China’s Premier Wen Jiabao returns to his homeland today having concluded an expensive shopping trip across the Middle East. Chinese business leaders, accompanying Mr. Wen, signed (WSJ subscription required) deals with Arab companies worth billions of dollars, but one of the more interesting details of the trip is the Persian Gulf storefront Mr. Wen and […]

President Obama’s decision on Tuesday to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry “dirty” oil from Canadian tar sands to American refineries, drew the expected response from familiar corners. The vocal green fringe is ecstatic; the Canadians are disappointed; and the entire Republican Party is quietly celebrating  this ready-made political club for use in […]

The Syrian outlook continues to worsen.Latest update: Russia and Iran have been caught with their hands in the Syrian cookie jar. The U.S. Treasury Department recently exposed Iran’s efforts to help Syria evade international sanctions on oil exports, while Russia was caught shipping weapons to Assad. The WSJ reports: American officials investigating the Iranian operation […]

For decades, the booming factories and massive, cheap workforce of East Asia has been both the greatest fear and the greatest envy of the growing ranks of American declinists. What, then, are they to make of a recent article in the FT, which describes manufacturing business moving back across the Pacific to the U.S.? According […]

A quick glance at the headlines of any major financial new publication this week reveals that it has been a tough start to the new year for those reviled bankers. Earnings at the big banks are coming it at consistently disappointing levels, and the employees of many firms are seeing their usually-hefty bonuses cut down […]

South Sudan’s recent independence did not stop the violence that has disrupted greater Sudan for decades. Tribal rivalries, conflict with the North and other provinces, rogue militias, and drought continue to destabilize the new country. The Washington Post reports: Members of a South Sudan tribe that was previously targeted in a massive ethnic assault killed 47 […]

With the military and Muslim Brotherhood hashing out new power sharing agreements, it is now time for Egyptian leaders to address its beleaguered economy. The Financial Times reports that Egypt’s military rulers, after initially rejecting international help last summer, have asked the IMF for $3.2 billion in support for its failing economy.Since the “revolution” began, […]

“Proliferation,” Via Meadia wrote in January 2010, “is not just a question of a few rogue states and terror organizations.” From nuclear bombs to Kalashnikovs, weapons are easier to find, simpler to design, build and operate, and deadlier than ever. Technological progress in a globalized world inevitably shifts powerful killing machines from wealthy armies to […]

Is Obama trying once again to bring Iran back to the discussion table? CBS reports that Obama sent Iran a secret letter proposing new talks and admonishing Tehran over its threats to close the Straits of Hormuz. “In the letter, Obama called for direct talks with Iran,” the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted [Ali] Motahari [an […]

Via Meadia has been all over the ongoing catastrophe that is Detroit, but we haven’t paid much attention till now to its little brother to the north: Flint, Michigan (home of, among other things, famed panegyrist of the dying Blue Model, Michael Moore). Alike in almost every way to Detroit, Flint boasts aging factories, declining […]