Politics

Despite the historic election of President Barack Obama, racism is alive and well. But it’s not just a U.S. problem. Racial discrimination may be the scourge of our time, and if there is any government that ought to understand that, it’s ours. Yet, the Obama administration is debating whether to participate in a United Nations…

When President Barack Obama hits Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago this weekend for the Fifth Summit of the Americas, all of the democratically elected governments of the Western Hemisphere will be there to talk trade, recession and security issues. Well, almost all. The single outcast: Cuba, the undemocratic island nation on which the U.S.…

If you’re an American, don’t start packing your bag for Havana just yet.  The changes in Cuban policy announced by the Obama administration this week are modest—and aimed strictly at Cuban Americans.  The new laws effectively sweep away the stringent Bush rules which had made visits almost impossible. Now, Cuban Americans will be able to…

Port of Spain is not Prague. For one thing, the weather forecast calls for average temperatures around 90 degrees this weekend. But when President Obama arrives in the Caribbean on Friday for the fifth Summit of the Americas, climate will not be the only dramatic change from his recent European travels. Festive will replace formal.…

He’s got a plan, and don’t you forget it. One of the more curious things about President Obama’s big economic speech yesterday, and this is admittedly cynical observation, is why the president decided to so dramatically change the subject of the public conversation from his handling of pirates back to his handling of the economy.…

I should have known better. At a table full of relatives for Easter dinner, I found myself actually getting into a conversation about the economy, big bad Wall Street, the evil government, and of course, clueless journalists. As a financial journalist, I get a front-row seat to see how frustrating the economy can be. I’ve…

The successful return of Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama—a small but significant overseas victory on the Obama watch—highlights some interesting contrasts in the president’s approaches to foreign policy over the past several days. In reaction to the launch of a North Korean missile, the Obama administration ardently pursued the support of other world…

The corridors of the West Wing are narrow enough that the entourages of visiting Cabinet officials cause the occasional bottleneck. On a recent afternoon, Mona Sutphen, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, ran into an eddy swirling around Kathleen Sebelius, secretary-designate of the Department of Health and Human Services, who extended her…

After his make-nice tour of Europe and the unfortunate Saudi bow, Somali pirates may have been exactly what Barack Obama needed. There is nothing like a little lethal sniper action to shut down questions about whether you’re decisive enough. It is not the basis for a broad foreign policy, but the willingness to kill bad…

Traditional proverb: Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime. In Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working And How There is a Better Way For Africa, former Goldman Sachs and World Bank employee Dr. Dambisa Moyo adeptly posits…