President Obama said Friday he would send armed advisers – about 100 – to central Africa to help hunt down one of the world’s genuine bad guys – Joseph Kony, head of a murdering, kidnapping, torturing and raping group of thugs who call themselves the Lord’s Resistance Army. Obama seems to have a thing for […]

An important op-ed in the New York Times (a phrase one doesn’t hear all that frequently these days) makes some points I’ve been making on this blog about the need for the US to develop a new Pakistan policy.  Pakistan’s army is in direct opposition to the US on core strategic issues in Afghanistan, and […]

Each year, the EU spends $75 billion on farm subsidies, fully two fifths of the EU’s annual budget. Considering the economic turmoil already consuming Europe, this year’s debate over agricultural subsidies promises to be entertaining, especially as greens start shouting for environmental restrictions on farming. The WSJ reported yesterday: The [European] commission also wants to […]

Russian research scientists are mad as heck and they aren’t going to take it anymore!  They recently took to Moscow’s streets to stage a protest the regulatory behemoth that keeps getting in the way of their work.  The WaPo reports: The protesters were not asking for more money (for the most part) but more discretion […]

There’s blood in the water and the sharks are circling — the Solyndra story just keeps getting deeper. Two newspapers — the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post — are carrying front-page stories today about the Solyndra debacle, each covering a different aspect of the story. This is bad news for an Obama Administration […]

Things are getting tough for small, private businesses in China. As the WSJ reported yesterday, Many smaller private companies, unable to obtain bank loans because of the government’s tightening of credit to fight inflation, have turned to so-called shadow lenders for funding. Such lenders often charge exorbitant interest rates, and many smaller enterprises, struggling to […]

Good news: plundered weapons from Libya’s once-guarded stockpiles are being located. Bad news: they’re in the hands of Bedouin black-market weapons racketeers in Egypt’s unstable Sinai Peninsula. Not exactly the growth in exports the world economy was hoping for. From the WaPo: Egyptian security officials have intercepted surface-to-air missiles, most of them shoulder-launched, on the […]

The 2011 Mead world tour continues; in the last couple of months I’ve visited the UK, Russia, Israel and the West Bank.  Today I’m leaving for China, where I’ll be meeting with academics, participating in seminars and giving lectures on US foreign policy in cities ranging from Shenyang and Anshan in the north to Guangzhou […]

Despite its month-long conspicuous presence at the center of America’s financial hub, the “Occupy Wall Street” movement has been having trouble attracting attention. In its early weeks, supporters had complained that the movement was being deliberately ignored by the media, and although media coverage has since grown, many boosters still feel that it has still […]

An SAT cheating scandal at a local (non-Queens) New York high school has put the spotlight on what could be a widespread lack of honesty and integrity among high school students sitting for the SAT. The NYT has the story: “The main risk for a cheater is getting caught,” [said one student.] “Why wouldn’t you […]