“And the king said, Bring me a sword.” German business leader Hans-Olaf Henkel offers a Solomonic solution for Europe’s terrifying debt crisis—cleave the Euro in two. Henkel’s plan would create a new currency for the northern eurozone countries that aren’t buckling under massive debt – the “neuro.” The reeling Latin countries would then be left […]

An interesting article from the Moscow Times by CSIS researcher Alejandro Sueldo analyzes the effect of Russia’s competition with China on its nuclear policy and its general world stance.  One of the most common mistakes Americans make in foreign relations is analyzing each country’s relationship with the US through an exclusively bilateral focus.  We ask […]

Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism researcher at the New America Foundation (full disclosure: WRM is a founding board member of that organization), has an essay in Foreign Policy that shows how important the reported death of “al Qaeda number two” Atiyah abd al-Rahman al-Libi really was. As Fishman writes, “Atiyah was the node that connected” al Qaeda’s […]

At Via Meadia we’ve been following the critical story of President Obama’s currently troubled relationship with the African-American portion of his base for some time.  Today Politico has a useful and comprehensive look at the situation.The President’s problem is a simple one: in the absence of an overall economic recovery, how can he keep enthusiasm […]

Christine Lagarde, the new IMF chief, is doing now what should have been done long ago: urging Europe’s governments to help its banks shore up their capital base to offset losses on their holdings of bad bonds from troubled European countries.  European banks, partly because misguided (and politically influenced) bank regulations favored government bonds, hold […]

A Pew poll out today shows an interesting trend in the attitudes of American Muslims toward various aspects of American society. The Washington Post has the story, and below are a few highlights: 43 percent of American Muslims view US counterterrorism efforts as sincere, up from 26 percent in 2007. Since 2007, more American Muslims […]

Today is the first day of the new school year at Via Meadia; I am heading tonight from the stately Mead manor in glamorous and giant-rat free Queens for whatever Tropical Storm Irene spared of the rustic Mead hideaway in the rolling hunt country of Dutchess County.  The grand strategy and American foreign policy courses […]

Some good news for Chinese miners and their families today is also good news about the growing importance of public opinion in that technically Communist country.From the VOA: Rescuers have pulled 22 Chinese coal miners from a flooded underground pit in north China where they were trapped for a week.Chinese news media reported the miners […]

The government of India announced this week that it “agreed in principle” to the anti-corruption plan put forward by Anna Hazare, a modern-day civil disobedience campaigner in the mode of Mahatma Gandhi.  Hazare’s  twelve-day fast gripped the imagination of everyone in India who follows politics and was the culmination of weeks of demonstrations against corruption […]

Prime Minister Erdogan announced yesterday that Turkey would reimburse religious minorities whose property was confiscated, destroyed or sold by the government since 1936. It is an important gesture by the Turkish government, which still has a long journey to make before coming to terms with minorities and Turkey’s turbulent history. The New York Times has […]