Why the Paris accord matters

Donald Trump has been president for only three months and already he’s given up or reversed course or been stymied on a wide range of campaign promises. Given how awful some of those ideas were -- ending Obamacare, declaring China a currency manipulator, ordering a blanket federal hiring freeze (done, but since lifted) -- it is not necessarily a bad thing for the country that he’s fallen down on the job.　Now, we’re mildly heartened to learn that Trump also may be moving away from his ill-advised

April 23, 2017

[Noah Smith] Workers made Germany into the world’s best economy

Let’s hope US policy makers have woken up to the fact that the country is in a period of sclerosis, where its economic institutions seem to be inefficient along a variety of fronts. When things aren’t working, one good idea is to look around and see which countries are doing better. Right now, Japan is one such country. But in many ways, Germany looks like the most successful economy in the developed world.　This wasn’t always the case. It was a German economist who coined the term “Eurosclerosis

April 23, 2017

[Jay Ambrose] China deal to remember concerning NK

It’s tricky and scary, this business of trying to get North Korea’s tyrannical regime to give up its nuclear ambitions. Scarier still would be an inane go-ahead signal, the kind of thing, for instance, we got under the Clinton administration. Say about him what you will, but President Donald Trump is doing more than any predecessor to get China to do what’s needed, and China is the key in all of this.　Reviewing the fumble in the Clinton years helps explain how we got where we are and what we oug

April 21, 2017

[Other view] Free trade with South Korea is working

On leaving South Korea this week, US Vice President Mike Pence offered a warning: A landmark free-trade deal between the two countries is now under review. Since the deal took effect, he said, the US trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled.　This is a wrongheaded complaint and an unfortunate article of faith among Donald Trump’s advisers.　The target of Pence’s criticism is the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, known as KORUS, which took effect in 2012. It slashed tariffs on products ran

April 20, 2017

[Steven Dixon] Don’t play the money card in Syria

On the morning of April 4, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government carried out a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-held province of Idlib. At least 70 residents were killed and hundreds more were injured as the chemical, almost certainly sarin, left its victims writhing in agony and gasping for air.　Also on April 4, world leaders gathered in Brussels for the second day of an annual conference on Syria, now in its fifth year and convened by the European Union, where sc

April 20, 2017

[Chicago Tribune] Can a China reset defang North Korea? Deal-maker Trump courts Xi Jinping

The US relationship with China? It’s complicated. The two sides are economically entwined yet geopolitical adversaries in the Pacific, where China’s ambition to project power risks colliding with the US commitment to keep peace.　The biggest potential flashpoint is nuclear-armed North Korea, a rogue state that exists in almost complete isolation — except for its tight relationship with China. North Korea is utterly reliant on China for energy and other forms of trade.　As we write, North Korea is

April 20, 2017

[The Baltimore Sun] Trump’s tough talk on Korea

America’s posture toward North Korea has changed, Trump administration officials insist. Vice President Mike Pence, visiting South Korea, declared that “era of strategic patience is over” and warned the north not to test President Donald Trump’s resolve or the strength of the US military forces in the region.　But what does that mean? Does Trump really intend to take pre-emptive action against the North Korean nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs? Or is his saber rattling — moving an ai

April 20, 2017

[Other view] How the US and China can find common ground on North Korea

For the moment, fear of US retaliation appears to have dissuaded North Korea from conducting another nuclear test. But the respite is only temporary. Lasting progress will require something more than saying a US “armada” will be diverted toward the Korean Peninsula.To its credit, the US also seems to be redoubling its efforts to get cooperation from the one country that has the most leverage with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un: China. But if the US is to work with China, then it’s important to

April 19, 2017

[Doyle McManus] Trump’s populist revolution is already over ... for now

Not yet 100 days into Donald Trump’s presidency, the populist revolution he seemed to promise is already over -- at least for now. Two weeks of head-spinning policy reversals have put Trump squarely inside the chalk lines of conventional Republican conservatism on both economics and foreign affairs.　His impulsive management style and his fact-challenged rhetoric are still intact. But most of his policy positions are now remarkably similar to those espoused by the Republican Party’s last establis

April 19, 2017

[Noah Feldman] Turkey’s new playbook for the semi-authoritarian

The votes from Turkey’s constitutional referendum are in, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed victory for his side, even as the result remains disputed. What’s clear is who the winner is not: constitutional democracy. On the surface, the amendments turn Turkey into a presidential system instead of a parliamentary one. Underneath, they strengthen the personal authority of Erdogan, who in the last decade and a half has gone from prime minister to president to quasi-authoritarian leader.

April 19, 2017

[Jeffrey Robertson] Time to retake the foreign policy narrative

On April 15, global attention turned to Korea. Television, internet and social media feeds prioritized Korea over other breaking stories. Korea was at the center of the world’s attention. But it wasn’t South Korea. Global attention focused on Pyongyang and the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung.North Korea controls the foreign policy narrative – “stories” that shape the relationship between the state and its partners. It’s demonstrated incredible continuity in portraying itself as an

April 19, 2017

[Stephen Mihm] The airline industry: Overpacking planes since the 1940s

The revelations last week that airlines overbook as a policy and that they can forcibly remove passengers when their calculations go awry has shocked millions from Chicago to China. But it’s a problem as old as the airline industry itself.　As they expanded their services in the late 1940s, airlines struggled with the problem of “no-shows” -- people who reserved a seat but failed to board. This was a serious problem: A half-empty plane -- even one with a few empty seats -- could operate at a loss

April 18, 2017

[Nirmal Ghosh] There’s still room for diplomacy

Despite fears of a showdown between the United States and North Korea, analysts by and large believe that, barring accidents, saber-rattling will yield to pragmatism.　They note that pre-emptive strikes by the US or North Korea could be catastrophic. Seoul, which has about 10 million residents, could be wiped out in the event of war.　Ash Carter, a former US defense secretary, warned that a pre-emptive strike by the US on North Korea’s nuclear weapons facilities could trigger an invasion of South

April 18, 2017

[Carl P. Leubsdorf] Take hope, the Trump administration is evolving

Presidents evolve. And so do their administrations.　John F. Kennedy was noticeably more cautious and skeptical of military advisers after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. First-term failures and the Republican capture of Congress forced Bill Clinton to take a more bipartisan approach. Staff changes are common.　And in recent weeks, a confluence of events has started to change the preconceptions and mindset Donald Trump brought to the Oval Office, though every unprompted tweet is a reminde

April 18, 2017