Commentary

On August 27, 2002, when emissaries from the Bush administration met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, each had a secret to share. Koizumi informed the Americans of his impending announcement that he would visit Pyongyang in mid-September for...

On November 3, Turks elected a new parliament. Turkey’s citizens had 18 parties to choose from in the elections, 3 of which had been in the previous government. Not one of those, nor 13 other parties, met the 10...

Terrorism is a strategy to weaken a hated political authority. It is a security threat, but  almost the opposite of the nuclear one: little pinpricks instead of a huge bang. Last winter when the shock of 9/11 was drawing...

As the saying goes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” A perfect example of this has been U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan. While stories (and photographs) heralded an era where special operations personnel could call...

When Americans went to the polls on November 5, observers included a remarkable delegation of election scholars, elected officials, and election officials from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). These...

One year after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the United States remains involved in its first global war of the 21st century. Notwithstanding the stunning military success in the Afghan theater of operations, the fact is that...

We meet in a time of war. On distant battlefields, from Kandahar to the Hindu Kush, American soldiers are risking their lives to defeat a shadowy enemy. But it doesn’t feel like a war, does it? Industry hasn’t been...

On July 1, 1997— the day of Hong Kong’s reversion to China— Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui pointedly declared to a group of foreign journalists and scholars (the latter in Taipei for a conference on Hong Kong’s handover), “Taiwan is...

Ever since the failed Camp David Summit of July 2000, the Arab-Israeli conflict has been shaped by a striking anomaly. All the parties— Arab, Israeli, European, and American— have concluded that a peaceful Palestinian state must be part of...