More bad news for the Malthusians means more good news for everyone: In Brazil, a huge, formerly empty and infertile region is likely to become one of the most agriculturally productive regions in the world, helping to keep global food prices low for the next half century. The Washington Post reports: Brazil is expected next […]

In what is widely being seen as a setback for the U.S. agenda in Asia, ASEAN countries said that they don’t want to “internationalize” their maritime disputes with China and want the issue addressed in direct talks between the ASEAN nations and China. This is said to frustrate top U.S. officials who hoped to raise […]

A front page Wall Street Journal piece warns that business investment in the U.S. is collapsing. Corporate executives say they are slowing or delaying big projects to protect profits amid easing demand and rising uncertainty. Uncertainty around the U.S. elections and federal budget policies also appear among the factors driving the investment pullback since midyear. It […]

The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza                                       by Eyal Weizman            Verso Press, 2012, 208pp., $26.95 Violence is a basic fact of international relations. It is the […]

The escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip was the biggest story of this week. In response to international confusion about America’s reticence to criticize Israel, we had this to say: For many people around the world, this seems patently obvious: Israel has a right to respond to attacks from […]

A brief wave of enthusiasm was felt around the web yesterday at the news that House Republicans were considering a push for a thoroughgoing reform of copyright law, with everyone from Glenn Reynolds to Cory Doctorow to Stewart Baker heralding this as both smart politics and the right thing to do. Some snippets from the […]

Like many similar trendy tech neologisms in recent history, ‘cyberwar’ as a concept may be getting overloaded to the point of meaninglessness. The mere inclusion of the tired “cyber-” prefix all but seals the term’s eventual fate. The word feels dated out of the gate.But it doesn’t mean it’s completely useless. Warmaking—if done right—is done […]

Via Meadia is hiring!We are pleased to announce that Via Meadia is looking for three new staff writer positions: a senior writer and two junior writers. All would likely be relatively recent college grads; the “senior” writer would have some experience and expertise in important domestic policy issues that Via Meadia follows — or intends to follow as we expand […]

One likely result of the Gaza War: a boom in missile defense that will probably make a lot of money for some Israeli and American companies. Israel’s impressive Iron Dome system is really shining: By late Friday, the system had intercepted a total of 184 rockets in recent days, 99 of them on Friday alone, […]

Yet another state is preparing for a major hit by the pension storm. Oregon’s pension fund for public employees is now in a $16 billion hole caused by the failure of its investments to come anywhere close to the 8 percent rate of return the state was predicting. Now lawmakers are forced to choose between contributing billions of taxpayer […]