Walking Among Land Mines
NEED TO KNOW Walking Among Land Mines An 81-year-old Maronite Christian admiringly called The General was elected president of Lebanon earlier this […]
An Incendiary Mix
NEED TO KNOW An Incendiary Mix Not a lot appears to have changed in Tibet since China cracked down on demonstrations and […]
A Call on Christmas
NEED TO KNOW A Call on Christmas Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was livid over the United States’ decision to abstain from voting […]
Myanmar’s Shame
NEED TO KNOW Myanmar’s Shame Hopes were high in 2010 when Myanmar’s military junta freed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi after […]
Once More Unto the Breach
NEED TO KNOW Once More Unto the Breach In recent years, it’s been common to hear that, while violence in the far-flung […]
Drip, Drip, Drip
NEED TO KNOW Drip, Drip, Drip “Berlin Loses Its Innocence” read the headline in the global edition of the German business daily […]
Zuma’s Rocky Years
NEED TO KNOW Zuma’s Rocky Years This year was rocky for South African President Jacob Zuma. Next year could be rockier. On […]
Disasters Ending and Beginning
NEED TO KNOW Disasters Ending and Beginning The fall of Aleppo was a humanitarian disaster that will likely go down in history […]
Unnatural Disaster
NEED TO KNOW Unnatural Disaster The fall of Aleppo was a humanitarian disaster that will likely go down in history as a […]
Concentrating Power
NEED TO KNOW Concentrating Power Kyrgyzstan became the latest country to upend its internal politics by holding a referendum over the weekend […]
Italian Baggage
NEED TO KNOW Italian Baggage New Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni is already facing a gauntlet of political obstacles to his hastily assembled […]
China Under Trump
NEED TO KNOW China Under Trump Could President-elect Donald Trump be rehearsing to perform “Nixon in China” backwards? Whereas Nixon reached out […]
A Growing Mire
NEED TO KNOW A Growing Mire An Irish High Court will be considering an important question next year: whether Britain can reverse […]
Smiling Kim
NEED TO KNOW Smiling Kim Amid the ongoing world conflict between democratically elected leaders who appear fated for humiliation and emboldened authoritarian […]
Of Diseases and Cures
NEED TO KNOW Of Diseases and Cures India is now one month into a unique experiment: radical demonetization. On Nov. 8, Indian […]
Game Almost Over
NEED TO KNOW Game Almost Over The end may be nearing for disgraced South Korean President Park-Geun-hye. In the latest twist, technology […]
Dangerous Spin
NEED TO KNOW Dangerous Spin It took a couple days for China’s propaganda machine to respond to President-elect Donald Trump’s supposed slights. […]
Biting the Dust
NEED TO KNOW Biting the Dust Gambians took to the streets Monday. This time the excuse was to celebrate the freedom of […]
Zig and Zag
NEED TO KNOW Zig and Zag The defeat of far-right Austrian presidential candidate Norbert Hofer could become the high-water mark of the […]
Too Big To Fail
NEED TO KNOW Too Big To Fail Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is the next world leader going into battle with anti-establishment […]
Wobbly Dominoes
NEED TO KNOW Wobbly Dominoes Austrians will take to the polls for the third time on Sunday to elect their next head […]
Dignity and Tedium
NEED TO KNOW Dignity and Tedium Diplomats are rarely blunt in public. But on Tuesday German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier didn’t mince […]
A Low Peak
NEED TO KNOW A Low Peak Not too long ago, everyone was talking about peak oil – the tipping point where rapacious […]
A Seismic Moment
NEED TO KNOW A Seismic Moment Fidel Castro’s death is likely to usher forth a slow, simmering political revolution that stands in […]