Are we witnessing a collapse in faith in paper currency – and hence, the very social contract society is based on? For Germany’s Die Welt, historian Michael Sturmer warns that unless a way is found to restore confidence in the currency, the days are numbered for democracy and the way of life we have all come to expect. For Germany’s Die Welt, Michael Sturmer writes in part: This is not just...

Now that the White House and Congressional lawmakers have agreed to raise the debt ceiling, there is considerable concern in other nations about the bipartisan “super committee” that will be charged with the next round of budget cuts. According to this editorial from the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japanese are not only concerned that the lawmakers will be unable to agree, but that continuing disagreement...

Does the acrimonious process of raising the U.S. debt ceiling demonstrate the genius of the American system in action? According to this editorial from Brazil’s O Globo, the deal arrived at by feuding Republicans and Democrats was a lesson for other nations – particularly Brazil – about getting ahead of debt and tax-related issues. The O Globo editorial says in part: There will always be...

It is easy to forget that there are people whose lives don’t include cable television and shopping at malls. And that 11 years after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, South Africa might as well be in another solar system as far as most Americans are concerned. These are among my motivations for publishing Letter From the Eastern Cape, a regular feature debuting today at my blog. The author...

An ailing former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been wheeled into a courtroom as he goes on trial on charges related to the deaths of protesters in the uprising that led to his downfall. CNN’s report: The Los Angeles Times: A nation watched rapt as toppled President Hosni Mubarak, once the epitome of the Arab autocrat, was wheeled into a makeshift courtroom in a hospital bed Wednesday to stand...

Will the U.S. Supreme Court rule according to its tendency to favor corporate America, or will it strike down recent state law that cracks down on undocumented immigrants in the United States – which would undercut the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? Columnist Arturo Balderas Rodríguez of Mexico’s La Jornada warns that the undocumented can’t count on the Court to protect their ‘fundamental...

Can it credibly be said that George W. Bush and U.S. neoconservatives are partly responsible for the emergence of Norwegian terrorist and mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik? According to columnist K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran, Western media has been careful not to draw the right conclusions about where a man like Breivik really came from. For Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran, K....

Now it isn’t only the United States that is angry at Pakistan for terrorists trained there that go elsewhere and go on the attack. Now China is as well: China pointed a finger at Pakistan, one of its closest foreign partners, as it blamed one of two deadly attacks over the weekend in the northwestern Xinjiang region on Muslim extremists trained across the Pakistani border.? Police also “executed...

Today Al Jazeera English will be carried on cable systems in New York City for the first time. In good NYC tradition, only by subletting space from another channel owner. That’s how the network got carriage in DC, too. In the U.S. we get our censorship by other means; public interest be damned: Al Jazeera English was lauded by the United States government and even by a few competitors for its broadcasts...

Delegitimizing those who win elections is not strictly an American preoccupation. According to this article by Louis Bassets of Spain’s El Pais, the struggle over the debt ceiling that is apparently winding down in Washington has analogues in other venues and countries, and is a trend that is pushing the world toward anarchy. For El Pais, Louis Bassets writes in part: Living on the edge and challenging...

Have U.S. lawmakers lost the plot over the last few weeks? This editorial from Sweden’s Upsala Nya Tidning offers members of the U.S. Congress some practical advice about what to do about the U.S. debt ceiling, and some comparative politics just to remind them that America isn’t the only developed country struggling with debt and social safety net reform. The Upsala Nya Tidning editorial says...

The Bus is hanging over the edge of the ravine. The Bus is crammed with human beings. The driver behind the wheel, steps away from the crisis, leaving others hanging… At the moment, on cable and network tv, many reps and senators are hedging now about how they will vote on the agreement just announced to not default et al. They are right now, to a person, saying, “I havent read the legislation…”...

Should President Obama stop allowing himself to be ‘made a fool of’ and present Republicans with a ‘fait accompli’ on the U.S. debt ceiling? For Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland, Matthias Ruch argues that Republicans have only one goal – to defeat Obama – so he implores the president to stop playing the ‘fool’ and resort to the 14th Amendment of the...

Are people who warn of serious consequences in case of a U.S. default exaggerating? Not according to economist Sergio Sebold, who tells readers of Jornal Do Brazil of the dire consequences which will ensue if America fails to maintain the reliability of the world’s sole ‘zero-risk asset’: U.S. Treasury bonds. For Jornal Do Brazil, economist Sergio Sebold writes in part: Ever since the Declaration...

The “lead” in a Washington Post story this morning reads: The United States is planning to provide the Iraqi government with a wiretapping system to eavesdrop on cellular calls and messages “to assist in combating criminal organizations and insurgencies,” according to a U.S. Air Force contract solicitation. And continues with: The proposed system would allow Iraqi officials to monitor and store voice...

We have been so focused on, almost mesmerized by the goings-on in our nation’s capital that it might not be a bad idea to—for a moment—move our eyes and attention way southward, past the Gulf of Mexico, past the Caribbean, across the Cordillera de los Andes, towards a little country straddling the Andes and right smack on the Equator. You got it, that little country is Ecuador. A country that...

John Boehner is in the same spot he was in a week ago, when he walked out of budget negotiations with President Obama. He doesn’t have the votes. The difference this time is that he doesn’t have the votes for his own plan, not the president’s. (Editor’s UPDATE: There is a chance Boehner’s plan will pass tonight but it has been refurbished in a way so that more than ever it is...

As members of Congress continue to rumble over raising the U.S. debt ceiling, they might spare a thought to the hundreds of millions if not billions of souls in other nations who are experiencing heartburn over their behavior. This editorial from Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun expresses concern that the debt ceiling brawl is hindering the recovery from Japan’s triple catastrophe last March. The Yomiuri...

The normally retiring newspapers of Japan, the country that holds the second largest amount of U.S. debt, are letting out some of there inner tigers in reaction to the prolonged debt ceiling debate. This editorial from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun implores American lawmakers to act responsibly so as not to plunge the world into another major financial crisis. The Mainichi Shimbun editorial says in part: It...

What does the emergence of a man like Norway’s mass killer and self-professed Tempar Knight Anders Breivik mean? This editorial from Germany’s Berliner Morgenpost outlines the striking similarities between two men that would appear at first glance to be polar opposites. The editorial from Germany’s Berliner Morgenpost says in part: Although he calls himself a Knight Templar, killing and...

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1st through September 30th. The current fiscal year 2010-2011 was a product of congressional compromise four months ago that was passed with Tea Party support. Congress already approved federal borrowing that would exceed the current debt limit. There are only two months left before this fiscal year ends and another fiscal year begins for which there is no budget in...

Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

With the deterioration in relations between the United States and Pakistan is it clear sailing now in America’s often rocky relationship with India? Not necessarily, writes Daniel Larison in The Week: As relations between the U.S. and Pakistan reach new lows, building a more stable U.S.-India relationship has obvious advantages for American interests in South Asia. The U.S. and India have enjoyed increased...

Legal Guns Would Make Norway Safer Making Sense, by Michael Reagan How long would the Norway gunman have lasted in Texas or any state where concealed-carry laws are on the books? I ran a survey while on a cruise: in Texas, 3 minutes; in Montana, 7 to 8 minutes; in Arizona, 2 minutes; and in Nevada, 3 to 5 minutes. Had Norway not surrendered to the anti-self-defense nuts, and allowed Norwegians to protect themselves...

As the United States nears the August 2 deadline for raising its astronomical debt ceiling, much of the world is watching with dismay. Frankfurter Rundschau columnist Thomas Spang writes that Tea Party lawmakers are close to achieving what America’s enemies ‘have only dreamed of.’ For Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, Thomas Spang writes in part: Not even warnings from the [financial...