It’s too late in the 2012 campaign season for an October surprise. But it isn’t too late for an early November surprise. With President Obama apparently now behind in the projected popular vote (although who knows with these polls?), what are the chances that he will order a strike in the next day or two, […]

WSJ: Opium cultivation in Southeast Asia’s main poppy-growing countries has more than doubled over the past six years driven largely by rising heroin demand in China and despite recent efforts by regional governments to eradicate the crop, the United Nations’ narcotics office said in a report released Wednesday. . . .The number of opiate users […]

First, one of Argentina’s navy training ships was seized in Africa after the Argentinian government refused to pay an investor in full. Then, last week, a U.S. federal court ruled that Argentina couldn’t continue stiffing bondholders. Now, Argentina’s sovereign credit rating is plummeting deep into junk territory. The WSJ reports: Mr. [Hernan] Lorenzino [Argentina’s Economy Minister] said […]

Shintaro Ishiara, the controversial 80-year-old governor of Tokyo, resigned last Thursday to start his own political party in a bid to challenge the gridlocked Japanese establishment. Shintaro, a prize-winning author who was befriended by Yukio Mishima in days long gone by, is the outspoken nationalist who was behind the fundraising scheme to buy the Senkaku/Diaoyu […]

The “pivot to Asia” has been one of Obama’s signature foreign policy moves, but it’s not entirely unique in the world. In a white paper released earlier this week, the Australian government unveiled it’s own pivot, Australia in the Asian Century.In order to take advantage of the forthcoming “Asian century,” the paper says, Australia needs to achieve […]

Even self-involved New Yorkers fretting about our own problems have had to take note of the suffering in New Jersey following hurricane Sandy. Though the storm raged up the East Coast, it has become increasingly apparent that New Jersey took the brunt of it. Officials estimated that the state suffered many billions of dollars in […]

The Syrian conflict isn’t just about Syrians fighting Syrians. Well into its second year, it has become a much larger conflict drawing in a wide range of states and ethnic and religious groups. Iraqis are picking sides. And Palestinians are getting involved as well. (Syria has been home to thousands of Palestinian refugees since the creation […]