Among Dante’s illustrious renderings of the seven deadly sins in his epic poem “The Divine Comedy” (1309-1321), “Acedia” ― or sloth ― seems to have particular resonance today. Drowning in the hellish waters of the river Styx, Dante’s slothful sinners were people with whom the poet himself felt some affinity, and for whom he harbored great pity and sympathy. Sometimes translated to “depression,” or “lack of passion for God,” the word “Acedia” ― as Dante’s English translator Dorothy L. Sayers poin

MANILA ― In recent months, China has sparred with the Philippines, Vietnam, and Japan over its extravagant territorial claims in the South and East China Seas and the West Philippine Sea. These conflicts have undermined regional security, impeded investment planning, and sparked an undeclared military contest between China and its regional counterweight, the United States.Indeed, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden recently made it clear that the resources and attention that the United States is alloc

Foreigners often wonder, “China and Japan have a number of cultural icons such as kung fu and samurai. Does Korea have any cultural icons?” An American scholar recently suggested the “seonbi” as a cultural icon of Korea. “Seonbi” refers to virtuous scholars who did not seek monetary gain or mundane pleasures during the Joseon Dynasty. The seonbi could be a fine cultural icon of Korea, although similar personas can be found in Chinese history, too. Another good example is the image of the Korean

WASHINGTON ― What is President Obama doing with his bob-and-weave Syria policy that seemingly bounces between bombing and diplomacy in the space of 15 minutes? The answer tells us some worrying things about the breakdown of America’s old foreign-policy consensus and Obama’s difficulty creating a new one. Look behind the White House veil and here’s what you see: The president correctly believes that in the aftermath of Iraq and Afghanistan, the country is sick of war and mistrustful of politician

The failure of Lehman Brothers on Sept. 15, 2008 marked the beginning of the end of the world’s love affair with financialization. Financialization was one of three mega-trends that swept the world in the last 30 years ― the others being free markets and globalization. Financialization is defined as the growing importance of finance in daily activities, both at the national and global levels. Kids grow up these days wanting to be financial engineers instead of civil engineers. The effect was mas

PRINCETON ― The prospect of a U.S. military strike on Syria has dimmed following President Barack Obama’s embrace of an international initiative to take control of Syria’s chemical-weapons stockpile. The eleventh-hour U-turn on the push for military action has come against a backdrop of intensifying diplomatic pressure from the international community to avoid escalation of the violence in Syria. And that outcome is not possible without Iran.In a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpar