The war in Ukraine, which just entered its second month, shows no sign of ending soon. Russia’s huge but incompetent army has been stymied in its attempts to seize the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and other cities. Ukraine’s defenders have put up a heroic fight, but civilians in besieged towns are suffering a terrible toll. Neither army appears ready to quit. That, diplomats say, is why the chances for a cease-fire look so dim. In recent talks, officials from both countries have sugg

Even in dreamland, nightmares can infiltrate. Heaven was not an exception: Lucifer rebelled against God and fell down to this mundane world. The same goes for the Garden of Eden. Due to the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel, Satan, paradise is lost. Those who voted for Yoon Suk-yeol as the next president of South Korea are now breathing a sigh of relief, saying, “The nightmare is over, at last.” Nevertheless, that does not mean South Korea has regained paradise. Perhap

Many who now worry about rising inflation in the United States may disagree, but the US Federal Reserve should take a victory lap. Just consider what the Fed has achieved over the past two years. At this time in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had pushed employment down by a massive 14 percent when large portions of the economy were forced to shut down. And although employment bounced back when the economy began to reopen, it nonetheless remained 7 percent below its pre-pandemic level. Getting bac

Across Europe, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spurred a rethink of virtually all dimensions of security, from defense to energy. The war’s likely impact on security in East Asia, especially in Taiwan and Japan, has received far less attention. But the coming transformation may turn out to be just as profound. The Ukraine war, though far away, poses a substantial risk to East Asia. China is watching the conflict -- and the West’s response -- closely. If Russia pays a high pri

President Joe Biden and his top foreign policy advisers have demonstrated how effective diplomacy can be in a crisis. They have worked tirelessly to build a powerful, coordinated response to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Though this has not yet ended the war, it has greatly increased the cost to Putin. It has also sucked up most of the oxygen in the White House, the National Security Council and the State Department. But other crises haven’t abated in the meantime, from Yemen to

The closest presidential election in South Korean history ended with conservative Yoon Suk-yeol winning by 0.73 percent of the vote. The divisive campaign alienated broad swaths of the electorate, but Yoon’s ability to keep conservatives united while drawing strong support from young men put him over the top. Yoon also benefited from winning in Seoul, which has gone for liberal candidates in every election except 2007 when Lee Myung-bak won a landslide victory. Compared to previous winner

The world has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with sanctions, travel bans, and deliveries of humanitarian and military aid, all of which have been stepped up as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war crimes claim more lives every day. Now, with the Ukrainian people’s courage and solidarity having stirred the collective conscience of Europe and much of the world, pressure is growing to complement these measures with criminal indictments of Putin and his closest associa

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s act of acknowledgement on the change of power in the rival South Korea was a sort of firework display –- the launching of a long-range missile supposedly capable of hitting the mainland of the United States, Seoul’s trusted military ally. To the embarrassment of the 34-year-old dictator, the intercontinental ballistic missile with a designed range of 12,000 kilometers exploded midair shortly after blastoff. The Hwasong series No. 17 rocket wa

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which was originally published in 1839, begins as the protagonist receives a letter from his close friend, Roderick Usher, who urges him to come to his house to help him as he suffers from a strange illness. Responding to his old friend’s distress call, the protagonist travels to a distant part of the country where his friend lives. Metaphorically, it is a summons from the past. Arriving at the Roderick Usher’s f

When I wake up, the first thing I do is check the news. For the past few weeks, the headlines have been about the war between Ukraine and Russia, and we seemed to have moved on from the pandemic news. I thought the war would end quickly since Russia has a much more powerful military than Ukraine. However, I was wrong. The patriotism of the Ukrainians was amazing; they stayed behind and protected their cities after saying farewell to their children, wives and elderly parents. Moreover, many count

Wars leave us with iconic images that somehow capture for eternity the reality that made each war hell. So our minds’ eyes see forever the hell that was Vietnam when we recall just two photographs: that little girl running down the road toward us, crying, stripped naked by napalm dropped from America’s planes; and that South Vietnamese military officer shooting his pistol into his prisoner’s head. But we also see the very different iconic photo. It marked the end of World War

The surprising potency of the multilateral sanctions imposed on Russia has been exceeded only by that of Ukrainians’ resistance to Russia’s invasion of their country. True, it is difficult to imagine that sanctions will bring the Russian economy to its knees faster than Russian troops are able to capture Kyiv or lay waste to the country. But, ultimately, Russia will lose much in this war. Back in December, US President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that severe sa

The shocking Russian invasion of Ukraine has left most Americans bewildered, angry and deeply troubled. But exactly how our nation should respond remains unclear. Polls have shown a surprising number of Americans uncertain about the desirability of sanctions or the admission of Ukraine into NATO, although most wholeheartedly support President Joe Biden’s refusal to deploy combat troops. But few recognize that another Democratic president, also in office less than two years, faced a near-i