InternationalCommentary
Q&A: Iran, the American Sailors, and Current Laws
Given the news that Iran held U.S. naval personnel and their two vessels for a day or so, and broadcast the images and videos of… Read More
InternationalCommentary
China’s Big Military Reforms
Amidst the New Year transition from 2015 to 2016, the Chinese announced the first set of long-awaited major military reforms. This constitutes an enormous shift… Read More
InternationalCommentary
North Korea Claims Successful H-Bomb Nuclear Test
North Korea announced Wednesday that it has conducted a successful H-bomb nuclear test of a miniaturized warhead. Prior to the announcement, sensors had detected a… Read More
InternationalCommentary
Was This Top North Korean Official Assassinated?
North Korea announced Wednesday that its most senior official in charge of inter-Korean relations died in a car accident. Kim Yang-gon was head of the United… Read More
InternationalFeature
Retracing a High, Desperate Flight at Below Zero Near Mount Everest
NAMCHE BAZAR, Nepal—The hike to the Nangpa La refugee route was not an easy one. I felt fine and strong, but the weight of my… Read More
InternationalCommentary
South Korea and Japan Resolve ‘Comfort Women’ Issue
South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement Monday to settle long-standing divisive issues resulting from Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula. The most emotional… Read More
InternationalFeature
No Way Out: The Forbidden Himalayan Escape Route for Tibetan Refugees From China
NAMCHE BAZAR, Nepal—There are a lot of ways to die on the Nangpa La. For one, the altitude can kill you. This is what Tibetan… Read More
InternationalCommentary
North Korea’s Failed Diplomacy
Twin events over the weekend dashed tremulous predictions that North Korea was seeking to improve strained relations with South Korea and China. Pyongyang’s decisions to… Read More
InternationalCommentary
Why North Korea’s Claim That It Has a Hydrogen Bomb Is Worrisome
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un asserted that his country has built a hydrogen nuclear bomb to “defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation.”… Read More
InternationalCommentary
China’s Major Pollution Problem Causes Beijing to Issue a ‘Red Alert’
On Monday, for the first time, Beijing announced a “red alert.” The alarm was a consequence of the thick smog that had blanketed the city… Read More
InternationalCommentary
Cambodia’s Slide Into Repression
On Nov. 13, Cambodia’s dictatorial prime minister Hun Sen ousted opposition leader Sam Rainsy, stripping him of his seat in parliament and calling for his… Read More
SecurityCommentary
Want to Know Why the South China Sea Is Always Being Talked About?
Many politicians have recently voiced concern regarding Chinese activity in the South China Sea. With all the issues to be discussed, some might wonder why… Read More
InternationalNews
Anti-India Protests in Kathmandu Reflect Frustration With Blockade of Nepal
KATHMANDU, Nepal—Protesters here vented their frustration with India’s ongoing trade blockade of Nepal, which has created a nationwide fuel and medicine shortage and slowed the country’s… Read More
InternationalCommentary
Kazakhstan’s Economy: Collateral Damage From Low Oil Prices and Russia’s Recession
2015 has not been kind to Kazakhstan’s economy (the largest in Central Asia). Although it has the highest levels of economic freedom in the region,… Read More
SecurityCommentary
The Obama Administration Still Lacks a Strategy to Counter China and Russia
Last week, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter gave a major speech at the 2015 Reagan National Defense Forum outlining the Obama administration’s new strategies to… Read More
InternationalCommentary
China Is Trying to Redefine International Norms on the Reach of States
With the decision to conduct a Freedom of Navigation operation (FONOP) in the waters around China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea, U.S.-Chinese relations… Read More
InternationalCommentary
China Has a Serious Demographic Problem and Its New Two Child Policy Will Not Fix It
China’s recent decision to abandon the one-child policy in favor of a two-child policy, while welcome, is neither a fundamental policy shift nor a long-term… Read More
InternationalCommentary
What I Learned From Tibetan and Ukrainian Freedom Fighters
KATHMANDU, Nepal—About two months before a mortar killed him, 19-year-old Ukrainian soldier Daniel Kasyanenko smoked a cigarette with me in a trench in eastern Ukraine…. Read More
InternationalCommentary
China Has More Billionaires than US
The number of Chinese billionaires has increased by almost 70 percent in the past year, according to figures in the 2015 “Hurun Rich List,” an… Read More
InternationalNews
The CIA’s Secret Himalayan Hotel for Tibetan Guerillas
POKHARA, Nepal—It’s been 43 years since the CIA cut off support to the Tibetan guerillas that the agency trained and armed to fight a covert… Read More
InternationalNews
North Korean Defector’s ‘Winter Butterfly’ Film Unveils Extremes of Starvation in North Korea
Young 11-year-old Jin-ho treks into the North Korean mountains every morning collecting firewood to earn just enough to keep him and his starving mother alive…. Read More
InternationalNews
As China Abandons One-Child Policy, Experts Agree Change Won’t Be Enough to Avert Demographic Crisis
China is abandoning its controversial “one-child policy” in favor of a universal two-child policy, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua. The move comes after several… Read More
InternationalNews
First, an Earthquake Struck Nepal. Now, the Nation Is Dealing With Another Disaster.
POKHARA, Nepal—In 2010 Dilu Ranabath left Nepal to find work in Iraq. He took out a $4,000 bank loan to pay a fixer to get… Read More
InternationalNews
Why the Legacy of Tibet’s Cold War Freedom Fighters Still Matters
DHARAMSHALA, India—When Sonam Dorjee was a Buddhist monk at the Debung Monastery in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, he would not kill an insect. After… Read More
InternationalCommentary
What the US Achieved by Sailing Into the South China Sea
After months of discussion, and an interval of three years, the United States has finally matched actions to its verbal challenges of China’s island-building in… Read More
InternationalNews
Tibet: The Forgotten Refugee Crisis
NEW DELHI, India— The Majnu Ka Tilla Tibetan refugee colony in New Delhi is a chaotic neighborhood of narrow alleys and shanty concrete structures packed… Read More
InternationalNews
Meet the Yale Law Grad Who Abandoned Her Career to Help Save 200 Chinese Babies
The past month marked two important milestones for human rights activist and lawyer Reggie Littlejohn. As of Sept. 25, China’s so-called “one-child policy” has officially… Read More
InternationalNews
The Daring Escape From a North Korean Prison That Took One Life but Saved Another
SEOUL, South Korea—North Korea will be at the top of the agenda when President Barack Obama meets with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye at… Read More
InternationalNews
A CIA-Trained Tibetan Freedom Fighter’s Undying Hope for Freedom
PANGONG LAKE, India—At dawn, the old man stood outside his home on the Indian side of Pangong Lake, thumbing his prayer beads and chanting, “Om… Read More
InternationalCommentary
Need for Long-Term Thinking in U.S.-Thai Alliance
The king of Thailand is dying. The bluntness of this statement will win no friends in Thailand—as the New York Times was reminded last week when its printer… Read More
