There are two reasons Americans need to pay close attention to the disaster unfolding in Puerto Rico. First is that thousands of our island friends are joining us on the mainland in search of opportunity. These are not hordes of low-skilled workers; things have gotten so bad in PR that its professionals and middle-class workers are fleeing. The second reason is that, while for Puerto Ricans the decay of their home seems excruciatingly slow, it’s enduring a sped-up version of what threatens some of our mainland blue states. Illinois should be watching with horror.

When Silvio Berlusconi was expelled from Italy’s parliament last November, most observers around the world breathed a sigh of relief. Now it appears that he has risen from the political ashes once again and plans to run for a seat in the European Parliament. As the parliamentary leader of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party declared: “In May we will attack a Germanised Europe.”

Andrew Cuomo’s plan to cut taxes for Wall Street is touching of a battle within the Democratic party. The left loves to demonize Wall Street, but it’s also dependent on its tax dollars to keep big government running.

As the Obama Administration ratchets up the rhetoric over China’s ambitions in the South China Sea, allies and enemies alike continue to wonder whether the United States really means what it says—or if this is yet another “red line” like the one Assad faced down with ease in Syria.

Tunisia’s adoption of a liberal constitution is not the end of the story for the most successful of the Arab Spring nations. Its government is cracking down hard on Islamist militants, and though it appears to be having some success, it would be a mistake to think its future is secure.

Greetings, readers! We hope you’ve had an enjoyable weekend. As you prepare for the week ahead, take the time to look back at some of the top stories from the last week that you may have missed.

The “Gujarat miracle”—is it fact, as Narendra Modi’s supporters would have you believe? Or fiction and “hype”, as his critics argue? Studying Modi’s record in Gujarat is key to understanding the man who might one day lead the world’s largest democracy.

Bin Laden is dead but his mission survives. Jihadis today operate differently than they did in the last decade, and in new areas like Mali and Syria. The threat from these groups has changed but not diminished.

Germany has sizable reserves of shale gas—the EIA estimates as much as 17 trillion technically recoverable cubic feet of it—and a long familiarity with fracking. If it really is as green-minded as it claims to be, it would start fracking with gusto.

Cynicism about the future is widespread in America these days, a new survey finds. But in contrast to public perceptions, America’s prospects actually look pretty good.