China announced this week it would station troops on Yongxing Island, a one-square-mile islet in the Paracel Islands (see map). It’s a simple show of muscle, say analysts. “Putting garrisons on Woody Island [as Yongxing Island is known outside China] or elsewhere in the Paracels would effectively maroon these guys, so the only advantage would be […]

If there’s one thing the Chinese government fears more than an uncontrollable economic slowdown, it’s that the vast middle class will demand to have their voices heard—all 300 million of them. And just to make things more interesting, there’s a good chance that a slowdown will accelerate the middle class demand for control over their […]

Something very strange is happening around the country: students are disappearing from America’s public schools.The New York Times reports that many of the country’s largest school districts are rapidly losing students as parents lucky enough to have the choice switch their kids to private and charter schools. In the country’s largest school districts, public school enrollment […]

Jane Perlez of the New York Times has a good piece on the gathering storm in the South China Sea. Perlez is one of the best foreign correspondents at the Times, and her coverage of the region is usually well ahead of that of her peers. Her latest effort references a grim report by the International Crisis […]

“More fun than a goat,” is how one of TR’s friends described watching him angle for the Republican Vice Presidential nomination in 1900 without actually admitting he wanted it; the phrase comes to mind as we watch Congressional Democrats trying to keep the heat on about Governor Romney’s tax returns while keeping their own firmly […]

Last year, the humanitarian community realized their lofty dreams for South Sudan: self-determination and independence. But unfortunately their dreams didn’t do anything to solve the problems holding back Africa’s newest splinter state. From the WSJ: The oil shutdown has hammered the Sudanese pound, now trading at about six to the dollar, compared with 3.55 before […]

The Romney camp is hurriedly trying to distance the GOP candidate from remarks made by an unnamed ‘adviser’ to a British newspaper on Tuesday that touted Romney’s “Anglo-Saxon heritage” and suggested that President Obama’s administration “didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we [the U.K. and the U.S.] have.”This is about as stupid a remark as […]

After half a century of staggering population growth (from 700 million in 1960 to 1.3 billion today), China is about to enter a new demographic phase characterized by slower growth and rapid aging. This Bloomberg report shows that China’s working-age population will start to shrink in 2020, while its median age will continue to increase rapidly.For […]

Over the crackle of an audio tape posted online Sunday, the leader of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia warned the government of Iraq that it plans to renew its violent campaign and “rock your seats of power.” The Iraqi Islamist surge may get some backup from the Syrian civil war next door.Monday’s devastating string of bombings and shootings have […]

A combination of low interest rates and aggressive market return goals is driving pension funds toward more complicated, more dangerous and high-fee investments. Wall Street is happy to help out.The FT has the story: Mr Ablin has steered clients towards real estate investment trusts, preferred stock and master limited partnerships for infrastructure and pipelines, while […]