WASHINGTON ― “Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long, back on itself recoils.” The wisdom of that couplet from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” extends in many directions. But let’s consider the context of the Arab Spring and its transition from dictatorship to democracy. Revolutions can go off the rails for many reasons. But history shows that one of the most dangerous (if also understandab

I recently returned from a week in Iraq, where I trained an elite security force unit on human rights and the law of combat operations. Discussions regarding the responsibility of commanders for the acts of their forces migrated to the issue of the United Nations’ International Criminal Court. One Iraqi officer asked me, “If the United States believes in accountability over impunity, why are you n

Like many regions of the world, Northeast Asia faces severe political challenges in creating a viable structure of peace. But, given China’s rising power, such a regional structure is becoming all the more necessary if today’s lack of trust is not to devolve into military antagonism.Relations among the region’s three major powers, China, South Korea, and Japan, are burdened both by territorial dis

Prosecutors are investigating a bribery case involving a top Board of Audit and Inspection official ― a scandal that will have grave political implications. It is regarded as one of the numerous scandals of similar or greater magnitude that will certainly come during the final years of the Lee Myung-bak presidency.The criminal suspect, Eun Jin-su, is the first BAI commissioner to resign on suspici

The perseverance that people in northeastern Japan have shown after the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated their communities March 11 has impressed many people around the world.In Northeast Asia, anti-Japan feelings in China and South Korea seem to have receded since the catastrophe, thanks to Tohoku people’s dignified behavior.Under these circumstances, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held meetin

Jason Lamoreaux will graduate June 14 from Upper Merion High School. Last year at this time, he was navigating the college-application process, which includes the writing of a personal statement and this dilemma: Do I tell them what I think, or what I think they want to hear? Lamoreaux took what some might view as a risk. Instead of addressing world hunger or carbon emissions, he offered an honest

The phone call came in the middle of the night last month, when my brother Todd and I were visiting our father in a suburb of Portland, Ore. Todd’s fiancee, Dorothy Parvaz ― also my good friend and former colleague ― was missing. An editor from Al-Jazeera English, where she works, told Todd that no one had heard from her in 24 hours, not since she left Qatar to report on the violence in Syria.As a

Rarely have the differences between a U.S. president and an Israeli prime minister been so prominently displayed as they were last week when Barack Obama hosted Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu’s visit capped a week of activity: Jordan’s King Abdullah visited a few days before and then Obama delivered a speech outlining his views of an eventual peace agreement.To no one’s surprise,

My grandmother didn’t have much money. She was a widow who had raised five children on her husband’s paycheck from the textile mill. So when she tried to give me $1,000 not to go into the Peace Corps, it was a very big offer.I told her that I wanted to serve and that it wasn’t about money.And I went ― to Togo, West Africa, in 1983. My grandmother’s fears were about the kind of men I would meet the

Last week, Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the club of leading male political figures who are known to have cheated on their spouses. Other members have included presidents (John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example), members or former members of Congress (among them, John Edwards, Newt Gingrich and John Ensign), and governors (including Eliot Spitzer and Mark Sanford).So w

On Wednesday, the final episode of Oprah Winfrey’s long-running TV talk show will air. In the 25 years since the show has been nationally syndicated, Winfrey ― or, really, Oprah, since that is how she is globally known ― has made herself a singular force in television and the popular culture. In that period, she has topped the daytime ratings as talk show host, earned an Oscar nomination for her a

Under the War Powers Act, President Barack Obama had until Friday to get congressional authorization to continue U.S. military operations in Libya. But the day passed without his even asking for it, which means he has to disengage within 30 days. Obama may not heed that requirement either.Some members of Congress, from both parties, are unhappy about the administration’s disregard of the law. Six

The average monthly income for households grew 3.5 percent year on year to 3.86 million won during the first quarter of this year. But spending grew at the faster rate of 4.7 percent. As a result of the gap, household debt has snowballed.At the end of the first quarter, household debt surpassed the 800 trillion won mark. Loans from banks and non-banking financial institutions and purchases on cred

Both advocates and detractors may scratch their heads while trying to understand where the ruling Grand National Party is headed. Given the new policies that have been adopted or proposed for adoption, they have good reason to wonder if it is the same party it was before ― a bona fide conservative force.The ruling party has been pro-business and anti-communism. As such, it has pushed for a tax cut

WASHINGTON ― The “fighting season” has started in Afghanistan, with deadly attacks almost every day. But at the same time, diplomats see what one calls “hopeful signs” that a regional framework for peace talks with the Taliban may slowly be emerging. The most important development is that Germany has been mediating secret talks between the U.S. government and Tayyab Agha, a Taliban official who in

The arrest of a leading French statesman and politician, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on charges of sexually assaulting a New York hotel chambermaid became a transatlantic media spectacle when he was photographed ― manacled and miserable ― being led from a Manhattan lockup. Publishing such pictures is illegal in France, and some commentators there were incensed by the photos of what U.S. reporters call

TEL AVIV ― Binyamin Netanyahu’s furious rejection of U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposal to use the 1967 borders as the basis for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute ― frontiers that he called “utterly indefensible” ― reflects not only the Israeli prime minister’s poor statesmanship, but also his antiquated military philosophy.In an era of ballistic missiles and other weapon

Jacob is a golden retriever. Like many goldens, his favorite activity is retrieving a tennis ball. We throw the ball; he brings it back and drops it at our feet. It can go on for hours. Actually, we don’t know how long it could go on because we always give up before he does.But Jacob sometimes gets stuck when we play this game at my in-laws’ pool. This is because of two fixed, internal rules he ha

MADRID ― The Mediterranean is undergoing a monumental political transformation. Protests on its southern shores have now begun the process of bringing democracy to this region. Less visibly, perhaps, the Mediterranean is also undergoing another revival, equally important in terms of geo-economics.The changes in the world’s balance of power from the West to the East, from the Atlantic to the Pacifi

The United States may be the world’s only remaining superpower, but we’ve been a secondary factor in the wave of change sweeping the Arab world.Tunisia held its revolution without American help, unless you count Facebook and Twitter. In Egypt, President Obama probably helped speed Hosni Mubarak’s departure by withdrawing his backing of the regime, but it was the Egyptians’ revolution, not ours.In