Many Republicans felt that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton made no attempt to be president of the whole nation -- and many Democrats believed the same about George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. They were wrong. Those partisans were projecting their own antipathy towards one or another president onto those presidents.　It’s true that all presidents do sometimes talk directly to only part of the nation, and when they do that they are most likely to speak to their supporters. It’s also true that all pres

June 6, 2018

Every year millions of Americans receive an asset that, based on past performance, promises to nearly double their lifetime incomes: a bachelor’s degree. Earning one is an achievement to be proud of. For the vast majority of young adults, however, this prize is increasingly out of reach. One answer is to make college more affordable -- by lowering tuition, increasing financial aid for poor students, and reducing the time needed to graduate. Such reforms deserve support. But a different answer is

June 6, 2018

One reason the US and China can’t figure out how to negotiate on trade may be that the Americans are making two sets of demands that are antithetical to each other, without even realizing it.　 On one side are threatened sanctions targeting the Made in China 2025 program of technology development and those against ZTE. The headline tariffs, sometimes $50 billion, sometimes $150 billion, are aimed at the 2025 plan but more broadly attack a range of Chinese industrial practices, as described in an

June 6, 2018

US President Donald Trump and his always enabling press secretary Sarah Sanders charged there was a “double standard” when a television network apologized for a racist comment made about a top aide to former President Barack Obama but didn’t apologize to the current president for its critical remarks about him.　This was sheer narcissism. There was no cause for an apology to Trump. But a double standard does exist in the political dialogue and media coverage. Sometimes it works against Trump. But

June 5, 2018

The novelist Margaret Atwood recently caused a stir when, during an interview with Variety, she said that the 9/11 hijackers “got the idea” to fly planes into buildings from watching “Star Wars.”　Atwood, the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and other dystopian classics, did not have the facts right. The 19 hijackers were not inspired by “Star Wars.” Al-Qaida wasn’t re-enacting the destruction of the Death Star.　But the premise of Atwood’s comment was not at all far-fetched. Literature and film ha

June 5, 2018

Poland is willing to spend $1.5 billion to $2 billion to entice the US to build a permanent military base there, according to a Defense Ministry proposal. The plan offers a strong incentive for the US to consider moving at least some of its forces from Germany, especially since the current deployment makes little military sense.　Placing US bases in Germany after World War II was a response to the need to deter a Soviet attack and prevent Germany from becoming a military threat again. The second

June 5, 2018

International cooperation is under strain. The voices of protectionism and nationalism are gaining strength, and governments are increasingly pursuing policy goals through unilateral or ad hoc measures, rather than by working together.Even against this backdrop, it remains abundantly clear that effective international cooperation improves economic outcomes and everyday lives. The automatic exchange of financial information based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Comm

June 4, 2018

Democracy and freedom in East Asia have had a difficult time lately. The democratically elected president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, was photographed embracing one of the world’s worst despots, Chairman Kim Jong-un of North Korea. Chairman Kim had his brother assassinated with a biological weapon of mass destruction, executed his uncle with an anti-aircraft machine gun, and holds an estimated 120,000 political prisoners in a North Korean gulag. President Moon equated their hastily arranged sec

June 4, 2018

Trump has turned on longtime allies, labeling them a national security threat in order to levy 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. For neighboring Mexico, this will affect some $3 billion in exports. While not insignificant, it is just a speck of the $300 billion-plus the nation sends north each year (for Canada, steel and aluminum comprise $11.5 billion of more than $300 billion in US-bound trade).　 Yet the size of the tariffs belies their true import. They officially bury t

June 4, 2018

While the people of Gwangju and South Korea were commemorating the 38th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, human rights activists and the activists of democratic movements in different countries of Asia gathered at the city of Gwangju to discuss the pertinent issues of human rights and democracy in the region. The activists and academicians commemorated the pro-democratic movement of 1980 with the announcement of three Asian declarations on a right to justice, a right to peace and a right to c

June 3, 2018

While the turmoil in Italy has died down, at least for now, the issue that set it off is sure to provoke more tumult ahead.　The populist coalition that won the last election had proposed to make Paolo Savona, an economist who has said Italy should have a “Plan B” to exit the euro, finance minister. Sergio Mattarella, the country’s president, vetoed the appointment. After initially insisting on Savona, the anti-euro populists have found a different job for him. Markets have calmed, and the new go

June 3, 2018

Pilot plans to test driverless cars on city streets have so far been little more than vanity research projects. But one tiny country has put the whole autonomous vehicle industry on a track to make money in real life.　Automakers, tech firms and new entrants the world over have spent the past few weeks racing to meet Thursday’s deadline for a so-called Request for Information that Singapore announced back in November. The city state plans to operate fleets of autonomous vehicles in three district

June 3, 2018