Some Coloradan landowners are upset at recent fracking moratoriums, which are preventing them from cashing in on their mineral rights. Other countries wish they had this problem.

Josef Joffe and Robert Kagan spoke on a panel entitled “The Authoritarian Temptation – And the Need To Push Back” as part of a recent conference on “Re-thinking Democracy Promotion Amid Rising Authoritarianism.” The conference was jointly sponsored by The American Interest, Freedom House, and Johns Hopkins-SAIS.

On the heels of its string of battlefield victories, ISIS is revving up its youth outreach campaign. Vulnerable youth are likely to feel the pull, from the U.S. to China.

Vladimir Putin made a small conciliatory gesture earlier this week on Ukraine, primarily aimed at stalling further EU sanctions against Russia. It appears to have worked: further European sanctions appear unlikely. President Obama, however, must not be fooled.

In a sweeping ruling, the Supreme Court declared that police cannot search suspects’ cellphones without warrants just because they were found during an arrest. The decision sets a vital marker for privacy protection in the digital age.

During the recent conference on democracy promotion put together by The American Interest and Freedom House, Walter Russell Mead sat down with Robert Kagan to discuss grand strategy in the age of Obama. Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.

Thailand’s military government is more repressive and enduring than the U.S. expected. But instead of sanctioning the country to “show our support for democracy,” we should pursue a more nuanced and realistic policy.

In a recent SWAT raid a flashbang blew a hole in the chest of a two-year-old boy. These deployments often find neither weapons nor drugs, but the damage they do is incalculable.

Japan wants to lift the WWII-era limits on its military size, and the Philippines is all in favor. Meanwhile, China updated its official map to include the disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Despite an economic slowdown, Beijing is importing record amounts of crude. It’s aiming to expand its strategic oil reserves in the face of international instability.