LONDON ― The contrast between the deaths, within two days of each other, of Libya’s Col. Moammar al-Gadhafi and Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz is one of terminal buffoonery versus decadent gerontocracy. And their demise is likely to lead to very different outcomes: liberation for the Libyans and stagnation for the Saudis.But the death of Sultan, at 86, marks the beginning of a critical period of domestic and foreign uncertainty for the Kingdom. After all, Sultan’s half-brother, King Ab

MUNICH ― In August, the European balance-of-payments crisis moved beyond the eurozone’s periphery and began buffeting Italy. Interest spreads for Italian government bonds began to rise, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s administration was alarmed enough to implement an austerity program, and the European Central Bank helped with extra liquidity.The ECB directed the central banks of all eurozone members to buy huge quantities of Italian government bonds during the crisis. While the national cent

Catastrophic flooding and crop losses in Thailand, the world’s leading rice exporter, are raising concerns that another food crisis may be in the offing. Further disquieting is the possibility that the world may have already entered a new era where persistently high food prices are the “New Normal.”At a time when policymakers are grappling with a host of thorny economic issues, the possibility may be unwelcome, but must not be ignored.Although volatility in commodity markets is nothing new, ther

JERUSALEM ― The recent surge in Turkey’s military actions against the Kurds in northern Iraq is an indication that, somewhat surprisingly ― but not entirely unpredictably ― Turkish foreign policy has undergone a 180-degree turn in less than two years. The Turkish offensive is also an indication that these changes go beyond the current tensions between Turkey and Israel, which are just one facet of much deeper trends.Just a couple of years ago, after the European Union slammed the door in Turkey’

PARIS ― National repentance is in the news again, as it has been with remarkable frequency in recent years. In 2008, Australia’s then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to his country’s Aborigines, while Queen Elizabeth II offered a moving gesture of contrition in Ireland a few months ago. And now, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a recent visit to the Caucasus, reiterated his advice to the Turks to “repent” for the massacres of Armenians committed by the decaying Ottoman regime in 1915.Of

Col. Moammar Gadhafi is dead at age 69. His demise has ended 42 years of brutal and erratic dictatorship in Libya. He and his cronies have left the country in ruins after eight months of civil strife. It may take years, if not decades, to launch a viable functioning democratic government, let alone to reconstruct and rehabilitate the nation.In December 2003, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (1939-2006) was captured by U.S. forces in a dirt hole at a farmhouse near his hometown, Tikrit, as a fugitiv