Abandoning Iraq and failing to act in Syria have left a vacuum that ISIS and other terrorist groups are filling. Obama’s criticism of his predecessor is no substitute for a real foreign policy.
Category: Eyes on the U.S.
NEW YORK — The terrace offers one of New York City’s most exclusive views. Perched on the 57th floor of the new World Trade Center complex, it overlooks the Manhattan skyline to the north, and the Statue of Liberty and New York harbor to the south. Offices complete the rest of the panoramic view, their […]
The recently botched execution in Oklahoma is the just the latest sign that this ‘quaint and cruel’ form of American justice is not worthy of a democracy.
We all know how ubiquitous Coca-Cola“s red-and-white logo is around the world. But together with its archrival Pepsi-Cola, these U.S.-based cola giants have had to fend off smaller, locally-produced alternatives. Call it the alter-cola revolution. Let us take you on a fizzy little tour of the new regional and national cola brands springing up everywhere. […]
History says a hegemonic power and a rising power may be inevitably bound for war. What both Washington and Beijing can do to avoid that.
WASHINGTON — Calvin is discovering a new popularity in America. No, not the character from the Bill Watterson comic Calvin and Hobbes, but John Calvin, the 16th-century French Protestant Reformer. The rise of this latest wave of neo-Calvinism, which follows another revival at the beginning of the 20th century, is all the more surprising because […]
An Armenian-born American businessman has been paying to book Europe’s finest concert halls so he and his orchestra can play for tiny, unimpressed audiences. Who is this mystery man?
A Latin American writer describes a single moment in time in Miami, where the sad contradictions of American culture were on full display.
Restrictive U.S. entry requirements deprive talented people of work opportunity but also drag down the competitiveness across the Americas.
The crisis in Crimea says more about Russian ambitions and European foot-dragging than it does about indecisiveness in Washington.
Polls show most Americans want U.S. ties with Cuba normalized, even as the forces still hold strong among those who prefer the status quo. Time may have come for change.
NEW YORK — There is no German-style “works council” for employees at Volkswagen USA. Then, last week, 1,500 workers of the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant, in Tennessee, voted by secret ballot against being represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW). Without membership of that union, setting up a works council is not possible under American […]
– Commentary – WARSAW — The Washington Post story was both scary and a bit comical: Polish intelligence received $15 million from the CIA to operate secret prisons — or “black sites” — and the money was supposedly delivered in two cardboard boxes. Hmmm. According to my calculations, the dimensions of the two boxes would […]
President Obama used his State of the Union address to declare his determination to raise the U.S. minimum wage above 10 dollars. Wage policy in the rest of the world may surprise you.
Barack Obama made American inequality the central challenge of his State of the Union address. Europe and the rest of the West should be listening too.
A Die Welt editor spent four months living and working in California, and though many of his countrymen are critical of the U.S., he fell in love with its cool, can-do spirit.
NEW YORK — Because of several successive business trips plus my holiday in the United States, I have been living from one hotel to another for more than two weeks. Obviously I’m also obliged to dine out. What this means in terms of personal finances is that even before paying the hotel or restaurant bills, […]
MOSCOW — Last week’s U.S. criminal complaint alleging that Russian diplomats in New York systematically defrauded Medicaid reads like a low-down scam at its worse. Moscow, however, is convinced that it is actually the latest geopolitical chess move, the result of deteriorating relations between the two countries. As the accused diplomats prepare to return to […]
“He’s not human. He’s a robot. Dante Pryor is a socialbot,” lawyer and series’ heroine Alicia Florrick says in the latest episode of the TV series The Good Wife. “How could a robot defame your client?” the judge character asks her. “It’s designed to repackage comments and gossip by others and disperse it onto sites,” […]
The Edward Snowden leaks on the NSA spying structure reveal an intelligence approach driven by the fear of the unknown … and the “unknown unknowns.”
“A tragedy for the world…” is how the Manchester Guardian entitled its Nov. 23, 1963 obituary of President John F. Kennedy, killed the day before — exactly 50 years ago — as his motorcade drove through the city of Dallas, Texas. The Milan daily Corriere della Sera called the killing: “Una Tragica Pagina Della Storia […]
With the United States no longer able to impose its position on Internet security and governance in the wake of the NSA spying scandal, Moscow is stepping into the void.
NEW YORK — The U.S. government has come in for severe criticism about its use of drones, as many claim that it is violating one of the central tenets of international humanitarian law: Under no circumstances should civilians be the target of military operations. Any country that deliberately crosses that line is guilty of war […]
MOSCOW — The U.S. government is convinced that Edward Snowden is violating Vladimir Putin’s “ultimatum.” The Russian president had said in July that the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower could stay in Russia only if he “stopped his work that was meant to cause damage to our American partners.” In August, Snowden was granted asylum […]
Hard times for American foreign policy, which no longer seems to differentiate between friend and foe. European heads of state who have been spied on don’t appreciate that one bit.
ISTANBUL — The Republican era of Turkey began with the rejection of the Ottoman past by those destined to fill the ranks of the civilian and military cadres under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This new establishment was keen on modernization and Westernization, with the ultimate goal of creating a modern nation-state from the […]
-OpEd- At the moment when the Titanic struck the iceberg, the ship’s captain was not on the bridge. Edward Smith had gone below deck to bed. Both before and after the collision, the captain proved himself to be worse than useless, issuing confused orders and failing to take control of the evacuation. He let the […]
-Editorial- SANTIAGO — What’s happening in the United States, with the partial federal government shutdown and the threat not to raise the country’s debt limit, is perhaps the most serious political crisis the country has seen in more than 100 years. There are those who downplay these developments, because the government has been shuttered before […]
Since returning from Camp Grounded, Anastasia Savvina sees the world differently. “On the bus, everyone stares at their cell phones,” she says. “People don’t look each other in the eye anymore. And I, who only have an old phone without any connection, I look at them.” Camp Grounded is a retreat for those who want […]
Washington’s government shutdown forced President Barack Obama to miss the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. But even if this was cited as yet another harmful consequence of the sorry state of U.S. domestic politics, it may paradoxically wind up helping America exert its influence in the long run in Asia-Pacific regional affairs. At an […]
-Editorial- The fact that Dilma Rousseff decided to postpone her official visit to Washington, which had been planned for Oct. 23, has clearly illustrated that the United States’ decision to spy on the Brazilian president was not in the best interest of the United States. Washington has very little to gain from reading Rousseff’s emails […]
-Editorial- PARIS – Once upon a time, there was a Republic that knew how to overcome ideological differences. It was largely governed from a certain middle ground, a magical place and the matrix of what political art can produce in its most intelligent and, often, noble form: reform by compromise. This Republic of yore could […]
PARIS – The United States woke up Tuesday to a rather expected, but nonetheless stunning government shutdown after Congress failed to agree on a new budget by the midnight deadline in a political standoff over Republican attempts to reverse President Obama’s landmark health care reform. The government is forced to put an end to non-essential […]
-Essay- BOGOTA — Have you heard? Your phone is spying on you, Apple isn’t as friendly as you think, and Facebook is getting scarier by the day! Today, information is an increasingly valuable currency, not only because it allows companies to generate strange intangible assets that are so difficult to replicate, but also because what […]
BBC, AFP, CBS Worldcrunch GROVELAND — Firefighters are still struggling to contain the intense wildfire raging north of Yosemite National Park in California. Some 2,800 firefighters are battling the so-called Rim Fire, which covers 133,980 acres. Yosemite Park spokesman Tom Medena told CBS News that the fire is edging closer to the source of San […]
To dodge fines in China for violating the one-child policy and give the advantages of an American passport, many Chinese women are flying to the U.S. to give birth. But there are risks involved.
Categories
Bradley Manning Apologizes
THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch Speaking at his sentencing hearing, U.S. soldier Bradley Manning, convicted of leaking a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks, said he now regrets his actions and that he was “sorry that they hurt the United States,” the Guardian reported. “I am sorry for unintended consequence of my actions. When I made […]
The legacy of the 44th president of the United States is in peril, as he is seen as weak-willed with an unfocused foreign policy. Is it 1979 all over again?
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” wrote British historian Arnold Toynbee. Lessons from the downfall of the automotive industry’s once-glorious capital.
Worldcrunch A day after a U.S. military court convicted Bradley Manning of 20 charges — including espionage, theft and computer fraud — the world press reacted Wednesday to the WikiLeaks whistleblower judgment. Some newspapers chose to emphasize the fact that Manning was found not guilty on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. UK […]