The failure of the Doha trade talks is now so stinking obvious that even professional bureaucrats and negotiators are forced to acknowledge it.  The FT has a story this morning about the growing possibility that a small number of major countries will move on to develop a free trade in services regime outside the Doha […]

The Seychelles islands, between India and Africa, are one of those places you don’t hear from very much.  I spent an entertaining day there a few years ago with some giant tortoises on a wildlife preserve; they are very fond of having their necks scratched.However the island chain is making a rare appearance in the […]

The general's second career as a statesman has begun.

Even before the most recent round of international negotiations on climate change began in Durban, South Africa recently, many predicted the conference dead on arrival. That is certainly true from the standpoint of substance; I attended the Rio Summit back in the early 1990s and none of them since have reduced carbon emissions or produced […]

The up and coming economies of Asia are taking one hit after another as the global financial turmoil drags on. Today, it’s South Korea. The BBC has the story: The Ministry of Strategy and Finance says Asia’s fourth-largest economy is likely to grow by 3.8% in 2011 and 3.7% in 2012.Previously, it had forecast expansion […]

Vague, cloudy and romantic dreams of Eurasian Weltmacht were the great curse of Germany during the 20th century.  Now that the Fifth, Berlin-based Reich has replaced the old postwar Fourth Reich headquartered in Bonn, those dreams seem to be stirring once more.  A recent article in German weekly Der Spiegel casts the humdrum Durban climate […]

Sometimes crossing an invisible borderline can get people killed. That is what happened in the latest “incident” in Asia when a Chinese skipper fatally stabbed a South Korean Coast Guard officer who was arresting him for fishing in Korean waters. AFP has the story: It was the second time in less than four years that […]

The European situation continues to worsen as embattled French President Nicolas Sarkozy begins to soften the voters up to expect the loss of France’s AAA credit rating.  From Reuters: In an interview, Sarkozy told Le Monde newspaper the loss of the AAA status — a grade that allows France to finance its debt as cheaply […]

Threats are not the way to deal with Turkey; Iran is the latest country to make this mistake.  Mustafa Akyol reports in the Turkish English language paper Daily News that an Iranian official has warned that if the US or Israel attack Iran, Iran will retaliate against missile sites in Turkey.Nothing could be better calculated […]

These should be good times in the White House.  The GOP primary process has tarnished the party brand and shows no signs of producing a strong contender for 2012.  The headline unemployment rate dropped below 9 percent last month, and the threat of a 2012 recession, barring further madness in Europe, seems to have receded.  […]