Greece has taken a big step toward getting the debt relief it needs to fix its economy and stay in the euro area. Now the question is whether other strapped countries that use the single currency should follow its lead. Despite the Greek deal’s flaws ― and they are many ― it offers a model that some other sovereigns will inevitably be tempted to experiment with, no matter how much European officials insist on Greece’s uniqueness. The legal precedent is set: By retroactively inserting so-called c

Rick Santorum called the president “a snob” for wanting everyone to get a college education. (In fact, Obama never actually called for universal college education but only for a year or more of training after high school.)Santorum needn’t worry. America is already making it harder for young people of modest means to attend college. Public higher education is being starved, and the middle class will shrink even more as a result.Over the last year, 41 states have cut spending for public higher edu

Apparently, it is reckless to think that India could bring about a rapprochement between Iran and the U.S. That, at least, is the view of some readers of my last column on India’s lenient attitude toward Iran’s nuclear program. They reprimanded me for being naive. For Iran, run by Islamic fundamentalists committed to the destruction of Israel, desires no such reconciliation with the country Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini indelibly called the “Great Satan.” Alas, such a view, which sees fixed essenc

Korea is reaching out to the West. Just when the West is experiencing hard times, with persisting economic troubles stemming from the late-2000s recession, it is noteworthy to point out that Korea is betting on its future. The signing of free trade agreements with the EU and the U.S. is a landmark step toward South Korea’s further integration within the global economy and a clear strategy aimed at bringing relations with the West to the next level. This is mainly for three reasons, the first one

The Korea-U.S. free trade agreement went into effect today, nearly five years after the two countries concluded their negotiations in April 2007. It is an essential component of the FTA web that Korea has been weaving to become a hub of trade and investment.The trade pact will undoubtedly benefit Korea by enabling it to access the world’s largest economy more freely. Research institutes forecast that the free trade deal would boost Korea’s gross domestic product by 5.7 percent and create 350,000

The primary role of outside directors is to act as a check and balance against inside directors. They are expected to monitor their company’s overall management activities, assess the performance of management and prevent its majority shareholder or chief executive officer from always having his own way. To carry out these responsibilities, an outside director needs to have expertise and experience in corporate management. Hence, in the United States, outside directors are usually chosen from am

The world is currently being shaken by tectonic changes almost too numerous to count: the ongoing economic crisis is accelerating the degradation of international governance and supranational institutions, and both are occurring alongside a massive shift of economic and political power to Asia. Less than a quarter-century after Francis Fukuyama declared “the end of history,” we seem to have arrived at the dawn of a new age of social and geopolitical upheaval.Dramatically, the Arab world has been

Rick Santorum called the president “a snob” for wanting everyone to get a college education. (In fact, Obama never actually called for universal college education but only for a year or more of training after high school.)Santorum needn‘t worry. America is already making it harder for young people of modest means to attend college. Public higher education is being starved, and the middle class will shrink even more as a result.Over the last year, 41 states have cut spending for public higher edu

Greece has taken a big step toward getting the debt relief it needs to fix its economy and stay in the euro area. Now the question is whether other strapped countries that use the single currency should follow its lead. Despite the Greek deal’s flaws -- and they are many -- it offers a model that some other sovereigns will inevitably be tempted to experiment with, no matter how much European officials insist on Greece’s uniqueness. The legal precedent is set: By retroactively inserting so-called

This year under the guidance of the Seoul Office of Education a new elementary school and a new high school were opened in the Seoul area. While generally the opening of new schools would not be cause for comment, in this case the new schools are specifically for children who come from “multicultural” backgrounds. The high school is designed to educate “multicultural” teenagers who have dropped out of regular public high schools, while the elementary school will operate as a regular school but w

Last time I wrote here about the need to say less about Iran, and here I am today, talking about the same subject again. Well, do as I say, not as I ... never mind.The recent meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposed the gap between the two leaders on the hottest issue: Military action to stop Iran from becoming nuclear. While the two leaders fully agree that “all options are on the table,” the differences evolve around the priority of the military action over

In his video message to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity (March 7, 2012), U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued the following plea with respect to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights worldwide: “We must stop the violence, decriminalize same-sex relationships, ban discrimination, and educate the public.” Speaking directly to LGBTs, the secretary-general emphasized with a shake of a fist, “Let me say,

Last time I wrote here about the need to say less about Iran, and here I am today, talking about the same subject again. Well, do as I say, not as I ... never mind.The recent meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposed the gap between the two leaders on the hottest issue: Military action to stop Iran from becoming nuclear. While the two leaders fully agree that “all options are on the table,” the differences evolve around the priority of the military action over

This year under the guidance of the Seoul Office of Education a new elementary school and a new high school were opened in the Seoul area. While generally the opening of new schools would not be cause for comment, in this case the new schools are specifically for children who come from “multicultural” backgrounds. The high school is designed to educate “multicultural” teenagers who have dropped out of regular public high schools, while the elementary school will operate as a regular school but w

Just as an economic recession destroys capital, jobs and livelihoods, a social recession undermines empathy, solidarity and humanity - qualities necessary to sustain inclusive and cohesive societies. A reference to recession in relation to community engagement, a concept associated with social psychologist David Myers, might not be in tune with the fiscal matters discussed during Budget debates in Parliament. But it is pertinent to a broader concern relating to the perception of the current buzz

YANGON ― Here in Myanmar (Burma), where political change has been numbingly slow for a half-century, a new leadership is trying to embrace rapid transition from within. The government has freed political prisoners, held elections (with more on the way), begun economic reform, and is intensively courting foreign investment.Understandably, the international community, which has long punished Myanmar’s authoritarian regime with sanctions, remains cautious. Reforms are being introduced so fast that

It is now a year since the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima disaster, the largest nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Inevitably, the episode has prompted renewed debate about nuclear power. Since Fukushima, important developments have taken place. Germany has decided to shut down its fission plants. Moreover, in a referendum, 95 percent of the Italian public opposed plans to restart a nuclear program in the country. However, the United States (where public support

It seems the effort by billionaires Charles and David Koch to take control of the libertarian Cato Institute is going poorly. “We are not acting in a partisan manner, we seek no ‘takeover’ and this is not a hostile action,” Charles Koch told Bloomberg News. When you are denying partisanship, takeover ambitions and hostile intentions in one sentence, you probably need to rethink your PR strategy. The Koch brothers have long supported Cato, which they helped found in Washington in 1977. Recently,

The heavier-than-ever brake China will put on this year’s economy attests to its greater determination to bid farewell to the past GDP-dominated economic model and improve the quality of economic growth and its effects.In his government work report, delivered to the National People’s Congress on Monday, Premier Wen Jiabao announced that the country’s GDP growth will be set at 7.5 percent in 2012 to “expedite its economic transformation and increase the quality of its economic growth.”The slowest

Internal unity and national consensus should be greatly emphasized in the Republic of Korea which, as one half of a divided nation, confronts a most bellicose adversary across a volatile border. But South Korea is torn apart by too many social and political conflicts in which extremist attitudes defy reasonable solution. Elections escalate the differences, with parties making the incorrect assumption that only criticism can help them collect more votes.The central administration, local autonomou