Economics textbooks say the market price of a good is determined by its supply and the demand for it. But demand and supply are not the only determinants in Korea. Not mentioned in the textbooks is the brute power of the Korean government, which can also influence prices.According to a weekly survey conducted on Jan. 7, 48 of the 79 daily necessitates gained and 29 declined in price. There was no

Two weeks ago, the Korean National Police Agency issued a statement promising to end verbal abuse, beatings and other types of harassment and violence done to recruits and junior combat police. But before the ink was dry, six junior combat police went AWOL, claiming that they had been subjected to all types of abuse in barracks located in Gangwon Province.After deserting the base on the early Sund

Although the recent rumour about the impending resignation of celebrated songwriter Nitipong Hornak from music industry leader GMM Grammy has not been substantiated, it reflects the stark challenge facing the local entertainment industry from the pervasive evolution of digital technology. In a telling interview with Channel 3 news talk show host Sorayuth Suthassanajinda, Nitipong admitted that he

PALO ALTO ― The United States and Europe are two giant free-trade areas, each wealthy but with serious short-run problems and immense long-run challenges. They are also two single-currency areas: the dollar and, for much of Europe, the euro. The challenges facing both are monumental.But only Europe’s currency union faces uncertainty about its future; America faces no existential crisis for its cur

FLORENCE ― At the recent annual meetings of the American Economic Association, there was widespread pessimism about the future of the United States. “The age of American predominance is over,” declared one economist. “The U.S. should brace for social unrest amid blame over who was responsible for squandering global primacy,” said another.We have heard this story many times before, not only in the

In 1966, my father sent a resume to the Peace Corps. A few days later, he found himself sitting across a table from the agency’s director, Sargent Shriver.“Want to go to India?” Shriver asked.My dad was 33 years old, he had three kids, and his only overseas experience was two vacations in Europe. But he had also attended Yale Law School, like Shriver, which made both of them “certified smart guys,

NEW HAVEN ― We are in the midst of a boom in popular economics: books, articles, blogs, public lectures, all followed closely by the general public.I recently participated in a panel discussion of this phenomenon at the American Economic Association annual meeting in Denver. An apparent paradox emerged from the discussion: the boom in popular economics comes at a time when the general public seems

It may just be a coincidence that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was in Oman last week while the South Korean Navy’s Cheonghae Unit rescued all 21 crewmembers of the cargo ship Samho Jewelry from Somali pirates. Some here speculate that Ban’s meeting with Omani King Qaboos bin Said Al Said may have been conducive to Oman’s support for the operation.Among his many duties as the chief executive