Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is in Asia trying to prevent further escalations in tensions over several territorial disputes. National elections in South Korea and Japan and a leadership transition in China’s Communist Party have fueled a resurgence of nationalism and historical animosities. Although the rhetoric and political posturing is coming …
“The death of U.S. public diplomacy” was how one Twitter user last Tuesday described the now-infamous apology from the U.S. embassy in Cairo for the ill-conceived movie Innocence of Muslims. Strong words, but there is no doubt about it: The need for American public diplomacy in the Middle East needs …
Censorship of the Internet is one of the distinguishing features of autocratic governments from China to Cuba. Is this the direction the U.S. government might be moving? It’s too early to tell, but the Obama Administration’s unusual request to Google to “review” the offending “Innocence of Muslims” movie trailer is …
Was it something the entire rest of the planet said? Late last Friday, the much-criticized government of India went from devaluing market-based economic reform at seemingly every turn to embracing it—in the space of one press conference. While India still faces a mountain of challenges, it finally may be moving …
As reported by Fox News earlier this year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) approved the transfer of computers and other equipment to Iran and North Korea—both of which are under sanction by the U.S. and the United Nations—without notifying WIPO member states or the U.N. sanctions committees. In response, …
The murder of America’s ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three U.S. diplomats shines a gruesome light on the region’s power vacuum and the attempt by Islamist militants to exploit it. Following the fall of the Muammar Qadhafi regime last year, well-armed Tuareg rebels, who were once loyal to the …
Last week, General Sergei Karakayev, Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, announced plans for a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to go into production as soon as 2018. He emphasized that the new missile would be capable of penetrating the NATO missile shield Russia dislikes so much. The new …
The statement Tuesday from the U.S. embassy in Cairo apologizing to Muslims and condemning “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims”—even as an angry, threatening mob was gathering outside the embassy compound—was no aberration. Though subsequently denounced by both the White House and the …
