The Korea Herald

[Trudy Rubin] Threat from Islamic State too big to ignore

Sept 15, 2014

Now that President Barack Obama has finally laid out a strategy to “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State, there are only two (very big) questions that matter:Is this strategy really necessary?And can it succeed?My answer to the first question is a firm “yes,” but to the second a very shaky “maybe.” Yet I believe Obama has no option but to try.Until the Islamic State in Syria beheaded two American journalists, the president himself didn’t believe the threat merited a comprehensive strategy. In
[David Ignatius] Advantage of reluctant warrior

Sept 14, 2014

WASHINGTON ― President Obama certainly didn’t go looking for another war in the Middle East. Indeed, he contorted himself almost to the breaking point to avoid one. But as he explained to the country Wednesday night, he had no choice but to respond with “strength and resolve” to the barbarous Islamic State that is ravaging Iraq and Syria. Obama’s decision to combat the Islamic State offers him a chance to reset American leadership and his own presidency after growing doubt at home and abroad abo
How ‘Keynes’ became a dirty word

Sept 14, 2014

If you use the word “Keynesian” as a synonym for “socialist,” “progressive,” or “liberal,” well my friend, you’re doing it wrong.If you’ve been involved in Internet arguments about economics, then you must have heard the term “Keynesian” being applied this way. And it seems to make sense. After all, many of the bloggers and writers who describe themselves as “Keynesian” are also of a liberal bent. And more importantly, John Maynard Keynes himself was in favor of some amount of wealth redistribut
Obesity rates are indictment of culture

Sept 14, 2014

Anyone who has ever added extra pounds knows it’s much easier to gain weight than to lose it. Now the nation is learning that lesson too.In what is becoming an annual warning that goes unheeded in too many households, the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last week issued their latest annual report on obesity.The closest thing to good news is that childhood obesity rates, though too high at 17 percent, have stabilized in the past decade and declined in some places
[Robert J. Shiller] Parallels of despair to 1937

Sept 14, 2014

NEW HAVEN ― The depression that followed the stock-market crash of 1929 took a turn for the worse eight years later, and recovery came only with the enormous economic stimulus provided by World War II, a conflict that cost more than 60 million lives. By the time recovery finally arrived, much of Europe and Asia lay in ruins.The current world situation is not nearly so dire, but there are parallels, particularly to 1937. Now, as then, people have been disappointed for a long time, and many are de
Send Goodell packing with Ray Rice, then call Condi

Sept 14, 2014

The NFL is all about making billions of dollars a year selling its brand of glitzy gladiatorial violence and power.The kind of violence and power Ray Rice showed.Not what Rice showed in a hotel elevator when he punched his wife’s lights out and then dragged her out like a sack of potatoes. The video of the punch is sending spasms of anxiety through the NFL.I’m talking about the violence on the field, where the destruction of the human body is celebrated as virtue, so that millions of Americans c
Parents, not bureaucrats, should decide what kids eat

Sept 14, 2014

WASHINGTON ― The primary focus of the federal school meal programs should be meeting students’ needs. But for that to happen, there must be recognition that parents ― not the first lady or Congress ― know what’s best for their children.Unfortunately, the school meal standards that started to go into effect two years ago under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 ignore parents in favor of a federal government that thinks it knows everything.Those who dare to speak against these standards ha
[Robert Reich] The division of America

Sept 12, 2014

Detroit is the largest city ever to seek bankruptcy protection, so its bankruptcy is seen as a potential model for other American cities now teetering on the edge.But Detroit is really a model for how wealthier and whiter Americans escape the costs of public goods they’d otherwise share with poorer and darker Americans.Judge Steven W. Rhodes of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is now weighing Detroit’s plan to shed $7 billion of its debts and restore some $1.5 billi
Scottish independence a matter of identity

Sept 12, 2014

About a week ago, I asked my friends on Facebook whether there was really any chance that Scotland would leave the U.K. At that point, the “yes” vote was running solidly behind, and it seemed likely that this would follow the path of such referenda in Quebec and elsewhere: close, perhaps, but no cigar. Whatever the downsides of union, Scotland is not South Sudan; I expected that voters would ultimately look at all the complications of departure and decide to stay.But the most recent polls have s
[David Ignatius] Stepping warily onto battlefield

Sept 11, 2014

WASHINGTON ― For President Obama, this is gut-check time on Iraq. He is moving the nation back onto a pitiless battlefield, with a war plan that is long on good intentions and short on clarity about the ultimate mission.It’s a wrenching moment: A president who for several years seemed allergic to American involvement in the Iraqi and Syrian wars is being drawn into this conflict by circumstances that even the skeptics agree require American action. Obama kept his distance despite the deaths of 2
Europe needs to provide for its own defense

Sept 11, 2014

In response to the Russian threat, Western leaders at the recent NATO summit reiterated their commitment to defending alliance members in the Baltic and Eastern Europe from aggression. This reaffirmation of NATO’s core promise is essential in the short term. But it requires fundamental reconsideration over the next decade. In the long run, it should be up to Europeans to assure the integrity of their eastern frontier without a legal guarantee of U.S. assistance.The United States is overcommitted
[John McBeth] Early ‘minefield’ to test Indonesia’s Jokowi

Sept 11, 2014

When U.S. Republican Senator John McCain made his first visit to Indonesia during the recent Codel (congressional delegation) junket season, it was ostensibly to talk about Senate Armed Services Committee affairs and president Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia, the policy that often has difficulty making itself heard above the ever-present din from the Middle East.But McCain’s constituency is Arizona, the home of mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold, and his low-key session with president-elec
100 days of Modi: Between rhetoric and reality

Sept 11, 2014

The dichotomy between perception and reality appears more pronounced when one starts assessing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his performance in the first 100 days of his government.Is Modi really what he appears to be, or is he different?The man who talks of inclusive society and a riot-free India ― does he mean it or is it just an attempt to deviate from his past?Is the P.M. really serious about South Asian solidarity or he is merely indulging in grandstanding?With more than a 100 day
Citizenship clause must ensure gender parity

Sept 11, 2014

In February 2011, the Supreme Court in Nepal handed down a landmark decision to the Dolakha District Administration Office to provide Nepali citizenship to one Suntali Dhami on the basis of descent from her mother, who held a Nepali citizenship. Given that Dhami’s father was unknown, the Dolakha DAO had refused to issue her citizenship solely through her mother. The Supreme Court decision set a momentous precedent for gender parity in Nepal, stating unequivocally that citizenship would be provid
[Yang Sung-jin] Fan’s view of Apple Watch

Sept 10, 2014

Apple unveiled three major products on Tuesday: bigger iPhones, a mobile payment solution and, as widely expected, a smart watch named Apple Watch. When I watched the streaming video of the big event on Apple’s website in the wee hours in Seoul ― by the way, the quality of the streaming was horrific, very un-Apple-ish ― and witnessed the shiny, sleek and stylish gadgets, I felt my Mac instinct get pleasantly stirred up and almost saw my pocket opening in a few months. Here’s a disclaimer: I’m on