The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] Rattling Iran’s weak power link

WASHINGTON ― At the end of another week of near-constant talk about war with Iran, here’s one counterintuitive possibility: The Obama administration, in its eagerness to deter an Israeli strike, has committed itself to a pressure campaign that, if pursued vigorously, could eventually lead to regime change in Iran. President Obama’s pledge of escalating economic, political and other pressure on Iran goes to that regime’s weak link. For the mullahs’ greatest vulnerability is their political struct

March 15, 2012

[David Ignatius] Rattling Iran’s weak power link

The double-edged health care debate in U.S.

There’s a seeming paradox in the way Americans view the health care law that President Barack Obamaand the Democrats passed two years ago this month.Most people tell pollsters they like the parts of the law that have gone into effect: health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, a clause that allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until the age of 26 and discounts for prescription drugs on Medicare. And, as time goes by, Americans seem less worried that the law will

March 15, 2012

Iceland’s big trial is a travesty of justice

Everybody is polite and formal at the trial of former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde, which began last week inside a historic mansion in the capital, Reykjavik. Yet the atmosphere is tense, and the stakes are high. In the fall of 2010, a narrow majority in Iceland’s parliament decided to charge Haarde with criminal negligence before and during the collapse of all three major Icelandic banks in early October 2008. The trial is politically driven ― the vote to hold it fell largely along p

March 15, 2012

P.M. Netanyahu could be bluffing in Iran standoff

Whenever I’m in the Middle East, I find myself, sometimes within hours of arrival, more susceptible to the appeal of elaborate conspiracy theories. Perhaps it’s the air, or the (lack of) water, but what sounds outlandish in the U.S. doesn’t seem nearly so far-fetched here. I’m not referring to conspiracy theories drawn from the swamps of Sept. 11 delusion-mongering, or from the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” or, alternatively, from the “Protocols of the Lunatics Who Believe Barack Obama Is a

March 15, 2012

[Peter Singer] Fatter air passengers will have to be charged more

MELBOURNE ― We are getting fatter. In Australia, the United States, and many other countries, it has become commonplace to see people so fat that they waddle rather than walk. The rise in obesity is steepest in the developed world, but it is occurring in middle-income and poor countries as well.Is a person’s weight his or her own business? Should we simply become more accepting of diverse body shapes? I don’t think so. Obesity is an ethical issue, because an increase in weight by some imposes co

March 15, 2012

[Peter Singer] Fatter air passengers will have to be charged more

[David Ignatius] Rattling Iran’s weak power link

WASHINGTON ― At the end of another week of near-constant talk about war with Iran, here’s one counterintuitive possibility: The Obama administration, in its eagerness to deter an Israeli strike, has committed itself to a pressure campaign that, if pursued vigorously, could eventually lead to regime change in Iran. President Obama’s pledge of escalating economic, political and other pressure on Iran goes to that regime’s weak link. For the mullahs’ greatest vulnerability is their political struct

March 15, 2012

The double-edged health care debate in U.S.

There’s a seeming paradox in the way Americans view the health care law that President Barack Obamaand the Democrats passed two years ago this month.Most people tell pollsters they like the parts of the law that have gone into effect: health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, a clause that allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until the age of 26 and discounts for prescription drugs on Medicare. And, as time goes by, Americans seem less worried that the law will

March 15, 2012

Portugal should follow Greece’s example

Greece has taken a big step toward getting the debt relief it needs to fix its economy and stay in the euro area. Now the question is whether other strapped countries that use the single currency should follow its lead. Despite the Greek deal’s flaws ― and they are many ― it offers a model that some other sovereigns will inevitably be tempted to experiment with, no matter how much European officials insist on Greece’s uniqueness. The legal precedent is set: By retroactively inserting so-called c

March 14, 2012

[Robert Reich] More taxes to fund U.S. universities

Rick Santorum called the president “a snob” for wanting everyone to get a college education. (In fact, Obama never actually called for universal college education but only for a year or more of training after high school.)Santorum needn’t worry. America is already making it harder for young people of modest means to attend college. Public higher education is being starved, and the middle class will shrink even more as a result.Over the last year, 41 states have cut spending for public higher edu

March 14, 2012

[Robert Reich] More taxes to fund U.S. universities

Iran-Israel history suggests different future

Apparently, it is reckless to think that India could bring about a rapprochement between Iran and the U.S. That, at least, is the view of some readers of my last column on India’s lenient attitude toward Iran’s nuclear program. They reprimanded me for being naive. For Iran, run by Islamic fundamentalists committed to the destruction of Israel, desires no such reconciliation with the country Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini indelibly called the “Great Satan.” Alas, such a view, which sees fixed essenc

March 14, 2012

Korea reaching out beyond China to the West

Korea is reaching out to the West. Just when the West is experiencing hard times, with persisting economic troubles stemming from the late-2000s recession, it is noteworthy to point out that Korea is betting on its future. The signing of free trade agreements with the EU and the U.S. is a landmark step toward South Korea’s further integration within the global economy and a clear strategy aimed at bringing relations with the West to the next level. This is mainly for three reasons, the first one

March 14, 2012

[Sergei A. Karaganov] The age of authoritarian democracy

MOSCOW ― The world is currently being shaken by tectonic changes almost too numerous to count: the ongoing economic crisis is accelerating the degradation of international governance and supranational institutions, and both are occurring alongside a massive shift of economic and political power to Asia. Less than a quarter-century after Francis Fukuyama declared “the end of history,” we seem to have arrived at the dawn of a new age of social and geopolitical upheaval.Dramatically, the Arab world

March 14, 2012

The Age of Authoritarian Democracy

The world is currently being shaken by tectonic changes almost too numerous to count: the ongoing economic crisis is accelerating the degradation of international governance and supranational institutions, and both are occurring alongside a massive shift of economic and political power to Asia. Less than a quarter-century after Francis Fukuyama declared “the end of history,” we seem to have arrived at the dawn of a new age of social and geopolitical upheaval.Dramatically, the Arab world has been

March 14, 2012

Starving public universities shrinks the middle class

Rick Santorum called the president “a snob” for wanting everyone to get a college education. (In fact, Obama never actually called for universal college education but only for a year or more of training after high school.)Santorum needn‘t worry. America is already making it harder for young people of modest means to attend college. Public higher education is being starved, and the middle class will shrink even more as a result.Over the last year, 41 states have cut spending for public higher edu

March 14, 2012

Portugal Should Follow Greece’s Example on Debt Relief

Greece has taken a big step toward getting the debt relief it needs to fix its economy and stay in the euro area. Now the question is whether other strapped countries that use the single currency should follow its lead. Despite the Greek deal’s flaws -- and they are many -- it offers a model that some other sovereigns will inevitably be tempted to experiment with, no matter how much European officials insist on Greece’s uniqueness. The legal precedent is set: By retroactively inserting so-called

March 14, 2012

[Daniel Fiedler] Segregating children is wrong

This year under the guidance of the Seoul Office of Education a new elementary school and a new high school were opened in the Seoul area. While generally the opening of new schools would not be cause for comment, in this case the new schools are specifically for children who come from “multicultural” backgrounds. The high school is designed to educate “multicultural” teenagers who have dropped out of regular public high schools, while the elementary school will operate as a regular school but w

March 13, 2012

[Daniel Fiedler] Segregating children is wrong

Beware of the consequences of war

Last time I wrote here about the need to say less about Iran, and here I am today, talking about the same subject again. Well, do as I say, not as I ... never mind.The recent meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposed the gap between the two leaders on the hottest issue: Military action to stop Iran from becoming nuclear. While the two leaders fully agree that “all options are on the table,” the differences evolve around the priority of the military action over

March 13, 2012

[Meghan Daum] Sandra Fluke: Rush Limbaugh’s blind spot

Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law school student Rush Limbaugh called a “slut” and a “prostitute,” is intelligent, poised and coherent. That alone puts her miles ahead of her detractors.She’s been making the rounds on behalf of her argument that the insurance she pays for at Georgetown (insurance that is not, she says, subsidized by the Jesuit school) should cover prescription contraception for women. When she said all this to Congress, testifying in favor of the Obama administration’s “insurance

March 13, 2012

[Meghan Daum] Sandra Fluke: Rush Limbaugh’s blind spot

[Kim Seong-kon] The war between analog and digital

We now live in a borderless world where all boundaries are collapsing and all cultures are blending. Every day the world is becoming an increasingly multilateral place, in which people from various countries actively interact and blend. Amidst the vortex of the globalizing process, we feel like we are now living in a global village, celebrating the similarities which can be found among us.Simultaneously, however, the world seems to be sharply divided into two realms of late: the real world vs. t

March 13, 2012

[Kim Seong-kon] The war between analog and digital

Will Ban Ki-moon bring the message home?

In his video message to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity (March 7, 2012), U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued the following plea with respect to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights worldwide: “We must stop the violence, decriminalize same-sex relationships, ban discrimination, and educate the public.” Speaking directly to LGBTs, the secretary-general emphasized with a shake of a fist, “Let me say,

March 13, 2012