The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] China’s wobbly transition

May 21, 2012

WASHINGTON ― Perhaps when Chinese leaders began to speak over the last several years about a new “Beijing Consensus” and the triumph of the “China Model,” that was a warning the bubble was about to burst. And we’re seeing that hubris play out now, as China’s leaders struggle with the greatest internal crisis since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. This time, the political machinations have mostly been behind the scenes among the Communist Party elite. The headline event was the purge of Bo
The Facebook founder who unfriended America

May 21, 2012

Facebook’s initial public offering reminds us of a story. Once upon a time, there was a young man who fled his homeland (Brazil) because his life was in danger (kidnappers). Like so many before him, he came to the United States. There, in the safety of the freest, most dynamic country on earth, he got a superb education (Harvard), the opportunity to exercise his entrepreneurial zeal (Facebook) ― and the protections of the U.S. legal system to safeguard the fruits of his labor. That man is Eduard
Breast-feeding just a cover for titillation

May 21, 2012

Does anyone know what a woman looks like when she’s not being watched? Women are more or less poster girls for the Heisenberg principle: It’s like you can never know what we look like when we’re not being observed, because we’re always being observed.We’ve had two examples getting attention in the recent press attempting to establish what women actually look like in our natural habitat. It’s as if we’re wild, exotic creatures ― as if women were as rare as the luminously fragile glass-winged butt
[Nouriel Roubini] Greece must exit from the eurozone

May 21, 2012

NEW YORK ― The Greek euro tragedy is reaching its final act: it is clear that either this year or next, Greece is highly likely to default on its debt and exit the eurozone.Postponing the exit after the June election with a new government committed to a variant of the same failed policies (recessionary austerity and structural reforms) will not restore growth and competitiveness. Greece is stuck in a vicious cycle of insolvency, lost competitiveness, external deficits, and ever-deepening depress
Greece Must Exit

May 21, 2012

NEW YORK -- The Greek euro tragedy is reaching its final act: it is clear that either this year or next, Greece is highly likely to default on its debt and exit the eurozone.Postponing the exit after the June election with a new government committed to a variant of the same failed policies (recessionary austerity and structural reforms) will not restore growth and competitiveness. Greece is stuck in a vicious cycle of insolvency, lost competitiveness, external deficits, and ever-deepening depres
The Facebook Founder Who Unfriended America

May 21, 2012

Facebook’s initial public offering reminds us of a story. Once upon a time, there was a young man who fled his homeland (Brazil) because his life was in danger (kidnappers). Like so many before him, he came to the United States. There, in the safety of the freest, most dynamic country on earth, he got a superb education (Harvard), the opportunity to exercise his entrepreneurial zeal (Facebook) -- and the protections of the U.S. legal system to safeguard the fruits of his labor. That man is Eduar
Measures that work in battle against obesity

May 21, 2012

Obesity has become a danger far greater than hunger. Yet amid the alarming stories about its harm to America’s health and economy, one bit of information has been drowned out: The percentage of U.S. adults who are obese appears to have plateaued. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which measures the heights and weights of a representative sample of almost 6,000 Americans, the prevalence of obesity in 2009-2010 was essentially the same as in 2003-2008. Gi
Obama, Romney want to play down gay marriage

May 21, 2012

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama concur on how to deal with the politics of gay marriage: Keep it below the radar. Both the president and his Republican challenger believe their focus in the fall campaign has to be on the economy and jobs. To spend much time on any other issue ― foreign policy, abortion or gay marriage ― would be a distraction. This is the message both campaigns told surrogates to deliver over the past week. Neither side believes many votes will be changed by the president’s recent
Even $3 trillion can’t buy China love or good PR

May 20, 2012

China’s $3.3 trillion of currency reserves are a nice thing to have when you want to polish your image. Even if money can’t buy you love, it sure can buy lots of positive buzz. The most-populous nation has been throwing tens of billions of dollars at its prestige deficit for a decade, all part of an effort to enhance China’s soft power, something of which the U.S., for all its crises, has a surplus. Why else would Chinese dissidents head to U.S. shores, or embassies, for shelter? Why do so many
[Robert B. Reich] Of bedrooms and boardrooms

May 20, 2012

Some want the 2012 election to be about regulating America’s bedrooms. But it really ought to be about regulating the nation’s boardrooms.The bedroom regulators are on the move. Republicans don’t want same-sex marriage. Mitt Romney says he’s against it, as are the voters of North Carolina, who just approved a Republican-proposed amendment to the state constitution banning it. Twenty-nine other states have similar bans. President Obama supports same-sex marriage.Meanwhile, Republicans have introd
Smart girls wear flats, leave heels behind

May 20, 2012

Not everyone was a big fan of the stiletto. Just like Christian Dior’s voluptuous, bell-shaped skirts, the tall, thin heels drew criticism even at the height of their popularity. In a primer called “The Essential Eve: A Guide to Women’s Perfection,” a doctor advised: “Excessively high heels will always be a source of danger to feet and eventually to health.” Wearing such shoes causes the calf muscles to contract so much, he said, “it becomes almost impossible to walk.” A New York Times headline
Balkans’ stark lessons for a fragmenting Syria

May 20, 2012

PRISTINA, Kosovo ― Syria is not on the path to peace through the present form of the six-point plan of Kofi Annan, supported by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.The plan is based on the goodwill of President Assad to stop the repression of political dissent and punitive military actions against communities where an insurrection has arisen over the last year. The plan also presupposes that once the repression and the killing have stopped, a “dialogue on transition” will begin.Th
[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Who is to blame for Greek tragedy?

May 20, 2012

SEATTLE ― Greece is following the road taken by several other crisis-ridden emerging economies over the past 30 years. Indeed, as I argued earlier this year, there are stunning similarities between this once-proud eurozone member and Argentina prior to its default in 2001. With an equally traumatic implosion ― economic, financial, political, and social ― now taking place, we should expect heated debate about who is to blame for the deepening misery that millions of Greeks now face.There are four
[David Ignatius] Pakistan lost chance for security

May 19, 2012

WASHINGTON ― As America begins to pull back its troops from Afghanistan, there’s one consequence that gets little notice but is likely to have lasting impact: Pakistan is losing the best chance in its history to gain political control over all of its territory ― including the warlike tribal areas along the frontier. Pakistan has squandered the opportunity presented by having a large U.S.-led army just over the border in Afghanistan. Rather than work with the U.S. to stabilize a lawless sanctuary
Russia’s relations with U.S. turn icy again

May 19, 2012

Now that Vladimir Putin is Russia’s president once again, the result of still another fraudulent election, we should expect ever more hostile relations with Moscow.Putin, a vain and vulgar man, was born and bred to despise the United States. And in recent times, Washington has given him little reason to change his mind.The latest example: President Obama waited several days before calling Putin to congratulate him on his election victory this month ― though Obama did manage to call Francois Holl