The traditionally small, inward-looking militaries of Southeast Asia are no longer relying solely on the U.S. for regional security. They have been steadily expanding and upgrading their own forces as China’s power rises and disputes over South China Sea islands heat up. Reuters has details on this change in posture: As Southeast Asia’s economies boomed, defense spending grew 42 […]

New Scientist: US fertility has been declining steadily since 2008, according to a reportpublished last week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The report was compiled from birth certificates registered across the US.In 2008, the average number of children per woman was 2.1, roughly the figure needed […]

Iraq is shipping critical fuel oil to Syria, the FT reports: Iraq is quietly shipping vital supplies of fuel oil to Syria in a deal that has triggered concern in Washington and exposes Damascus’s difficulties keeping its economy afloat in the face of a growing civil war and economic sanctions.In June and July, Baghdad’s oil ministry delivered […]

The "surge" has failed to produce an Afghan government that can stand by itself, and U.S. bureaucratic incoherence is to blame.

My title, “Goodbye America!” is taken from a song in the super popular Russian flick Brother 2 (the 2000 sequel to the also popular post-Soviet crime film, Brother). The film’s protagonist, Danila, accompanies his brother to Chicago, where he tries to “do justice”, becoming involved in a series of encounters with different types of Americans, […]

Using the tax code to accomplish what the legislative process is supposed to do is bad for both.

Opponents of the "death tax" are really aiming at the idea of progressive taxation itself. Years of perfecting a deceptive pitch have brought them to the edge of victory.

Expect no grand political realignment this November. Neither party has the right diagnosis for what ails America, and much less a cure.

The usual grumblings attend the day on which we commemorate the most famous illegal immigrant in the history of the Americas, an undocumented wanderer from Spain who brought plagues, fire and the sword from the Old World to the New.Columbus Day is our most confused holiday celebration, one in which the public understanding of the […]

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney made his most significant public appearance since last week’s presidential debate. You can read the whole thing here. It was for the most part a frank and brave speech, but it defended some unpopular points of view even as it sharpened the contrast between the two men vying to lead […]