HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA — After a recent column about the global recession, in which I described our situation as bad but not desperate, several readers angrily responded: “There’s really no reason for optimism. If you’re that hopeful, why didn’t you provide some inspiring examples?”
Happy to oblige. In fact, I am visiting one of them right [...]

The opening salvo of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “global listening tour” — a swing through Asia — has produced constructive effects and positioned the United States for renewed leadership in the region.
Nearly a year ago, I recommended that the next American presidential administration focus early and often on the Asia-Pacific area, [...]

Why is the Obama administration’s plan to revamp the U.S. approach to national security drawing criticism before it even gains momentum?
If anything, the overhaul – which National Security Adviser James Jones will supervise – is past due. The global realm continues to evolve in major and often unanticipated ways; strategies must keep pace. As Jones [...]

When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown uttered the word “depression” recently, listeners gasped. A similar effect immediately rippled across Europe and around the world. By the time that Brown’s office was suggesting that he had made a mistake, the damage was done. Another potential “crisis of confidence” had emerged, and I would like to know [...]