Pakistan’s Supreme Court moved this week to indict Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on contempt of court charges. Gilani has said he will comply with the court’s final decision in the case. The charge stems from a disagreement over whether President Asif Ali Zardari can be tried for corruption in a case related to kickbacks […]

Could Paul Krugman possibly be wrong?  Could the US economy be actually recovering even though the Obama administration hasn’t taken Professor Krugman’s advice?That is the heretical possibility suggested by the encouraging jobs news this morning; 243,000 new jobs and a further fall in the unemployment rate.Other heretical thoughts: just possibly, the US economic model still […]

My earlier blog post on Hungary’s new constitution has elicited a large and often angry response from some Hungarians, and now the Hungarian State Secretary for Communication, Zoltán Kovács, has written a critical letter to The American Interest that you can read here.   I will be responding to all of this in a few days, […]

Even the staunchest Eurocrats have to admit that the Greek intervention has been a disaster. Bailouts, debt write-downs, solemn agreements: nothing works and after two years of concentrated effort, Greece is still on the brink of default.  A strong piece in this morning’s NYT by Rachel Donadio explains a big part of the problem.Look under […]

India is turning away from its long preoccupation with declining Pakistan as rising Chinese power sets alarm bells ringing in Delhi.  That at least is the message of this important Reuters review of India’s changing defense posture.In Reuters’ words: Defence chiefs are hurrying to modernise ageing weaponry as China reinforces a 3,500-km (2,200-mile) shared but […]

We received the following letter from the State Secretary for Government Communication, Dr. Zoltán Kovács, on February 2nd, responding to Francis Fukuyama’s post of January 23, “Do Institutions Really Matter?“The text of the letter follows:Budapest, 2 February 2012.Dear Sir,Last week you published an article by Francis Fukuyama on your website (“Do Institutions Really Matter?” January 23, […]

“In Indian politics”, writes Dan Morrison in the NYT‘s Latitude blog, “crime pays.” In Uttar Pradesh at least, that seems to be the case. Politics there is permeated by crime; 139 of 404 legislators in the current state government face criminal charges, including murder.Thirteen of the ruling party’s legislators are accused of murder. Others have […]

As we’ve reported, Hamas is on the move, ditching its beleaguered Shi’a friends (Iran, Syria and Hezbollah) and getting courted by Sunni powers. But if the sun is rising on Hamas, it is setting on Fatah.Fatah’s struggles stem from decades of failure. It hasn’t built the institutions necessary for Palestinian statehood, hasn’t won concessions from […]

Predictions of imminent American decline are looking shakier by the day. A new report cited in the Wall Street Journal finds that manufacturing has expanded dramatically over the past month and looks set to continue. Fears that the U.S. could never compete with low-cost competition in Asia or the high-end products of Europe are overblown. […]

After the Castros, what comes next? Under President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil is taking a special interest in that question, as evidenced by her decision to invest $680 million of Brazil’s money in the rehabilitation of the Cuban port at Mariel. Besides its interest in shoring up its leadership in Latin America and having a friendly, […]