Moscow police detained more than 1,000 people in Moscow and other Russian cities, after internet postings threatened new ethnic violence on Wednesday evening. Most of the detainees were ethnic Russian football (soccer) fans, although a few migrants from the Caucasus
Sometimes it’s not a good idea to be at the top of a list. And now that Japan has announced a five-percentage point reduction in its corporate tax rate, the United States will have the dubious honor of imposing the
The United States ended WWII by dropping two nuclear weapons upon the Japanese homeland in 1945. The surrender of the Japanese came soon after, catching The Kremlin and The Pentagon off guard. The invasion of Japan was a certainty to
As Secretary of Defense Gates noted any question about North Korea has only one response: “I don’t know.” There is indeed so little we know about this barbarian kingdom with nuclear weapons. Hence almost anything one does say is speculative.
The Communist People’s Republic of China is confronting its neighbors and the United States in the Pacific. But how strong is their muscle in the fight? And, to paraphrase John McClane from “Die Hard”, what can we do to throw
President Obama went from an Election Day “shellacking” to an Asian drubbing, and American power and prestige are worse off for his ineffectual, even embarrassing, efforts. First of all, there was the failure to close on a free trade agreement
China funded the largest economic stimulus programs in world history from July of 2009 through June of 2010. As a percentage comparison to the U.S. stimulus plan; the Chinese spent twice the amount of money in half the time. China
On June 2, 2008 TIME Magazine published a photo it had taken of the “lucky charms” Barack Obama carried with him. Among them was a miniature statue of a Hindu monkey god named Lord Hanuman. Once word got back to
When Japan’s ferocious General Tomoyuki Yamashita (“The Tiger of Malaya”) finally emerged from his headquarters on Luzon to surrender he handed his pistol, samurai sword and battle flag to the nearest U.S. soldier he saw. This was Cuban born, Manuel
In recent months, we’ve seen China’s policies in the South China and the East China seas become increasingly confrontational and belligerent, as they’ve claimed that hundreds of islands, waters and sea lanes that have historically been part of other countries
The other weekend in San Antonio over 600 people gathered for the 50th anniversary re-premiere and celebration of one of the great American-themed epics of the early 1960s, John Wayne’s The Alamo. People came from far and wide to watch
From China’s point of view, ceasing exports of rare earth elements (REEs) makes a lot of sense outside of ideology. China needs these minerals for its own manufacturing as much as any other countries do, so the Chinese might well
China is asserting itself on the world stage but with a 21st Century strategy. Striving to resurrect its former glory as a power after a century of foreign domination, World War and Mao’s murderous Cultural Revolution, China’s socialist dictators realize
Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana has triggered a spat among policy wonks with his recent comments expressing sympathy for a value-added tax (VAT). Kevin Williamson of National Review is arguing that a VAT will probably be necessary because there is
There is an effort underway to change America’s preeminent position as the world’s sole super power. We never really aimed for that role, but so be it. The parties who want to have a post-American power structure are both external
October 15-18th the Fifth Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a 300 member Committee, met to prepare for the Oct/Nov, 2012 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress and the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). We
The Government of Cuba (GOC) will be at a cross roads in 2011. The Castro dictatorship regards the current US Administration as “simpatico.” The GOC feels in the coming year there will be a move to end the US Cuban
As a professional scholar, Ben Bernanke devoted much of his academic life to studying the Great Depression. It is no surprise then, that the cause of the Depression was of particular interest to the current Fed chairman. In the end,
After a clash in the disputed East China Sea last month between China and Japan, China initiated a boycott of Japanese goods and held up exports of material needed by Japanese electronics manufacturers. Weeks later, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev planned
The United States is not an empire in the traditional sense. We do not impose our will on nations and force them to host our military installations. But the size of America’s military presence around the world is truly enormous.
An old buddy saw chess everywhere in life. A pawn, wisely moved, may kill a King. Small stories become world-changing events. A pawn is in play between Japan, China and America over the unpopulated resource rich Senkaku Islands. Called the
Japan attempted to turn the tables on China on Monday, by demanding that China pay for repairs to two Coast Guard vessels that were damaged during the confrontation with a Chinese fishing boat on September 7, according to Bloomberg. The
On September 7, 2010, an incident that in the future may be seen as analogous to the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand or the Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurred: the apparently intentional collision of a Chinese fishing boat with
We’re still waiting to see if the activist old media will cover the clear omission of “by their Creator” by Barack Obama. It’s sort of an important line from the Declaration of Independence. So far, no go. Plenty of stories
Every year September 11th rolls around and I feel I should write something about 9/11. Every year, I don’t. I can’t really say why. Even having lived in California at the time, I nonetheless felt and feel deeply and very
