The Obama administration approved plans yesterday for a third American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on Lake Charles, Louisiana. This welcome step comes after a lot of idling in the government review process for LNG export terminals, expensive investments that will make it easier for American energy companies to sell shale gas abroad.A study […]

The central problem in any bureaucratic organization, whether in the public or private sector, is how to delegate sufficient authority to agents who have expertise and are close to sources of local knowledge, while at the same time maintaining overall control over their behavior.  In an ideal organization, the principals set the organization’s overall goals, […]

During his campaign for President, Hassan Rouhani made many promises to Iran’s Azeri population. Among them was access to education in their mother tongue, one of several “cultural rights” that Azeris believe the Islamic Republic denies them. Today’s Zaman reports that five South Azerbaijani activists who in May were sentenced to nine years in prison […]

Protests continue on the streets in Egypt, as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and former President Morsi are clashing with the police and military. Government authorities threatened to forcibly clear two large protest camps in Cairo, while Senators McCain and Graham, on a visit to the country, urged restraint. But all of this continues to be […]

India went outside the establishment to bring in a former chief economist for the IMF as the new head of the central bank. Raghuram Rajan took over the helm of the Reserve Bank of India this week, and the FT describes the problems he faces as “the most serious since the early 1990s.”Rajan’s appointment breaks with […]

Not only are college students and graduates struggling under a $1.2 trillion (and growing) mountain of student debt, many of them may never be able to pay it back. A new study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that of the trillion dollars in outstanding federal student loans, only $493.7 billion were in repayment. […]

Kurt Campbell, one of America’s most experienced Asia hands, has a thought-provoking op-ed in the FT today that discusses a frequently overlooked but important country in the Game of Thrones: Mongolia. Though that game is increasingly being played at sea, landlocked Mongolia will play an important role. Campbell writes: Few countries have been lavished with more […]

President Obama announced today that his planned summit with Vladimir Putin in Moscow was canceled. The proximate cause appeared to be Russia granting NSA leaker Edward Snowden asylum last week: Although U.S. frustration with Moscow has been growing over other key issues such as missile defense and human rights, it was Russia’s decision to grant […]

The EPA will extend the deadline for ethanol producers to meet this year’s mandated 16.55 billion gallons of biofuels by an extra four months, it announced yesterday. It also said next year’s targets will be lower than those demanded by the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) law.The 2007 RFS charted a course for drastically ramping up biofuels, […]

North Korea has apparently blinked. The DPRK has agreed to reopen the Kaesong industrial plant, run jointly by both countries, just minutes after the South signaled its willingness to let the facility remain closed for good. South Korea also promised to pay out $250 million to companies that have suffered because of the closure.Reuters has […]