Regions
Africa
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
The Obama administration relies on drones for one simple reason: they work. Drone strikes have devastated al Qaeda at little financial cost, at no risk to U.S. forces, and with fewer civilian casualties than many alternative methods would have caused.
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
Drones are not helping to defeat al Qaeda and may be creating sworn enemies out of a sea of local insurgents. Embracing them as the centerpiece of U.S. counterterrorism would be a mistake.
Snapshot,
May 26, 2013
The GDPs of many African countries appear to be soaring, which is partly a statistical fluke due to recent corrections of decades of bad data. African countries now face the challenge of rewriting their poorly recorded economic histories and adopting up-to-date statistical measures that will capture the continent's future growth.
Americas
Snapshot,
June 18, 2013
Accusations of a serious breach of personal data at the nation's largest integrated hospital network ignore the harsh realities of cybercrime. Rather than expecting network defenses to protect it against every possible attack, the United States needs to learn to isolate different cybersecurity problems and focus on what matters and what is feasible.
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
Cuba has entered a new era of economic reform that defies easy comparison to post-Communist transitions elsewhere. Washington should take the initiative and establish a new diplomatic and economic modus vivendi with Havana.
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
In the era of globalization, policymakers are increasingly debating the proper role of international law, and a group of legal scholars have embraced transnationalism, the idea that growing interconnectedness should dissolve international boundaries. But that approach is at odds with basic American principles.
Asia
Comment,
Jul/Aug
2013
Tensions between China and Japan are rising, but an economic version of mutual deterrence is preserving the uneasy status quo. Put simply, China needs to buy Japanese products as much as Japan needs to sell them.
A new book offers useful insights into the North Korean mindset, but it overlooks the regime's durability and the reformist bent of its new leader, Kim Jong-un. The regime is here to stay, and the United States should pursue more peaceful relations.
Comment,
Jul/Aug
2013
Given that Chinese counterfeiting has benefits as well as costs, and considering China’s historical resistance to Western pressure, trying to push China to change its approach to intellectual property law is not worth the political and diplomatic capital the United States is spending on it.
Europe
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
If Operation Overlord failed, the entire Allied enterprise in World War II faced abject collapse. This new history of the events leading up to D-Day explains why, and what the preparations for success actually involved.
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
To succeed in the twenty-first century, the European Union needs to move forward now toward greater integration. This is how to do it.
Central bankers have always carried a mystique far beyond justification, whether they are cast as malicious, incomprehensible, or all-powerful. Neil Irwin's new book on monetary policy during the financial crisis should dispel these myths once and for all.
Middle East
As two new books detail, Israel's ultra-Orthodox community has formed a partisan bloc able to manipulate the country's political system even as it makes little effort to hide its contempt for secular democracy. But it is not too late for Israeli centrists to push back.
Snapshot,
June 16, 2013
In hindsight, it is easy to understand why the Iranian public backed Hassan Rouhani. Less apparent is why Ayatollah Ali Khamenei let the result stand. One explanation is that he wanted to avoid a repeat of 2009. Another -- and one that better explains his permissive attitude toward Rouhani's edgy campaign -- is that the Ayatollah is ready to empower a conciliator who can repair Iran's frayed relations with the world and walk it back from economic disaster.
Russia & FSU
Snapshot,
June 9, 2013
In an effort to consolidate his power and drum up public support, Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a major anti-corruption campaign. Despite its intentions, however, the policy could prove to be Putin's demise.
Snapshot,
May 22, 2013
From wigs to dead drops, the espionage tussles between the United States and Russia are increasingly playing by the old Cold War rules -- including the public shaming of the unlucky spooks who get caught.
Snapshot,
April 21, 2013
Since the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing were identified as ethnic Chechens, the national conversation about the incident has focused on the connection between the violence and terrorism in Chechnya. Here's why that is the wrong model.
Global Commons
Essay,
Jul/Aug
2013
No matter what one thinks should be done about global warming, the fact is, it’s happening. And its effects are not all bad. In the Arctic, it is turning an impassible region into an emerging epicenter of industry and trade.
Postscript,
March 27, 2013
With predictions about climate change growing direr every week, geoengineering (which includes everything from fertilizing the oceans in an attempt to cajole great blooms of carbon-sucking phytoplankton to spraying particles into the upper atmosphere to make the earth more reflective) is starting to look more attractive. But the science still lags behind the ambitions. To understand how such schemes would work in practice -- and what their consequences would be -- it is time to start small-scale field tests.
Snapshot,
March 19, 2013
A small country hemmed in on its land borders by adversaries, Israel has always relied on the Mediterranean to avoid commercial and political isolation. New developments at sea, including the discovery of natural gas deposits and the growth of illicit trade, will only increase the importance of maritime issues for the country. Israel needs a comprehensive maritime strategy.
