Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The United States is pressing Israel to take the initiative to improve ties with American allies in the Middle East. Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has been urging Israel to improve relations with Arab and other states in the Middle East. They said the effort was necessary […]
Jeffrey T. Kuhner Republicans have been casting about for a viable alternative to Mitt Romney. Many now believe Mr. Gingrich should be the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee. They are wrong. Mr. Gingrich has excellent qualities. He is a formidable debater, articulate and possesses a strong grasp of policy. In fact, the Georgia Republican has won […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The Chinese Communist Party leadership has toned down its aggressive rhetoric regarding the South China Sea in an apparent effort to blunt the growth of Washington’s “anti-China containment policy.” During his recent tour of Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia, President Barack Obama gave indirect support to the claims of […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — After the heady and often dizzying political changes optimistically described as the Arab Spring, many of these same Middle Eastern states may be heading for what sadly looks like an Arab Winter. The seasonal political shift was predictable, but the end results remain in flux. The three great Middle […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com WASHINGTON — Call it a matter of conflicting — or colliding — messages. South Korean conservatives have forced a free-trade agreement with the United States through a fractious National Assembly. A U.S. Congress “supercommittee” has demonstrated the weakness of the American system of governance by abject, humiliating failure […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The Hu Jintao leadership is mapping out measures to blunt what Beijing perceives is an enhanced effort by Washington to counter China’s power projection in the Asia-Pacific Theatre. While visiting Australia on Nov. 16, President Barack Obama and host Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that U.S. Marines would […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — Western powers have begun bolstering sanctions on Iran. Britain, Canada and the United States, have announced new sanctions on Iran’s financial system. Officials said the sanctions, announced on Nov. 21, were meant to retaliate for Iran’s continued efforts to develop nuclear weapons. “If you are a financial institution and you […]
Sol W. Sanders An old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times”, has become a bromide. I suspect those old Chinese savants were smarter: Confucius [and his St. Paul, Mencius] codified rules and ceremonies for all princes for all eternity, undoubtedly suspecting, rightfully, all eras would have many if not most of the same […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com WASHINGTON — The FTA (free-trade agreement) with the United States is an obscenity in the eyes of leftists in South Korea who believe their conservative government is foisting it on them. Hostility toward the KORUS FTA, as it is known, is such that the political and ideological foes […]
Jeffrey T. Kuhner President Obama regularly expresses his contempt for America. The latest example was his comment at a business forum in Hawaii where he complained that “we’ve been a little bit lazy over the last couple of decades.” In particular, he meant Americans supposedly have been lax in pursuing foreign investment because “we aren’t […]