Global warming has made the protection of the environment a moral ― even a near-sacrosanct ― issue in the developed world. Environmental concerns have reached such a level that the creation of plants or industries that may do Mother Nature damage is being put on the backburner by governments, even in the implementation of economic development projects. In a country like Taiwan, it’s a problem of c

The Seoul Subway Union’s exit last week from the “Minju Nochong,” a radical national umbrella union, and its leaders’ move to form a third national union herald drastic changes in the nation’s labor movement. Up to now, labor activities have long been competitively swayed by the two national bodies: Minju Nochong (the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions) and Hanguk Nochong (the Federation of Kore

As it came after months of pro-democracy upheavals in the Muslim world this year, the news of the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid on his hideout in Pakistan allows a faint but positive outlook for an end to a decade of intercultural conflicts started by the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Yet, whoever shares this somewhat wishful thinking should be wary of retaliation by al-Qaida militants for the “

The dramatic news about Osama bin Laden’s death, especially when taken in combination with the ongoing “Arab Spring,” offers a remarkable window of opportunity for U.S. policymakers seeking to encourage what President Obama has called an “alternative narrative” for a disaffected generation in the Islamic world.For years after Sept. 11, 2001, military and counterterrorism efforts dominated the U.S.

The death of Osama bin Laden rightly brings to Americans a sense of justice, even revenge. But the death of the world’s most wanted man is more than payback for the past.It instead suggests that ideology may be changing in the Arab world. Bin Laden’s ideology of death ― for Americans, Europeans, Arabs and others ― was a reaction to the misery to which many Arabs were consigned in the modern world.

NATO’s bombing of Tripoli on Saturday, which reportedly killed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son and three grandchildren definitely went beyond the U.N. Security Council mandate. However the alliance may try to stretch the mission given under UNSC resolution 1973 on Libya, which was to establish a no-fly zone over the country to protect civilians from military attacks, NATO commanders cannot jus

Guryong Village in the Gangnam district of Seoul represents some of the absurdities in present-day Korea. Many of the people who live in about 1,200 shacks at Guryong Village, located near the plush Tower Palace high-rise block, moved in from other parts of Seoul when they were evicted by city authorities for redevelopment projects in the 1980s. The urban migrants settled at the foot of Guryong Hi

The Emperor and Empress, who have been visiting evacuees from areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake, visited quake-hit Miyagi Prefecture on Wednesday.It was the Imperial couple’s first visit the Tohoku region since the March 11 quake. They are also scheduled to visit Iwate and Fukushima prefectures shortly.Their words must be a great encouragement to people in or from the quake-hit areas, e

Over the years, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has served in a variety of capacities in national security for administrations of both parties. He has been a steady hand and he will be sorely missed.But his intention to leave this year was well-known. What was surprising about Wednesday’s news was the sweeping nature of the national-security shuffle expected to be announced by President Barack Obam

“Command influence is the mortal enemy of military justice.”Robinson O. Everett, former chief judge of what is now the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, wrote those powerful words in 1986. They underscore the importance of banning the power inherent in command from military courtrooms. Congress wrote such a ban into the Uniform Code of Military Justice more than 60 year ago, recognizing that

President Obama must soon make a critical decision: how many and what type of U.S. forces to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan this summer. The July withdrawal date is an artificial deadline, one the president created not because it would help us reach our goals in this strategically critical country but for his own domestic political purposes. When Obama made the promise in 2009, at the same tim

While turmoil threatens the regimes of many of its neighbors, conditions in Jordan have remained relatively calm. Although we have had more than 150 protests across Jordan since before the fall of the Tunisian regime, all demanding accountability, better living conditions, and an end to corruption and wider political reform, nobody has called for regime change ― so far.The reason is simple. King A