Russia and China are standing strong against American efforts to coax them into taking a stronger stance on Iran’s nuclear program. But perhaps Obama has found a way persuade the Russians to change sides: trade. As the WSJ reports, Mr. Obama also said that with Russia on the verge of joining the World Trade Organization, […]

Three years into his administration, President Obama is defining his Asia policy. The Wall Street Journal reports: One of Mr. Obama’s core objectives is to serve notice that the United States will serve as a counterweight to China’s growing economic, diplomatic and military influence.“This trip is very much about extending a clear signal that the […]

In another win for the famously blind meritocracy that rules American life, rewarding the ultra-talented and pushing the less brilliant and skilled into the outer darkness, Chelsea Clinton has landed a coveted position at NBC News.  This was almost as much a surprise as her admission to Stanford; one can only marvel at the sheer […]

According to the Daily Telegraph, British Foreign Minister William Hague told reporters that the military option for dealing with Iran remains “on the table”.  (In British English that expression may be slightly more forceful than in the US.  When our Congress ‘tables’ an issue, it postpones it indefinitely.  When they ‘table’ something in Britain, it […]

“Talkin’ about my generation”: the Who song once expressed the hope and self confidence of the Baby Boomers as they reached biological if not emotional maturity.  It was an attack on the older generation, a defense of the young, but it includes an ominous refrain: “Hope I die before I get old.”  Already, perhaps, the […]

Advocates of industrial policy have been pointing to ‘smart subsidies’ for green technology as proof that government can function as an effective venture capitalist, directing subsidies effectively toward ‘sunrise’ industries.We will probably be hearing less of those claims now as the public digests the massive excess, failure and fraud that have turned the Obama administration’s […]

[Note to readers: Via Meadia is going to experiment with a “Week In Review” on Sundays. We’ll highlight the most popular posts, give updates from the Team, and comment on the biggest developments in global politics from the past week.]Last Sunday we published Occupy Blue Wall Street, which analyzed the breakup of the blue coalition […]

The always valuable Glenn Reynolds alerts readers to an important story in the Wall Street Journal: “My Teacher is an App.” It turns out that technology is transforming the American educational experience far faster than most of us knew. From the Journal: In a radical rethinking of what it means to go to school, states […]

Dennis Ross, the longtime maestro of American efforts to build peace between Israel and the Palestinians, is stepping down. He follows George Mitchell, Obama’s special envoy to the Middle East, who threw in the towel in May. The two resignations underline what is already clear: there isn’t much left of the White House’s peace strategy.  […]

Andrew Sullivan has a reputation in some circles for overreacting to current events, and here at Via Meadia we’ve challenged what seems to us an overwrought fear of creeping “Christianism” that from time to time pops up on his blog.But when it comes to the EU, Sullivan has sang froid in spades, writing that “My […]