Extremely contrasting economic and environmental forecasts for the new “Ara Canal” between Incheon on the West Sea and Gimpo at the mouth of the Han River make it hard for the public to assess the project. When the 18-kilometer waterway opened Saturday after on-and-off construction work over nearly two decades, the minister of homeland and marine affairs and the chiefs of Gyeonggi and Incheon provincial governments joined in celebrations. A cruise boat was launched with hundreds of curious sight

The European sovereign debt crisis stands as the latest in a long line of similar crises. Argentina in 2001. Russia in 1998. Mexico in 1994. The list goes back into history. Debt crises are about as natural as earthquakes, but this time there is something different -- and possibly more dangerous. The European nations are linked in a network of debts, as Bill Marsh recently illustrated in the New York Times with a beautiful piece of graphic art. Greece and Italy are prominent; Ireland, Portugal a

WASHINGTON ― The art of modern politics involves creating the illusion of intimacy with our leaders. But two new biographies remind me that even the most famous personalities remain elusive and, in some ways, unknowable. This combination of closeness and distance will be on display in the 2012 presidential election, where I’m guessing the candidates will be Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. These two politicians have worked overtime to seem relaxed and accessible; they make a point of wearing open-n

You’ve got to love the French. The best-selling book on Amazon.com’s French site is “Indignez-vous!,” an exceedingly slim, elegant rumination on the state of the world by Stephane Hessel, a 94-year-old former United Nations diplomat, concentration-camp survivor and hero of the French Resistance. The 32-page book, with about 4 million copies in print in 30 languages -- including a just-published English version titled “Time for Outrage” -- is clearly meant to serve as a timely blueprint for non-v

The Obama administration has stepped up efforts to help homeowners refinance their mortgages, potentially bringing relief to millions of those who owe more than their homes are worth. It’s an overdue step that should boost consumer spending, even if it may not avert a huge number of foreclosures. The latter problem requires more aggressive and effective loan modifications, which banks and investors have been reluctant to do ― to their own detriment.The collapse of the housing market has left an

Alongside The Atlantic magazine’s November cover story, “All the Single Ladies,” runs a photograph of its 39-year-old author. In a fawn-colored silk dress and up-do, Kate Bolick contemplatively sips champagne as a bridal bouquet flies over her head.Like many of her never-married peers, she’s scrupulously ignoring the traditional toss. Indeed, as the age of first marriage climbs higher, more single wedding-goers are evading the bouquet, having years ago disproved the catch confirms the next bride

NEW YORK ― The past half-century has been the age of electronic mass media. Television has reshaped society in every corner of the world. Now an explosion of new media devices is joining the TV set: DVDs, computers, game boxes, smart phones, and more. A growing body of evidence suggests that this media proliferation has countless ill effects.The United States led the world into the television age, and the implications can be seen most directly in America’s long love affair with what Harlan Ellis

The so-called “flat tax” is all the rage among Republican presidential hopefuls. Herman Cain was the first. Now, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have come up with their own flat-tax proposals.The flat tax is a fraud. It raises taxes on the poor and lowers them on the rich.The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that Cain’s flat-tax plan (the only one that’s been set out in any detail) would lower the after-tax incomes of poor households (incomes below $30,000) by 16 percent to 20 percent.Meanwh

The Republican presidential debates have been replete with discussions about our economic future, but to listen to the candidates you’d think that the biggest problem is an onerous U.S. tax code. I’m all for sensible tax reform, but prosperity depends far more on our skill base than on cutting tax rates that are already low by international standards. If the Republicans want to battle for a more prosperous, and stronger, country, they must start spending a lot more time fighting the failures of

There are tantalizing signs that the worst of the disastrous credit crunch may be over. The most tangible evidence can be found in the latest earnings reports from some of the U.S.’s largest banks. With a few exceptions, financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. reported increases in lending to big businesses and, to a lesser extent, to consumers. Since consumers power growth, making up about two-thirds of the U.S. economy, their ability to get credit may determin

LONDON ― The contrast between the deaths, within two days of each other, of Libya’s Col. Moammar al-Gadhafi and Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz is one of terminal buffoonery versus decadent gerontocracy. And their demise is likely to lead to very different outcomes: liberation for the Libyans and stagnation for the Saudis.But the death of Sultan, at 86, marks the beginning of a critical period of domestic and foreign uncertainty for the Kingdom. After all, Sultan’s half-brother, King Ab

As Tunisians await final results in their national election, the first in a country remade by the Arab Spring, it’s worth paying particular attention to the outcome for women there. One hopes it leads reformers in other Arab states to understand that it will be impossible to advance their societies if half of the population is held back. Tunisia’s caretaker government crafted an innovative system to ensure that women were represented in the new constituent assembly. Candidates for 217 seats divi

MUNICH ― In August, the European balance-of-payments crisis moved beyond the eurozone’s periphery and began buffeting Italy. Interest spreads for Italian government bonds began to rise, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s administration was alarmed enough to implement an austerity program, and the European Central Bank helped with extra liquidity.The ECB directed the central banks of all eurozone members to buy huge quantities of Italian government bonds during the crisis. While the national cent

To make nuclear power generation as safe as it can possibly be, it is important to examine ways to enhance the development of nuclear engineers and establish a system to promptly respond to nuclear accidents.Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and visiting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon issued a joint statement on nuclear and energy policies following their meeting Sunday.The focal point of the joint statement is a set of specific principles aimed at bolstering nuclear power safety through coop

Judging from the remarks made by U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in his ongoing Asia tour, it is crystal clear that Washington is involving itself deeper in the affairs in the Asia-Pacific region. Worse, it is not difficult to conclude that Washington, even though it is outside the region, is openly assuming the task of raising the temperature over the South China Sea issue; an issue that should only involve China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In a meetin

Catastrophic flooding and crop losses in Thailand, the world’s leading rice exporter, are raising concerns that another food crisis may be in the offing. Further disquieting is the possibility that the world may have already entered a new era where persistently high food prices are the “New Normal.”At a time when policymakers are grappling with a host of thorny economic issues, the possibility may be unwelcome, but must not be ignored.Although volatility in commodity markets is nothing new, ther

For too long, Korea’s political parties have failed to meet the people’s needs, engaging in endless conflict with each other and within themselves and neglecting their legislative missions. In elections, voters resignedly swung from one party to another, but in the latest Seoul mayoral by-election, they had an alternative; a “people’s candidate” emerged and the frustrated electorate chose him. The victory of lawyer-activist Park Won-soon meant the defeat of the two major parties to people power

The chief defense officials of Korea and the United States hold their annual security talks in Seoul today with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at the head of each side. Ministers and top generals of the two allies have got together each year without interruption for over four decades to review the security situation on and around the Korean Peninsula and discuss efforts to meet common challenges. The Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting not only sign

Because it’s the U.S. Army’s Energy Awareness Month, it may be a good time to remind President Obama of oil’s importance to economic security, and the role that wartime leadership and image play in getting your hands on it post-victory. He can’t just quietly outsource and downplay war because it’s icky, then call dibs on victory, as he has just done with Libya. Something has to give.When Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi was killed in the fog of war last week, Obama was quick to praise the “strength of Am

JERUSALEM ― The recent surge in Turkey’s military actions against the Kurds in northern Iraq is an indication that, somewhat surprisingly ― but not entirely unpredictably ― Turkish foreign policy has undergone a 180-degree turn in less than two years. The Turkish offensive is also an indication that these changes go beyond the current tensions between Turkey and Israel, which are just one facet of much deeper trends.Just a couple of years ago, after the European Union slammed the door in Turkey’