The German soul and the Italian volksgeist

ROME ― The romantic side of the Germanic soul has always loved the Italian volksgeist. Like Goethe, northerners have long sought to escape, if only on temporary vacations, an unforgiving ethos of prudence and discipline in search of the charming inefficiency and sensuality of Mediterranean climes and culture.The single European currency, combined with the burdens of the Bismarck-invented welfare state that faces demographic demise and competition from the rising rest around the globe, has put an

June 18, 2012

China must let activist Chen return home

NEW YORK ― Western media describe my friend and colleague Chen Guangcheng as a blind activist who made a flight to freedom when China allowed him to journey from Beijing to the United States. What is essential about Chen is neither his blindness nor his family’s visit to the U.S., but the fact that he upholds a vision of universal human rights, a vision that can be fully realized only when, and if, China honors its promise to allow him one day to return home.China has a history of forcing schola

June 17, 2012

Birdseye’s story of a foodie’s passion

Every generation has its own foodies. Clarence Birdseye, born in Brooklyn in 1886 and remembered as the father of frozen food, was one of the leading foodies of his generation.He loved food, talked about it constantly and mentioned what he was eating in almost every letter he wrote. In a 1915 letter to his family from Labrador, where he was a fur trader, Birdseye wrote: “Every letter has to begin with something about food. These are the two items of principal interest today,” and proceeded to de

June 17, 2012

India’s cold shoulder to U.S. courtship

There’s a party in the Asia Pacific, and the United States wants India to be its date. As U.S. foreign policy “pivots” away from the Middle East and Europe and toward Asia, U.S. officials are doing everything they can to cozy up to the nation that Mark Twain once called “the cradle of the human race.”America’s courtship ― a bipartisan effort ― has included the great-power equivalent of sending flowers (civil nuclear technology under George W. Bush), chocolates (more than $8 billion in U.S. arms

June 15, 2012

Keeping calm as two giant neighbors embrace

Even if there exists residual distrust between China and Russia as a legacy of Mao Zedong’s split with Nikita Khrushchev, the two nations have much to gain from strategic cooperation. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, of which Russia is a founder member, is one platform for collaboration on the Asian land mass ― an economic and security linkage that is not only natural but also progressive.Russian President Vladimir Putin was his usual blunt self, ahead of his state visit to China last week

June 15, 2012

Ethnic, sectarian unrest escalates in Myanmar

The escalation of ethnic and sectarian violence in Myanmar has not only raised questions about the future of the democratic reforms in the country but also highlighted the plight of the country’s Muslim minority.The unrest in Myanmar’s Rakhine state erupted last week when around 300 Arakan Buddhists allegedly attacked a bus in which Muslims were traveling, killing 10 passengers apparently in retaliation for the rape and killing of an Arakan girl allegedly by three Rohingya suspects. The ensuing

June 15, 2012

The unfortunate reality of Taiwanese politics

As the U.S. beef issue was scheduled to go through the Legislature for voting , tensions have risen between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) has instructed its party legislators to vote unanimously on the passing of the U.S. beef-related amendment draft to the Act Governing Food Sanitation or face party disciplinary measures, which includes at least a fine of $1,000, the KMT party caucus announced on June 7.Meanwhile,

June 15, 2012

Getting America’s financial house in order

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke implored lawmakers last week to keep the federal government from driving off a “fiscal cliff” ― a phrase he coined earlier this year to describe the hefty spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to take effect simultaneously in January. But he was talking to the wrong audience. The two men he should have been lobbying are the ones running for president.Bernanke’s remarks came amid a global economic slowdown, with Europe, Asia and China in varying degree

June 14, 2012

Save Europe’s marriage with a trial separation

The euro is not a fundamentally bad idea. It just needs a timeout while some critical kinks are worked out. Europe is at least two economies: a northern tier we might call Hanseatica and a southern one we will call Mediterranea. The Hanseatic economy is primarily commercial and industrial, and relies on exports. The Mediterranean economy remains more pastoral and agricultural, and relies on debt for its purchases of manufactured goods from the north. The divide, rooted in topography, climate and

June 14, 2012

Germany, not Greece, should exit the euro

All the debate about the pros and cons of a Greek exit from the euro area is missing the point: A German exit might be better for all concerned. Unless Europe’s leaders take some kind of radical action, such as adopting and executing some of the many reform ideas they have floated, the currency union is headed for disintegration. The problems of Greece, Ireland and Portugal have spread to Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the euro area. Italy is probably next. The other members of the currenc

June 13, 2012

War in cyberspace and U.S. vulnerability

Reports that the U.S. and Israel have tried repeatedly over the years to derail Iran’s nuclear weapons program by using malicious computer codes to cause machines at the country’s Natanz nuclear facility to malfunction have lifted the veil of secrecy over the war unfolding on the world’s newest battlefield. The elaborately designed and executed series of cyber-attacks reportedly slowed Iran’s progress toward getting a bomb, but they also raise troubling questions about the United States’ own vul

June 13, 2012