The Korea Herald

[Nouriel Roubini] Global risk and reward in New Year

NEW YORK ― The outlook for the global economy in 2011 is, partly, for a persistence of the trends established in 2010. These are: an anemic, below-trend, U-shaped recovery in advanced economies, as firms and households continue to repair their balance sheets; a stronger, V-shaped recovery in emerging-market countries, owing to stronger macroeconomic, financial, and policy fundamentals. That adds u

Jan. 17, 2011

[Nouriel Roubini] Global risk and reward in New Year

Japan, Korea must boost security cooperation

The time is ripe for Japan and South Korea to enhance the quality of their security cooperation, without confining it to the field of defence exchanges.Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin agreed in their meeting on Jan. 10 in Seoul that the two countries would work more closely, given a series of military provocations by North Korea and other destabilisi

Jan. 16, 2011

[Frida Ghitis] After carnage, Obama fails to move us

When President Obama performed his “Comeback Kid” act late last year, pushing through Congress a number of important bills, observers marveled at the sudden transformation. The president had morphed from the hapless, listless victim of the midterm shellacking and surprised everyone by becoming a new deft, cunning politician.But watching the Obama who came before the cameras on the day of the Tucso

Jan. 16, 2011

[William Pfaff] China’s military might poses questions

PARIS ― Robert Gates’ official visit to Beijing, probably the last before he leaves the office of U.S. secretary of defense, was a frustrating affair, distinguished by China’s reiteration of its warnings that Washington must not sell arms to Taiwan, a demand that the United States has never accepted.The Chinese enlivened Gate’s visit with a display of their new J-20 fighter, which is claimed to be

Jan. 16, 2011

[William Pfaff] China’s military might poses questions

[Ching Cheong] Rocky ascent to China’s power peak

The next 12 months will be a critical period for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as the top leadership prepares to step down and hand over the reins next year.It will be no less critical for Vice-President Xi Jinping, named last year to head a new generation of CCP leaders who will take center stage at the 18th national party congress.No political succession takes place without intense po

Jan. 16, 2011

[Bennett Ramberg] Israeli options on Iran nuclear program

LOS ANGELES ― Revelations in former President George W. Bush’s recently published memoirs show that he declined an Israeli request to destroy Syria’s secret nuclear reactor in the spring of 2007. While the revelation may appear merely to be a historical footnote, more profoundly it raises new uncertainty about whether Israel now thinks that it can rely on the United States to apply military force

Jan. 16, 2011

[Bennett Ramberg] Israeli options on Iran nuclear program

[Margaret Carlson] Militant Palin keeps crosshairs on herself

It’s a bad sign for civility when you can’t have a civil conversation about it. In the days since a deranged assassin gunned down Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 19 other innocents ― six of whom are now dead ― President Barack Obama, Speaker John Boehner and pundits from across the political spectrum have issued calls to raise the discourse and practice mutual respect. Even Fox News President

Jan. 16, 2011

A look back away from Haiti’s cloudy future

Wednesday was a solemn and sorrowful day for everyone in Haiti and for all those who lost friends and loved ones on Jan. 12, 2010. The unsparing earthquake that struck one year ago killed 300,000 people, an unfathomable toll in a country so small.The 7.0-magnitude shock represents one of the greatest catastrophes of modern times. One year later, a debate rages over Haiti’s future, but today it is

Jan. 14, 2011

Slow the growth of the U.S. defense budget

Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to reduce the Pentagon budget over the next five years is appropriate, overdue and even brave. The politics and emotions will be intense.For a federal budget awash in red ink, no government role is above review, and cutting. The Pentagon has avoided scrutiny for a decade, with soaring growth in the budget taxpayers nominally know about, and two expensive wars e

Jan. 14, 2011

[William Pesek] Americans are figuring out who is world’s No. 1

Nine percent of Americans think Japan is the world’s top economic power, and that raises an obvious question: Huh?If we knew exactly who that current-events-challenged minority was, we could make a bundle sending them e-mails on how to redeem unclaimed fortunes in Nigerian banks. Thankfully, most Americans got it right in a Jan. 5-9 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. I

Jan. 14, 2011

[Shashi Tharoor] India at the U.N. Security Council

NEW DELHI ― Indian diplomacy began 2011 with election to the chair of the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee, a body of some importance to the country (and one which many thought India might not be asked to lead, given its strong feelings on the issue). Coming in the wake of India’s record margin of victory in the race for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, this news confirms India’s stan

Jan. 14, 2011

[Shashi Tharoor] India at the U.N. Security Council

[Editorial] Japan’s new adults must think, act globally

Today (Jan. 10) marks Coming-of-Age Day, when 1.24 million people born in 1990 start a new chapter in their life. We hope they will take a firm first step into adulthood while retaining their self-awareness and recognizing their responsibility as adults.Nevertheless, many of them will be apprehensive about what their future holds amid the job market’s “ultra-ice age” caused by the protracted anemi

Jan. 14, 2011

[Editorial] Procedural diplomacy

During his preview of Indonesia’s 2011 foreign policy, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa rightly highlighted the demanding schedule of the next 12 months. As chair of ASEAN for 2011, Indonesia will host more than 300 meetings at various levels. The meetings will cover various areas of cooperation of the 10-member grouping, including trade, investment and defense. Mingled among the multiple ASEAN

Jan. 14, 2011

[Editorial] Taiwan should lead the way in adopting electric vehicles

You might have noticed a new brand of car called “Luxgen” on Taiwan’s roads. Luxgen was founded by Taiwan’s biggest carmaker, Yulon, as a separate, indigenous Taiwanese auto company in 2009. Luxgen (the name is a combination of the words, “Luxury” and “Genius”) is doing very well. The company’s website claims that Luxgen is now number six in the Taiwanese market. Yulon is, of course, just one of s

Jan. 14, 2011

[Chen Weihua] Double standards of Western companies

For months, the West has been attacking China for tightening control of its rare earth exports. The assault is likely to escalate, as China recently announced it would slash its rare earth export quota by 37 percent for the first half of 2011. China is also introducing more stringent environmental standards for the rare earth industry, which are likely to send many small businesses in the industry

Jan. 14, 2011

[Chen Weihua] Double standards of Western companies

Local bellwether elections in Osaka and Aichi

The results of coming local elections in Osaka and Aichi prefectures could have a great impact on the shape of Japan’s local government. The people concerned need to carefully watch and consider the moves of two men ― Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto and Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura. Hashimoto has the idea of dissolving the Osaka city and integrating the Osaka city and prefectural governments into a met

Jan. 13, 2011

[Kevin Horrigan] Selective wussification

For eight years, Ed Rendell was governor of Pennsylvania. The eight years before that, he was mayor of Philadelphia. In all that time, he never got the national attention he’s received in his last two weeks as governor, since unburdening himself about what he called “the wussification of America.”He was upset that the NFL postponed the Dec. 26 game between his beloved Philadelphia Eagles and the v

Jan. 13, 2011

[David Ignatius] Cries Americans choose to ignore

WASHINGTON ― Did our angry political culture help motivate Jared Lee Loughner on what authorities say was his mad shooting spree? Maybe, but a more troubling question for me is why nobody stopped this often incoherent, irrational young man on his long path to the rampage in Tucson. I don’t just mean the people who sold Loughner his Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol last November, or the people at a Wa

Jan. 13, 2011

[David Ignatius] Cries Americans choose to ignore

[Greogry Rodriguez] Image of Americans in post-American era

The ugly American ― the stereotypically brutish, ethnocentric, bumbling traveler abroad ― is dead. He’s gone the way of global U.S. hegemony, the strong dollar and mid-20th century American naivete.Thirty years ago, the streets of major European capitals were awash with wide-eyed, culturally entitled, middle-class American tourists who were members of the first generation to take advantage of fore

Jan. 13, 2011

[Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz] CIA needs sunlight, and Tinners case might shine some on it

By its nature, an intelligence service is antithetical to the transparency and accountability that are hallmarks of a democracy. When the Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947, diplomat Dean Acheson wrote, “I had the gravest forebodings about this organization and warned the president that as set up neither he, the National Security Council, nor anyone else would be in a position to know

Jan. 13, 2011