Cuba conundrum: Engagement vs. embargo

A growing number of Americans are invading Havana’s Malecon -- jogging, strolling and dancing to rumba buskers as waves pound the seawall. Cohibas clenched in teeth, they’re toting away bottles of Havana Club rum, filling up Airbnb rooms and flying back to the states on JetBlue. US hotel chains are planting stakes, as trade missions staffed by politicians and businesspeople stream in and out.Momentum is building in the ongoing detente between the US and Cuba. Yet, something still isn’t right.The

Nov. 6, 2016

Clinton still the smart choice

Almost six weeks ago, we at the Los Angeles Times enthusiastically endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, calling her “an experienced, thoughtful and deeply knowledgeable public servant” while warning that Republican opponent Donald Trump was a “thin-skinned demagogue who is unqualified and unsuited to be president.”Since then, we have been fortified in our opinion by Clinton’s commanding performances in three presidential debates and daily evidence that Trump utterly lacks the ability — or eve

Nov. 4, 2016

[Francis Chan] Collaborating more closely across borders against terror

Malaysia has unveiled a special operations force comprising of men from its police, coast guard and military to beef up its response to domestic terror threats.A week earlier, lawmakers in Indonesia agreed to legislative changes, which will allow its armed forces to play a more direct role in fighting extremism on home soil -- a mission currently spearheaded by its police.The decision by members of Indonesia‘s House of Representatives came just days after Singapore staged its largest counterterr

Nov. 3, 2016

Sharbat Gula arrested

In June 1985, an arresting image of a green-eyed young Afghan girl became the subject of one of the most iconic National Geographic covers of all time. Photographed by Steve McCurry at a refugee camp in Peshawar, Sharbat Gula was only 12 years old when she made the magazine’s cover. Her unwavering stare, a mix of suffering and resilience, symbolized Afghanistan’s war turmoil. Her arrest this week in Peshawar, on charges of fraudulently obtaining a Pakistani national identity card, comes as autho

Nov. 3, 2016

[Michael Schuman] Is Japan Too Scared to Succeed?

Of all of the scary economic data that routinely streams out of Japan, this statistic should terrify you: $800 million. That’s the total value of venture capital deals completed in Japan in 2015, according to accounting firm Ernst & Young. Compare that to $72 billion in the US and $49 billion in China. Even tiny Israel managed $2.6 billion in deals.It‘s a staggeringly small figure, and one that explains a great deal about why the world’s third-largest economy continues to struggle, no matter how

Nov. 3, 2016

[Noah Feldman] Healing Christianity‘s 500-Year Rift Is Worth a Try

Pope Francis is continuing along his remarkably liberal path, most recently by praising Martin Luther at a ceremony in Sweden beginning a yearlong 500th anniversary commemoration of the Reformation. Yet despite the pope’s openness, and the corresponding good faith of the Lutherans, the two sides were unable to effect a reconciliation. The episode raises two questions: Why try? And how is it that, in this post-theological age, not even Christian believers can get past their own wars of religion?T

Nov. 3, 2016

What’s the best college? It depends

If you’re a high school student deciding where to apply for college, or the parent of a student, you’ve probably done a fair amount of research. Even so, there are some schools that may have escaped your notice, such as MCPHS University, LIU Brooklyn, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Babson College.You say you need Google to learn where some of those schools are located? That’s the point: Excellence and prestige aren’t synonyms. And what do these relatively obscure institutions (take no o

Nov. 2, 2016

[Ku Yae-rin] Religious cults are not point here

Many foreigners, especially those hailing from Western countries, seem to digress from the whole point of the Choi Soon-sil and President Park Geun-hye fiasco that has brought chaos to Korea. Although it is understandable that Western media may be overwhelmed with the sudden surge of information uploaded on a daily basis by the Korean media, it is absolutely unforgivable how they have distorted the real issue at stake. Korea is not like the United States or Europe. There is no national religion

Nov. 2, 2016

Endorsing the ballot selfie

If a millennial voter goes to the polls but isn’t allowed to take a ballot selfie to document the moment on social media, did it really happen? More important, is democracy imperiled?We’re sort of teasing about young people’s obsession with smartphone cameras. We’re serious about believing voters have a constitutional right to take pictures of themselves in a voting booth with a completed ballot.You might be surprised to learn there is an active question surrounding the legality of ballot selfie

Nov. 2, 2016

End the embargo on Cuba

There was a remarkable moment on the floor of the United Nations last week. As the General Assembly prepared for its annual vote to denounce the US trade embargo against Cuba, US Ambassador Samantha Power announced that for the first time, the US would abstain rather than vote against it.　The U.S. has always voted “no” on this measure — every year for the 25 years that it’s come up. And this year’s abstention put the Obama administration in direct conflict with Congress, which has been the drivi

Nov. 2, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] Elites confident about a Clinton victory

Here in France, members of the deeply entrenched establishment elite are confident that the result of next week‘s American presidential election is a foregone conclusion. They’re convinced that the American people will reject “vulgarity.”　Former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Hubert Vedrine, a permanent establishment fixture, declared to BFM TV: “There is little chance that (Trump) will be elected -- it‘s evident. With his behavior, his aggressiveness, his insane vulgarity -- let’s say the w

Nov. 2, 2016

[Cynthia M. Allen] Motherhood is always challenging but will never be regretful

“We’re going to walk you to your car,” said the smiling woman in front of me at the grocery store, as she and her husband took the bags from my hands.She had seen me struggling to balance my toddler, who was fussing over her balloon, on my hip while pushing my infant in her stroller and carrying three sacks of groceries to my minivan.I was grateful for the help, but in that moment I remember thinking, “How did this become my life?”I know I’m not alone in that sentiment -- the sense that after ch

Nov. 1, 2016

[Cass R. Sunstein] Four steps to save American politics

Donald Trump has taken a battering ram to longstanding political norms -- the unwritten conventions that make governance possible. But even before he decided to run for president, those norms were under assault. Immediately after the election, one of the most pressing questions will be how to restore them.To answer that question, let’s assume what philosophers call a “veil of ignorance.” If we didn’t know whether the president would be Democratic or Republican -- if it could turn out to be Clint

Nov. 1, 2016