It’s beginning to feel like a 1980s news tape showing America’s despotic enemies running amok.In Russia, a mysterious fatal explosion a few days ago in one of the country’s 10 secret cities where nuclear research takes place has caused an uptick in radiation and raised alarm around the world.It also raises memories of the 1986 meltdown at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, which Russia tried desperately to hush up, lying repeatedly about how serious it was. An esti

Summer 2019 will go on record as the hottest summer in human recorded history, but it will also be remembered as a summer of madness, when there are protests everywhere and violence seems to be on the boil. Who would have expected South Korea to be quarreling with Japan? Or India taking away the autonomy of Jammu/Kashmir to direct rule by Delhi? Or the Argentinian peso dropping 30 percent in one day? Why did the US put every one of their major trading partners, including Singapore, Malaysia and

Watching videos of Chinese protesters singing the US national anthem in the streets of Hong Kong, or hearing the tear-jerking chorus of “Les Miserables” during a sit-in at the Hong Kong airport, only someone with a heart of stone wouldn’t want to assist these brave people who are fighting for their freedom. But beware. The problem is that easy gestures of support could get these Chinese freedom fighters killed. It’s a problem that insurance companies call “moral haz

Former Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called US President Donald Trump’s reported idea of buying Greenland, a self-governed Danish territory, an out-of-season April Fools’ Day joke. Trump’s idea may be outlandish -- and impossible -- but that doesn’t mean there’s no benefit in thinking about reviving the market in sovereign territories, which once made America great. Besides acquiring Louisiana from France, Florida from Spain, Alaska from Russia and much

After every mass shooting in the United States, Americans and others around the world are confronted with the question of what lies behind this distinctly American horror. Though total gun deaths in the US have actually declined over time, mass shootings (those with at least four victims) have become deadlier and more frequent. Some have had an especially strong emotional impact on the country.The back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, on the first weekend of August are

Global superpowers have always found it painful to acknowledge their relative decline and deal with fast-rising challengers. Today, the United States finds itself in this situation with regard to China. A century-and-half ago, imperial Britain faced a similar competitive threat from America. And in the 17th century, the Dutch Republic was the superpower and England the challenger.History suggests that the global superpower should aim for a soft landing, including by engaging with its likely succ

The physical world we live in is governed by constructive power and destructive power. Constructive power can be measured by the value of things that individuals or groups create over a period of time. They call it GDP on the national level. Destructive power is estimated by looking at the things that can be destroyed (annihilated) in a conflict; it represents security threats between adversaries.North Korea is believed to have stored 20 to 30 nuclear bombs, each having the destructive energy of

As expected, tensions between South Korea and Japan have continued to worsen. On Aug. 2, Japan followed through with its threat to remove Korea from the “whitelist” of countries that Japan designates as preferential trading partners. This action means that companies exporting select products to Korea will need approval from the Japanese government before exporting. The Japanese government could use the approval process to restrict exports to Korea.The Korean government condemned the

Proverbs and maxims reflect the society from which they originate. Thus they vary depending on the peculiarities of nations, cultures and civilizations. If you are familiar with a certain nation’s proverbs, therefore, you can easily conjecture about the characteristics of the people of the country. Watching recent social and political disruptions of Korea these days, one can be reminded of Korean maxims that nicely match these situations.Among others, the famous Korean proverb, “You

Can taking a philosophy class -- more specifically, a class in practical ethics -- lead students to act more ethically?Teachers of practical ethics have an obvious interest in the answer to that question. The answer should also matter to students thinking of taking a course in practical ethics. But the question also has broader philosophical significance, because the answer could shed light on the ancient and fundamental question of the role that reason plays in forming our ethical judgments and

In the new world wrought by US President Donald Trump, where one shock follows another, there is never time to think through fully the implications of the events with which we are bombarded. In late July, the Federal Reserve Board reversed its policy of returning interest rates to more normal levels, after a decade of ultralow rates in the wake of the Great Recession. Then, the United States had another two mass gun killings in under 24 hours, bringing the total for the year to 255 -- more than

As Hong Kong recovers from a general strike that paralyzed transportation and led to mob violence and tear gas fired on protesters, the Beijing-controlled government’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, is hinting at even stronger action. The Chinese government agency that oversees Hong Kong held a rare press conference Tuesday, announcing support for Lam and accusing the protesters of fomenting a revolution. Most ominously, Chinese authorities have mobilized troops near the border with the main

In the fable, the tortoise wins the race because the hare lies down to take a nap after bolting into the lead. Slow, dogged persistence triumphs over flighty arrogance. If this were the story of the US-China trade war, it’s easy to see which would be which.Trade wars are good and easy to win, President Donald Trump famously declared on Twitter in March 2018. Since then, US policy toward China has shifted repeatedly as the president bounced from one position to another, alternately offering