Politics

Park Geun-hye’s first year in office was a bumpy one, marked by disruptive political scandals, worrisome tensions in relations with North Korea, and back-tracking on key components of her signature “economic democratization” agenda that have weakened her popularity and undermined her credibility. This new year is unlikely to be any easier, even assuming the continued […]

Parliamentary elections in Iraq are scheduled for April 2014. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shiite-dominated State of Law party is leading in the polls, having made up some ground after a disappointing performance earlier in local elections. Following the vote, Maliki is likely to be granted first crack at forming a coalition government. But the chances […]

In a recent Reuters op-ed, Council on Foreign Relations’ scholar Edward Alden lavished praise on the Obama administration for “quietly embrac[ing] the most ambitious agenda on trade and investment liberalization in the past two decades.” Ted’s take evokes this Washington Post article from last March, in which Howard Schneider noted the emergence of a robust...

I run a successful manufacturing and export business. My success depends on our ability to accurately cost the materials and services we consume. If my estimates are wrong, I won’t stay in business very long. Our government has no such apparent obligation. Our tax dollars are being wasted on projects that are so out of sync […]

The continued dominance of the ruling United Russia party was confirmed yet again at regional and local elections held on September 8. The opposition made a strong enough showing in major cities to suggest that President Vladimir Putin and his allies cannot take victory for granted in urban areas, but elsewhere, United Russia’s position appears […]

SPECIAL REPORT—The first half of 2013 has been an unusually turbulent period for companies doing business in China. Amidst an apparent economic slowdown, the new leadership has pursued a number of actions. This includes an anti-corruption drive, a government frugality campaign, and a stronger Internet crackdown. But that’s not all. We have seen the trial […]

I don’t pay much attention to opinion polls, because they’re only as good as the pollster, and many of them are faulty in one way or another. But you don’t have to be a Harvard Business School graduate to realize that the average voter has little or no respect for government, from the top down.

A decade-long trend toward an increasingly conservative makeup of all of Iran’s most powerful political institutions was disrupted at the presidential election held in June 2013. Hassan Rowhani, the lone moderate among the six candidates vying to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, emerged the victor, winning slightly more than 50 percent of the first-round vote.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s minority coalition government is under pressure to restore public and investor confidence, as concerns surrounding the slowing pace of growth have more recently been compounded by the rupee’s alarming depreciation. A general election is required no later than the second quarter of 2014, and the latest opinion polls signal an abrupt […]

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ideologically eclectic coalition government passed the first major test of its viability in early August, when the Knesset approved an austerity budget for 2013–2014 that includes a range of spending cuts and tax increases. The passage of a two-year spending plan has greatly increased the coalition’s chance of surviving until 2015, […]

Allegations of exorbitant claims for reimbursement of living expenses submitted by some senators from the governing CPC became a major problem for Prime Minister Stephen Harper after it was revealed that his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, had cut a check for $90,000 to one senator. Wright resigned, but Harper’s claim that he had no […]

<p>A recent Associated Press story, which stopped me in my tracks, said the gap in employment rates between America&#8217;s highest- and lowest-income families has stretched to its widest levels since officials began tracking the data a decade ago. Rates of unemployment for the lowest-income families — those earning less than $20,000 — have topped 21 [&hellip;]</p>

The policy direction under President Xi Jinping will become clearer at the forthcoming Third Plenum of the ruling CPP in November, at which the outlines of the economic reform agenda for the next decade will be mapped out. Investors will be watching closely for indications of how the regime plans to engineer a shift from [&hellip;]

As a conservative, I’m fully on record as a critic of President Obama’s policies. Today, however, I’m on board with the president’s decision to ask for congressional authority on Syria. Moreover, if the intelligence is solid, then Congress needs to give President Obama his requested authority. It is absolutely correct for the president to seek [&hellip;]

I&#8217;ve seen a lot of presidents come and go. The vast majority of them have made some type of mistake that hurt their popularity as well as their legacy, but there hasn&#8217;t been as big a mistake as President Obama&#8217;s mishandling of so-called Obamacare. To his credit, the president has been willing to embrace the comprehensive [&hellip;]

In July, the number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers, was essentially unchanged at 8.2 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. Contrast this to 2004 when The Heritage...

SPECIAL REPORT — The Syrian civil war appears to have at least temporarily reached a point of stalemate, with neither rebel forces nor the military and allied militias capable of making a decisive push for territory that could potentially turn the tide for either side. The offensive launched by the fractious rebel camp in late [&hellip;]

Since the beginning of the Great Uncertainty — the period that began with the “stimulus,” the auto bailout, the push for another major entitlement program, Dodd-Frank, the regulatory dam burst, the subsidies for favored industries, and the proliferation of distinctly anti-business rhetoric from the White House — President Obama has appeared puzzled by the dearth...

Recent developments in U.S.-Chinese relations again have crossed into the technological world, as the U.S. has become increasingly concerned over Chinese cyber attacks. In turn, the Chinese government has vehemently denied any participation, stating any actions taken were by independent hackers. Nevertheless, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan recently met [&hellip;]

Secretary of State John Kerry originally refused to characterize the coup in Egypt as a coup. Rather, he effectively endorsed the new military regime: “In effect, they were restoring democracy.” Too bad the hundreds shot dead on Cairo streets won’t be able to vote in the new restored democracy. Washington needs to “reset” relations with...