Obama sees change in the weather for his legacy
In America’s coal country – centred in Appalachia and stretches of the Mountain West – Barack Obama has come to represent federal tyranny. With this week’s announcement of new regulations intended to...
View ArticleWar-weary America has to show its steel in Iraq
What the world saw last Thursday evening was an American president torn between personal preferences and cold reality. The result is a US that is once more moving towards greater military involvement...
View ArticleAsia’s strategic choices: subtle or stark?
In the consumer realm, Asia has always been about choices. Which smartphone, which brand of music, which kind of cuisine and increasingly which kind of car are the kinds of decisions at a consumer...
View ArticleThis means war: miscalculations have pushed Ukraine and Russia over the edge
It is an inconvenient truth for Russia, Europe and the US, but we must call a spade a spade: Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a war between sovereign states, even if Kiev is the only government yet...
View ArticleUS midterm elections offer limited prospect for economic change
It is only a matter of time until financial markets turn their attention to next month’s midterm Congressional elections in the US. The temptation will be to take the bait of political pundits and...
View ArticleAmerica’s revival defies Washington’s sclerosis
It is hard to find someone who is not pessimistic about America. Two-thirds of our citizens see the country on the wrong track, particularly because they hate Congress and do not much like the...
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The climate breakthrough in Beijing gives the world a fighting chance
President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping at a joint press conference on November 12 (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images) Today’s US-China joint announcement on climate change and energy is the most...
View ArticleDon’t fear the dollar’s ‘orderly rise’
There are a lot of crowded trades in world markets today, but the most crowded of all is probably a bet on the dollar. The sheer breadth of the consensus is the best reason to be worried about a rising...
View ArticleWhy Obama is testing the frontiers of executive power
With a clear majority in both houses, Republicans face a difficult choice about whether to compromise with President Barack Obama on a series of issues. Mr Obama has already made it clear that he will...
View ArticleCuba detente is the latest sign the cold war is over
The US Constitution gives considerable latitude to the president to make foreign policy and on Wednesday Barack Obama exercised it in a big way. Describing US policy towards Cuba as outdated and...
View ArticleSyria exposes the decline of American diplomacy
Barack Obama is both right and wrong. He is right in saying that “the credible threat of US military action” pushed Syria to give up its chemical weapons. He is wrong in believing that a “limited...
View ArticleA diplomatic dance will be no waltz for either Iran or America
The most significant diplomacy surrounding the opening of this year’s UN General Assembly did not involve Syria but Iran. What was agreed with Tehran is potentially significant. Talks will focus on...
View ArticleNo alternative to dollar except financial chaos
Can you hear the sound of cans being kicked down the road? The US disaster scenario has been avoided, for now. But given the deep disagreements between Democrats and Republicans and the even deeper...
View ArticleRepublican moderates need a political machine
For the past 20 years, American politics has been defined by Republican revolt. The rightwing radicalism that now worries the whole world first emerged in response to Bill Clinton’s election in 1992....
View ArticleThe real challenge for US-Iran talks lies at home
A year ago, the prospect of a US-Iranian nuclear settlement seemed very distant. Now, top negotiators from Iran, the US and other major powers are convening in Geneva, and may be on the verge of...
View ArticleWashington must not settle for secular stagnation
We may, as I argued last month in the Financial Times, be in a period of “secular stagnation” in which sluggish growth and output, and employment levels well below potential, might coincide for some...
View ArticleThe world needs a more confident Germany
Last weekend officials from around the world once again gathered for the annual Munich Security Conference – a sort of Academy awards for security policy wonks. While senior officials covered the gamut...
View ArticleThe toothpaste tube test: squeezing more growth
Last week was a good one for global economic rebalancing, or so it seems at first sight. Encouraging data from several countries point to a global economy that is operating on more cylinders and,...
View ArticleObama has to stop prevaricating on foreign policy
Barack Obama’s long-anticipated speech on Wednesday at West Point, the US Military Academy, was designed to answer a growing number of domestic critics of his foreign policy, who believe he is not...
View ArticleIs this the freeze in America’s Asia pivot?
There has been considerable commentary of late questioning the seriousness and sustainability of the so-called American pivot or rebalance to Asia. Mush of this breathless handwringing is overwrought,...
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