For those who think the Middle East doesn’t really matter all that much anymore, a major oil crisis that destabilized the global economy would be an important wake-up call.

The VW and Willy Brandt Airport scandals reveal the other half of the German national character.

As Russia bombs every rebel in Syria except ISIS and Iran and the Saudis square off over dead pilgrims and arms shipments to Yemen, could instability spread to the vital oil producing and shipping areas of the Middle East? Quite possibly.

In critical ways, China faces more disadvantages than most people think.

There are few clearer illustrations of the way that blue institutions crush blue political constituencies.

As the fighting bogs down in Syria and passions become ever more bitter, an organized “population exchange” along sectarian lines is taking place.

All the conditions for a new golden age seem to be present, and in many ways we are in a golden age of opera performance, but there is nothing like a golden age of operatic appreciation among the people at large.

Obama needs Putin’s help in Syria more than Putin needs Obama’s.

Boehner ascends to a higher, happier—and much better-paying—realm.

A long tradition of opposition to religious persecution is one of the great contributions of the Quaker movement to the development of Christian thought and practice.