It could have been a moment of triumph for Europe—a symbol of global relevance and power when it was most needed. Instead, the failed merger between continental European aerospace giant EADS and British BAE Systems, two of Europe’s largest defense companies, is an alarming sign of the increasing irrelevance of Europe.The Financial Times has gathered opinions […]

The Libyan afterparty continues: Militias remain Libya’s only effective police force. Some militia brigades have the power to tap phones and hunt down enemies. Others occupy luxury hotels, patrol borders, or control social services, all blessedly unmolested by government interference: [B]rigade leaders said that they, not the government, would choose their new officers, and that […]

Imran Khan is known internationally as a rising star in Pakistani politics, but he’s been on the scene for a while. Once a cricket star and playboy, he’s now one of the most popular politicians in the country and a possible candidate for prime minister.Khan also has a disturbing relationship with the Taliban. Yesterday he […]

This week brings the official launch of Harvard and MIT’s EdX program. According to BostInno (h/t John Ellis), the new program is off to a good start, with more than 100,000 students already registered for the first courses. And as students and teachers become acclimated to the platform, Harvard will continue to tailor the program to […]

New York City’s struggles with the blue model have been well-documented on this blog, but the rest of the state has not been immune from these problems either. The New York Post reports today that Yonkers, Syracuse and Rochester are all asking the state government for a major bailout to avert looming bankruptcies driven by labor and pension […]

For young college grads, things aren’t looking so bright right now. Youth unemployment is high, entry-level wages are low, and student loans have reached a record high at exactly the moment when grads’ ability to pay is lowest. But for those willing to take a few steps off the beaten path, there is one place […]

David Sanger reports for the NYT: Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster, according to American officials and Middle […]

Another day, another dollar: New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority is set to raise transit fees yet again. This time around, the MTA was considering ending the MetroCard Bonus program, wherein a rider who puts $10 or more on his card gets a 7 percent bonus automatically added on. The proposal didn’t fare well: “The […]

Conventional wisdom always tries to sound timeless, but it’s almost always a herd reaction to events. “Debates don’t matter,” was the old conventional wisdom, and it was uttered very wisely by sages of all stripes. Now, suddenly, debates do matter, and it’s hard to find a pundit who disagrees with wisdom so ancient and traditional.The […]

The biggest news of the week was the escalation of the conflict between Syria and Turkey. The Syria conflict leaves America with no good options, but supporting the least bad of the rebels with arms and information looks to us like the best of a bad field, especially with al-Qaeda gaining ground in the region: […]