NEW HAVEN ― Great significance ― probably too much ― has been attached to a possible breakup of the eurozone. Many believe that such a breakup ― if, say, Greece abandoned the euro and reintroduced the drachma ― would constitute a political failure that would ultimately threaten Europe’s stability. Speaking before the Bundestag last October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel put the matter starkly:“Nobody should believe that another half-century of peace and prosperity in Europe is guaranteed. It i

During March 26-27, Seoul will host global leaders for the Nuclear Security Summit, just two years after it hosted the G20 Leaders Summit. It is today obvious that South Korea is a middle-power. Yet, it is rare to hear South Korean politicians talk about being a middle-power. Why?The first condition of being a middle-power is to be positioned between great powers and smaller powers in the measurement of political, economic and military power. South Korea comfortably satisfies this condition. Ind

SEOUL ― The United States is now wrestling with the nuclear fears of two of its close allies, Israel and South Korea. Israel’s alarm at the prospect of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is existential in nature. The same is true of South Korea, whose capital sits only 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with the North.On Feb. 29, the U.S. and North Korea reached an agreement in which the North promised to halt its nuclear weapons development in exchange for food aid. But South Koreans know th

First, the good news. The economic pie is growing again. Growth in the fourth quarter last year hit 3 percent on an annualized rate. February’s 227,000 net new job marks the third month in a row of job gains well in excess of 200,000.Here’s the bad news. The share of growth going to American workers is at a record low.Although the nation is now producing more goods and services than it did before the slump began in 2007, we’re doing it with 6 million fewer people.Companies have been able to boos

Sitting in his sumptuous palace, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can almost certainly hear the drip, drip, drip, like a leaky faucet, of his life dribbling away.The world is finally closing in on him, and he realizes that to remain alive, or at least a free man, he must continue killing his own people. He knows that the minute he stops and withdraws his forces to their barracks, as almost the entire world is demanding, one of two things will happen: One of the rebel armies will capture and kill