The Korea Herald

Punish overspending European leaders

I’ve had it with this useless, ongoing charade to “save Europe.” It’s time to get serious and consider jailing and impeaching some of these European Union member leaders for requisite incentive.Last week’s EU show was pathetic. It made me throw a pack of gummy bears at my television screen. You’d think these European leaders were actually in a position to save others when they can’t even save themselves as their own countries drown in debt.As every trained water rescuer knows, when faced with a

Dec. 19, 2011

[Vaclav Havel] The role intellectuals need to play in political sphere

Vaclav Havel, who died on Sunday, was a rare intellectual who, rather than forcing his way into politics, had politics forced upon him. In 1998, while serving as president of the Czech Republic, he offered the following reflection on the benefits and dangers of his career path. ― Ed.PRAGUE ― Does an intellectual ― by virtue of his efforts to get beneath the surface of things, to grasp relations, causes and effects to recognize individual items as part of larger entities and thus to derive a deep

Dec. 19, 2011

[Vaclav Havel] The role intellectuals need to play in political sphere

A United States of Europe emerging?

Are we witnessing the birth of the United States of Europe?There are uncanny similarities between the current round of wheeling and dealing and the founding of the United States of America. The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 represented America’s second try at continental union. In 1781, the 13 states had come together behind a treaty-constitution that broadly resembles present European arrangements.America’s first effort was the Articles of Confederation. Like the European Union treaties, it g

Dec. 18, 2011

[David Ignatius] Time to unveil the vision thing

WASHINGTON ― It’s telling that nearly three years into the Obama presidency, so many conversations with administration officials still begin with a litany of how bad things were under George W. Bush, to wit: The Obama team faced two foreign wars, an aggressive al-Qaida, a deep mistrust among allies, a shaken U.S. economy. They inherited a world of woe. And now? Obama officials recite their catechism of successes. Osama bin Laden is dead and al-Qaida is on the run; the troops are back from Iraq a

Dec. 18, 2011

[David Ignatius] Time to unveil the vision thing

Whale hunts matter more than saving people

Want to know why Japan’s earthquake recovery efforts are moving in slow motion? Ask the whales. Tokyoites have grown accustomed to shocking news items since the earth shook and the oceans rose: the nuclear meltdown has proven far worse than the government admitted; radioactive cesium made its way into baby food; more leaks were found in the damaged Fukushima reactor; warnings by seismologists still go unheeded. Yet the tale of the whales and the $30 million is what proved most disturbing ― and s

Dec. 18, 2011

Why can’t lawmakers see what we all see: corporate contributions corrupt?

It was one of those uncomfortable moments when you suddenly realize you’re in the wrong place, that you’re a rube from the sticks in a sophisticated city whose customs you don’t quite understand.Politico was recently sponsoring a “Washington Year in Review” symposium, and they’d invited me to be part of the energy panel. So even though I’d spent barely three weeks in Washington this year (and the most memorable nights were spent in its central cellblock for protesting outside the White House to

Dec. 18, 2011

[Joel Brinkley] It’s time for the U.S. and Europe to act on Iran

The world is closing in on Iran, but not aggressively enough. It’s time for Europe to deal the final blow.The Iranian attack on the British embassy in Tehran was close to an act of war ― as was the attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Given the collection of recent provocations from this rogue state, the West’s extremely slow-motion campaign to end Iran’s nuclear-weapons program needs to be pushed to its denouement.In recent days, the United States and Europe have been impo

Dec. 18, 2011

[Joel Brinkley] It’s time for the U.S. and Europe to act on Iran

Coda: Code for a Chinese Trojan horse

A Los Angeles firm has quietly assembled a Trojan horse electric car designed to carry the Chinese military-industrial complex deep into America’s auto market. Detroit should be afraid, very afraid. And anyone in the U.S. unemployment line ― along with American taxpayers, who are subsidizing this sham ― should be outraged.The car is branded Coda and debuted at the L.A. Auto Show. While Coda Automotive salespeople were eager to portray it as “All American” ― we got one of them bragging about it o

Dec. 16, 2011

[Philippe Legrain] For ECB, now is the time to act

BRUSSELS ― Panic is beginning to overwhelm the eurozone. Italy and Spain are caught in the maelstrom. Belgium is slipping into the danger zone. As France is dragged down, the widening gap between its bond yields and Germany’s is severely testing the political partnership that has driven six decades of European integration.Even strong swimmers such as Finland and the Netherlands are straining against the undertow. Banks are struggling to stay afloat ― their capital providing little buoyancy as fu

Dec. 16, 2011

[Philippe Legrain] For ECB, now is the time to act

Tokyo must break impasse on the Futenma issue

It has become even more difficult to implement visible steps that would lessen Okinawa Prefecture’s burdens as the host of many U.S. military bases. The government must recognize that this situation is extremely serious.The armed services committees of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed on revisions to a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012, which includes a freeze on the entire $156 million budget for shifting U.S. marines stationed in Okinaw

Dec. 16, 2011

Voters must think and act more strategically

Representatives for Taiwan’s three presidential candidates chose their “election numbers” last week. Tsai Ing-wen and Su Jia-chyuan of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket got number one. The Kuomintang (KMT) ticket of Ma Ying-jeou and Wu Den-yih drew number two while the People First Party’s (PFP) nominees James Soong and Lin Ruey-shiung ended up with number three. While no one takes the numbers too seriously, staff members for the respective candidates did put their spin on the numeri

Dec. 16, 2011

Four nations launch joint Mekong patrols

The launching of joint patrols on the Mekong River by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand over the weekend is the initial result of the quartet’s efforts to increase security and stability along the waterway. The joint patrols have set a precedent for more transnational cooperation in security issues in the region. On Saturday, five patrol boats equipped with heavy machine guns and carrying hundreds of armed police and military personnel from the four nations, acted as escorts to 10 Chinese cargo

Dec. 16, 2011

[Elisabeth Gwee] K-pop is my escape from treadmill

Last week, my colleague Adeline Chia wrote a controversial article dissing K-pop. It resulted in more than 800 comments on her Facebook page from outraged fans and her name trending as the No.1 topic on Twitter for two days.Some friends jokingly asked me if I had signed an online petition demanding that she apologize to everyone she had offended. I’m not surprised they did.Those who know me know that I am crazy about K-pop. I could cite numerous examples of mad fangirl behavior (queuing five hou

Dec. 16, 2011

[Elisabeth Gwee] K-pop is my escape from treadmill

Obama sides with the 99% ahead of election

Conservatives were quick to accuse President Obama of embracing class warfare in his speech last week in Osawatomie, Kan. And liberal Democrats were thrilled to see a hint of the populist president they had hoped they were voting for in 2008.The polarized reactions suggest that Obama’s speech succeeded in one of its goals: to frame the 2012 election as a clear choice between two philosophies, a contest he might be able to win, instead of a referendum on his own unhappy economic record.But electi

Dec. 15, 2011

[David Ignatius] In Iraq, a man of the shadows

WASHINGTON ― Is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ― suspicious eyes, wary demeanor, brows furrowed by years living in the underground ― really the face of today’s Iraq? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, and America helped make it that way. Maliki’s visit to Washington this week has been a time for taking stock of Iraq eight years after the U.S. invasion. What did America achieve in overthrowing Saddam Hussein and battling a stubborn insurgency? It brought a democracy, yes, but one shaped by the mos

Dec. 15, 2011

[David Ignatius] In Iraq, a man of the shadows

[Meghan Daum] Republicans grooving to ‘We Are the GOP’

Is it just me, or does the GOP candidate pool remind you of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity single made under the name USA for Africa that featured dozens of pop artists singing about how to “make a brighter day” and “stand together as one”? I’m not talking about the message itself ― though, admittedly, both the “We Are the World” lyrics and most of the Republican talking points lean more toward platitude than poetry ― but rather about the way nearly every candidate has had a chance to grab

Dec. 15, 2011

[Meghan Daum] Republicans grooving to ‘We Are the GOP’

Chongqing rising as lab of policy innovation

CHONGQING ― A quiet revolution is happening in China’s hinterland.Breakneck growth spurred by government-led economic reforms has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and transformed a poor agrarian society into a global industrial powerhouse in one generation. Yet, the second-largest economy in the world is now at a crossroads. Its spectacular success has brought about byproducts such as a large wealth gap and widespread corruption that threaten the sustainability of its develop

Dec. 15, 2011

[Nathan Gardels] Germany as Europe’s anchor

More than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, a sense of dj vu is raising anew issues once thought settled. In Moscow, demonstrators are once again filling the streets, calling for an end to authoritarian rule ― this time aimed at Vladimir Putin instead of the Communist Party. In Europe, resolution of the sovereign debt crisis on Berlin’s terms has retrieved the “German question” from the ash can of history.What happens next in Russia’s version of the Facebook-driven Arab Spring will take so

Dec. 15, 2011

[Nathan Gardels] Germany as Europe’s anchor

Mr. Corzine goes to Washington, with no pull

When it comes to shining a light on the cozy relationships between Wall Street and Washington, and how the rich and powerful get access to things the rest of us don’t, there can never be too many juicy examples. Last month, thanks to Bloomberg Markets magazine, we were treated to the excellent story about how former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met with a bunch of bankers and hedge fund managers in New York during the summer of 2008 and shared with them some of his early thinking on the futu

Dec. 14, 2011

[Robert Reich] The rebirth of Social Darwinism

Listen carefully to the Republican debates and you get a view of the kind of society many Republicans seek. The last time we had it was in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.It was an era when the nation was mesmerized by the doctrine of free enterprise. It was also a time when the ideas of William Graham Sumner, a professor of political and social science at Yale, dominated American social thought. Sumner brought Charles Darwin to America and twisted him into a theory to fit the times.Few

Dec. 14, 2011