Analysis & Opinion
In North Korea, kids learn to love the bomb – and Minnie Mouse
North Korea is the most mysterious and oppressive regime on earth. Few journalists penetrate Pyongyang and fewer still stay long enough to understand the country and its people.
Why even a failed test makes North Korea’s nuclear arsenal scarier
Nuclear weapon tests are no longer a commonplace occurrence, so it’s always a little shocking when it happens. It may even be shocking to the country that conducts it – most recently, North Korea.
Cooperation and conflict between ranchers and the feds
Troubled relations between Western ranchers and the federal government do not have to lead to an armed standoff. Yet, rancher Ammon Bundy and his militia, who are occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, are part of the American West’s long tradition of fierce battles between public and private land ownership.
China proves fast learner of painful market lesson
It ditched a stock-market circuit breaker days after its introduction. Quite right: the mechanism did more to stir concern about pent-up selling pressures than to calm markets. The speed with which China made this volte-face bodes well for its integration into global markets.
Western grievances are real, but Bundy is the wrong guy to raise them
Bundy believes he has a quasi-constitutional, quasi-divine right to defy federal rule. But his neighbors demur.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are playing a winner-take-all game
How did the execution of a cleric escalate so quickly into a diplomatic crisis between two regional rivals that have been fighting a cold war for over a decade?
Happy nuclear New Year from North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
“We will absolutely not accept it if we are bothered by invaders and agitators, even in a minor way. We will respond firmly in the style of a ruthless holy war for justice and unification,” Kim Jong-un said, in his New Year's address.
Why another North Korean nuclear test isn’t a game changer
Internationally, though the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) draws global ire with each test, it does cement its status in an elite club.
How the Saudi king benefits from a cleric’s execution
The execution of Nimr sends multiple signals within the kingdom. The most significant is a get-tough message to all, coupled with an assurance to the Iranians that King Salman is firmly in control, and able to further prosecute the open-ended war in Yemen.MOST COMMENTED
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COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS

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