In Search of Fair Sheikh The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation of seven emirates, each with its own ruler, sits, usually quietly and prosperously, on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, across a long stretch of bay water from Iran.
China, Taiwan Try New Way On the surface of things, it might not seem like such a big deal. Taiwan is to get recognition as an observer at an important world health meeting in Geneva to be held later this month. Big deal. But in the context of Asian diplomatic history, actu..
Eliminating Honest Journalism It seems that quality journalism is becoming more conspicuous than ever by its absence. But the causes are complex.
North Korean Dilemma LOS ANGELES Once more North Korea throws its nuclear baby-rattle out of the crib. Yet again it checks whether the adult world will continue ignoring its cries.
Listen to Asia Carefully President Barack Hussein Obama's self-proclaimed proclivity for listening does not necessarily prove that he is a good listener. The art of listening is more than a passive act.
North Korea Hikes Up a Missile BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Some things you just don't joke about. Certain developments in the course of human affairs are decidedly unfunny. What's a perfect example, right off the top of my head?
Small Incidents Trigger Wars Serious misunderstandings cause wars. Even relatively small ones, festering underground over time and eating into the foundations of stability, can have the same calamitous effect. Some poisons work immediately; other poisons take time.
Therapy for Odd Couple It's fortunate that the chief honchos of China and the United States are to get together for a serious chat next month in London in a sideroom of a so-called economic summit. Almost any event that brings Presidents Hu Jintao and Barack Obama toget..
Korean Man Dumps Harvard BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. It isn't easy these days to find silver linings in the ominous and swirling global-warning economic clouds overhead.
Putting Asia First BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent four-stop swing through Asia led to some accusations of symbolic superficiality.
China and Tale of Two Clintons Gigantic, historic China immediately weights on the mind of an incoming U.S. President, one way or the other, Democratic or Republican. Three years after the awful tragedy at Tiananmen Square, President Bill Clinton came to power, in 1992, but he d..
New Spy Chief Dennis Blair, the man who is to become the new U.S. director of National Intelligence, distinguished himself as the military commander-in-chief over the United States Pacific Command. This is an important fact behind his appointment by President-el..
Huntingtons Gigantism BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. A giant died the other day. His name was Samuel Huntington. Harvard Prof. Huntington's gigantism was intellectual.
Great Sources of Ideas Do you still have some last-minute gift-buying to do as New Year's presents for friends? Here are suggestions perhaps for that special someone who seems to have almost everything.
Potential Odd Couple of 2009 BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Barack Obama, as he takes presidential office next month, will notice that life has become less merry and rather more naughty and un-nice.
Negotiating With N. Korea In a few months a former U.S. president will probably be asked to travel to North Korea in pursuit of military denuclearization. His name won't be George W. Bush, of course. It will be Jimmy Carter, or maybe Bill Clinton. Or one other person (see b..
What They Actually Meant In diplomacy in particular and world affairs in general, public figures do not often say what they truly mean, especially in public, so you have to listen to them very carefully.
