[Barak Barfi] Biden’s return to realism in Saudi Arabia

US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia is proving to be more than a little controversial. After taking a tough, supposedly principled stand against the kingdom at the beginning of his administration, Biden is now set to adopt a more conciliatory approach. This about-face has riled critics, but there are good reasons to welcome the shift. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden called Saudi Arabia a “pariah.” Once in the White House, Biden diplomatically ostracized

July 18, 2022

[Robert J. Fouser] Korea’s changing linguistic landscape

One of the pleasures of a visit to South Korea is noticing changes in the language of public and commercial signs, which linguists refer to as the “linguistic landscape.” The rapid pace of change in the country means similarly rapid changes in the linguistic landscape. Some of the changes come from official directives in language policy, but most come from bottom-up changes in how society views language. Like elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the pace of change as businesses s

July 15, 2022

[Gearoid Reidy] It’s up to Kishida to achieve Abe’s great unrealized dream

In the specter of Shinzo Abe’s shocking assassination, the party to which he dedicated his life secured a resounding victory in Sunday’s upper house election. Now Fumio Kishida, Abe’s sometimes rival, long-serving foreign minister and now successor, must use his mandate to secure what Abe could never: the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s long-held goal of constitutional reform. The 75-year-old constitution, written by the occupying American army and forbidding Japan t

July 14, 2022

[Kim Myong-sik] Leadership crisis everywhere in pandemic-hit world

Today, the Middle East no longer stands out amid what’s happening in the rest of the world. In our nearest neighbor, a former prime minister was assassinated in broad daylight. A demagogue former president is ready to announce he is running in the next election as the incumbent sees his approval ratings drop to the lowest point ever in the US. A prime minister resigns after lying about rowdy parties during COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK. And a mentally and physically sick Russian president

July 13, 2022

[Daniel Yergin] The energy crisis will deepen

Is today’s energy crisis as serious as similar previous ones -- particularly the 1970s oil shocks? That question is being asked around the world, with consumers hit by high prices, businesses worried about energy supplies, political leaders and central bankers struggling with inflation, and countries confronting balance-of-payments pressures. So, yes, this energy crisis is as serious. In fact, today’s crisis is potentially worse. In the 1970s, only oil was involved, whereas this cri

July 13, 2022

[Kim Seong-kon] Korea ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’

During the Trump era, the world anxiously watched America as it rapidly polarized, sharply divided by two radically different, mutually antagonistic groups. America was not always like this. The United States used to be a country of diversity, from which the strength and greatness of America stems. As Donald Trump marched into the White House, however, those good old days were over, and to the world’s disappointment, America was transformed into a country of division. As a result, on Jan

July 13, 2022

[Martin Schram] Red flags can’t wave themselves

Red flags will just hang like limp noodles if their flag-wavers go AWOL on breezeless days. Left unattended, those red bits of cloth will signal no warning alert, send no sense of alarm that urgent action is needed to save lives. And the same goes for even our best-intentioned red flag laws -- such as the one the US Congress just approved, touching off a burst of belated bipartisan self-congratulation. Red flag laws can prove every bit as limp and useless as those bits of cloth, if the laws are

July 12, 2022

[Doyle McManus] After Roe v. Wade reversal, a new war between the states

The polarization of American politics, a trend that began long before Donald Trump ran for president, isn’t running out of steam. If anything, it’s accelerating. Last month it got a boost from a new source: a conservative Supreme Court majority pushing hot-button issues back to the states -- not only abortion, but also gun control and environmental regulation, with others likely to come. Americans were already divided over abortion rights; now, thanks to the court, they get to deba

July 12, 2022

[Trudy Rubin] NATO ‘not doing enough’ to help Ukraine win, Lithuanian president says

The tiny Baltic country of Lithuania has always been ahead of the curve in predicting Russia’s aggressive intentions. Five decades under Soviet rule, and many more under Russian czars, have left few illusions about Moscow in the elegant Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. Even before Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Lithuanian leaders warned about the risk he posed to Western democracies. Lithuania was the first to wean itself from Russian energy. It sent Stinger missiles to Kyiv eve

July 11, 2022

[Robert S. McElvaine] Will 2022 turn the clock back to America before 1964?

“The United States is now at one of those historic forks in the road whose outcome will prove as fateful as those of the 1860s, the 1930s, and the 1960s,” Nancy MacLean wrote in her 2017 book, “Democracy in Chains.” History is punctuated by discontinuities that alter its trajectory. The key to the occurrence of such watershed moments is less the leaders than a sociopolitical environment that is receptive to change. The current inflection point has become much more appa

July 8, 2022

[Contribution] Solving the Paradox in the Han River and the next generation’s right for a future (3)

The future of the Korean Peninsula in the 21st century is likely to be linked to events unfolding in North Korea, according to professor Andrei Lankov at Kookmin University. The North continues to be an existential threat to South Korea (and vice versa). Nearly 70 years of calm, and generations without memories of the war (or even links with the wartime generation), have largely numbed the collective consciousness about North Korea in the South. Public opinion polls today show that the majority

July 7, 2022

[Lee Kyong-hee] Living on tears of invisible foreign workers

The female sea divers of Jeju are among the symbolic features of the southern island and admittedly its major tourist resource. The “haenyeo” and their age-old ocean harvesting skills are recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Back in the 15th century, however, these stalwart women flabbergasted a new magistrate on his inspection tour by bravely jumping into the cold winter sea, wearing only outfits made of thin cotton. The tender-hearted magistrate hande

July 7, 2022

[Martin Schram] Republicans, what do you see when you look in the mirror?

It is yet another morning after. But as you stare at your bathroom mirror, on this Wednesday morning after Tuesday’s hearing, it somehow feels as if you are staring at just another news screen. And this one just keeps looping more bad news you can’t bear to see. Like one-third of Americans, you’ve always been proud to call yourself one of our 45th president’s MAGA Trumpers. You are, of course, the face and politics of that person in your mirror. It is you, a proud Trump

July 6, 2022

[Kim Seong-kon] Journey to the past through historical fiction

History is a mirror to the present. When something goes wrong in the present, we look back upon the past to see what went wrong earlier. Reading historical fiction, therefore, is a way of making a journey to the past to find out the origin of our present predicament. Oh Yoon-hee’s recently published historical novel, “The Eerie Story Club at Samgae Tavern & Inn, Book III” is a good example. Just like her previously published Book I and Book II of the same title, Book III

July 6, 2022

[Trudy Rubin] NATO is united on Ukraine but still not doing what is necessary to deter Putin

When it comes to the NATO summit and President Joe Biden‘s performance as global leader, there’s the good news and the bad news. Confronted with the dangerous ambitions of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, NATO appeared more unified than at any time since the Cold War. In fact, Russia‘s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has effectively revived the Cold War. Most NATO members are upping their defense budgets and pledging to upgrade their forces. A new military doctrine will increase

July 5, 2022

[Takatoshi Ito] America’s watery Indo-Pacific alphabet soup

In May, US President Joe Biden visited South Korea and Japan with the aim of reaffirming America’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region after the uncertainties and doubts generated by Donald Trump’s presidency. In Tokyo, Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and participated in a summit of the Quad, an informal security grouping that also includes Japan, Australia, and India. The Quad aims to promote and secure a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Ind

July 5, 2022

[Antara Haldar] Trump’s lessons for defending the rule of law

A new show currently airing gives fresh meaning to the term reality TV. Call it “American Democracy: Clear and Present Danger.” It should be required viewing. Almost 18 months after the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the US Capitol, a House of Representatives select committee is publicizing the findings of its detailed investigation into the event. The committee has interviewed over 1,000 witnesses and examined 125,000 documents. It has held six hearings so far in June, with a view to tr

July 4, 2022

[Robert J. Fouser] Taking the lead in renewable energy

The sharp rise in the price of oil over the past year is one of the primary causes of rising inflation around the world. The high cost of oil affects every sector of the economy, making it more expensive to produce and move goods at all points in the supply chain. As prices rise, workers require higher wages, which adds to inflationary pressure. Inflation affects lower income workers and retirees most because the increase in the cost of basic goods, such as food and transportation, often outpace

July 1, 2022

[Contribution] Solving the paradox in the Han River and the next generation’s right for a future (2)

Last week, I introduced the paradox on the Han River: the rise of Korea’s global success and decline in hope among young Koreans. Here, I will continue to examine Korea’s choices around two pivotal areas facing the next generation -- its economic future and social inclusion.  What choices will South Korea make to sustain its economic future? An explicit focus on economic growth, rather than focusing on distribution alone such as advocated by the “degrowth” movemen

June 30, 2022

[Kim Myong-sik] Keeping North Korea at a controlled distance

Fifty days after the governing power changed in Seoul, the distance between the South and North on the Korean Peninsula clearly looks farther. New right-wing President Yoon Suk-yeol would bring to a close the reconciliatory course toward North Korea that the leftist administration of Moon Jae-in had taken for the past five years. The successful launch of a space rocket from a south coast cape last week was like a bonfire to celebrate the new presidency. It convinced ordinary people here that w

June 30, 2022