BEIRUT, Lebanon ― After spending just three days with refugees and aid workers in Lebanon and Turkey, the apocalyptic nature of the Syria crisis is all too apparent: more than 100,000 deaths, nine million people displaced, two million children out of school, diseases like polio resurfacing, and neighboring countries struggling to cope with waves of refugees.Countless heartrending stories of lost husbands, wives, siblings, and children, to say nothing of homes and livelihoods destroyed, provide y

NEWPORT BEACH, California ― The United States’ reputation for sound economic policymaking took a beating in 2013. Some of this was warranted; some of it was not. And now a related distorted narrative ― one that in 2014 could needlessly undermine policies that are key to improving America’s economic recovery ― is gaining traction.The 2008 global financial crisis left the U.S. economy mired in a low-level equilibrium, characterized by sluggish job creation, persistently high long-term and youth un

The Justice Department has just obtained documents showing that JPMorgan Chase, Wall Street’s biggest bank, has been hiring the children of China’s ruling elite in order to secure “existing and potential business opportunities” from Chinese government-run companies. “You all know I have always been a big believer of the Sons and Daughters program,” says one JPMorgan executive in an e-mail, because “it almost has a linear relationship” to winning assignments to advise Chinese companies. The docum

MOSCOW ― Russian President Vladimir Putin has been compared to many strongmen of the past ― Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev, and Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, to name a few. But, after nearly 14 years in power, perhaps the best comparison now may be a transgender cross between the former Argentine leader Juan Peron and his legendary wife, Eva (“Evita”).In the early 1940s, Colonel Peron, as minister of labor and secretary of war, was a “gray cardinal” to Argentina’s rulers. Before communism collapsed

ABU DHABI ― This has been a year when America re-embraced diplomacy after a frustrating decade of war, displaying a relentlessly pragmatic approach that recalls the days of such deal-making former secretaries of state as Henry Kissinger and James A. Baker III. The secret diplomatic machinations have been dizzying, and sometimes disorienting. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have opened doors and created opportunities for settling intractable conflicts. But the administration’s t

LAHORE, Pakistan ― Pakistani institutions are evolving rapidly. With executive authority increasingly in the hands of elected representatives, rather than dispersed among various competing institutions, the political establishment has been revitalized ― and it has taken three important steps toward strengthening democracy and the rule of law. Is Pakistan, a country long prone to military coups, finally developing a well-functioning political system?On Nov. 27, Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain

For three decades, Hong Kong has thrived economically along with the Chinese mainland. Now its economic future is at a crossroads. According to a poll conducted by South China Morning Post, Hong Kong residents are far more unhappy with life than those in cities on the mainland. Usually, people feel happier when their living standards are better. In Hong Kong, the per capita GDP at purchasing power parity is $52,000. In the polled mainland cities, it is between $16,000 and $21,000, that is, only