The Nazi legacy is an understandably heavy burden for Germany, even today. This leaves Germans emotionally vulnerable to comparisons to their 20th century forebears. And with the country exercising ever-more influence over its European Union allies, cutting remarks that include such comparisons are blossoming like mushrooms after a spring rain. So how to deal with it? For Germany’s Die Zeit, Bernd...

Is it possible that American citizens, now under arrest in Cairo, were involved with a plot to partition Egypt into four smaller states? According to columnist Muhammad Dunia of Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram, maps that were discovered during a raid on the Cairo offices of the U.S.-based International Republican Institute prove that at least some of the foreign NGOs operating in Egypt are actively involved...

UPDATE: A wave of unusually severe cold is gripping Europe. But the weather is not the only thing that is chilling over there. Under the headline “A Chilling Verdict in Spain,” the New York Times reports that “The enemies of Judge Baltasar Garzón have finally gotten their way” as Spain’s Supreme Court has found Judge Garzón guilty of misapplying the country’s wiretap law and suspended him from...

When it comes to the oppression of dissent in Syria, are the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council undermining global peace and security by issuing ‘reckless vetoes’? According to this editorial from Japan’s Kochi Shimbun, by concerning themselves with the interests of their own countries rather than what is best for the world, China, Russia, America, Britain and France are demonstrating...

Would the United States, utilizing what is known as a ‘false flag’ strategy, sacrifice a nuclear aircraft carrier to persuade the world that a war against Iran must be waged? According to columnist Anna Pinderak of Poland’s Wprost24, a theory is making the rounds that the Pentagon has sent the famed USS Enterprise to the Persian Gulf – to sink it – and then to blame Tehran...

Are young people in America less stridently nationalistic than their predecessors? Columnist Fyodor Lukyanov of Russia’s Gazeta, citing recent Pew Research Center polling data, asserts in this detailed evaluation of U.S. public attitudes, that there is a declining tendency on the part of the U.S. population to believe in American exceptionalism, and concludes that U.S. foreign policy will be increasingly...

How should we characterize the impending end of Western military operations in Afghanistan? Was it a painful defeat, a hard-won success, or something in between? Columnist Danièle Fonck of Luxembourg’s Le Jeudi writes that nothing worthwhile has been gained by the Afghanistan invasion, and the soldiers who died – whether Westerners want to admit it to themselves or not – did so in vain. For...

By now most readers know my (changed) position on the Afghanistan War. I have expressed concern among other about rampant corruption and backstabbing at the highest levels in the Afghanistan government, incompetence of and disloyalty among its military and police and continuing human rights violations. I have mourned our casualties and fretted about our huge financial costs. But — perhaps insensitively...

Warren Buffett’s complaint about his secretary paying more in taxes than he does is having a global ripple effect. According to columnist Helena Garrido of Portugal’s Jornal De Negotios, the debate on tax fairness in the United States should be food for thought in Portugal, where the economy is in a tailspin and thanks to widespread tax evasion and tax avoidance, tax revenue has plummeted. For the...

Yesterday, in a YouTube/Google Plus town hall, President Obama finally admitted to what the world has known for years: that the United States has been using drone aircraft to kill militants in among other places, America’s supposed ally, Pakistan. This editorial from Pakistan’s The Nation welcomes this admission of the obvious, but wonders how the president could claim that most of those killed...

For those who may have been distracted by the Republican nomination race, the first potentially armed conflict since the Thatcher years between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands – known by Latin Americans as the Malvinas – is brewing. Unfortunately, according to columnist Gilson Caroni Filho of Brazil’s Opera Mundi, the United States, even if it doesn’t recognize British...

An obvious yet often overlooked persective on the Guantanamo Bay prison is that of Cuba itself – where the prison is located. Will Cuba ever get Guantanamo Bay back from the United States? And what does Havana do with the $4085 Washington sends it every month to lease the land that the base is on? According to Enrique Milanés León of Cuba’s state-run Juventud Rebelde, ending Washington’s...

More than 10 years after September 11, 2001, I thought that I had seen and heard all the stories about that tragic day. But recently I received an e-mail from a friend with a link to a video of a 9/11 event that I was not familiar with, or which I have perhaps forgotten. The video is a documentary made by award-winning documentary filmmaker Eddie Rosenstein and narrated by Tom Hanks. It premiered at the Center...

Has American society given up one of its foundational principles – that anyone who hunkers down and works hard can make it? Columnist Reymer Kluever of Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung explains President Obama’s State of the Union change in political tact by pointing out that since the 1970s, the United States has become one of the least fair industrialized countries in terms of tax policy...

Why is Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’ proving to be the longest and most deadly battle in the nation’s history? Columnist Luis Javier Garrido of Mexico’s La Jornada outlines in great detail how the companies and government agencies which are supposed to battle narco-trafficking are proving so profitable, neither governments nor the companies they pay wish it to end. For La Jornada,...

Like much of the rest of the world, German commentators have been captivated by the death-match between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. And opinions seem almost unanimous. Echoing the views of just about everyone we’ve seen, columnist Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger of Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes that whether Gingrich wins the nomination or not, he cannot be good for the party or...

How bad is the damage Republicans are doing to one another in the Republican primaries? This editorial from Germany’s Der Tagesspiegel outlines why, at least from outside the United States, it looks like reelecting Obama may turn out to be a cake walk. The Der Tagesspiegel editorial starts out this way: Mitt Romney, the favorite, is tottering. But who can replace him as President Obama’s opponent?...

No matter where in world one looks, incredulity and wonder seem to be the reactions people have to the political resurrection of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In this latest critique, columnist Thomas Spang of Austria’s Nachrichten advises Mitt Romney to get off the stick or be swept away by the voter rage being so well-harnessed by Gingrich, who Spang refers to as a ‘hypocritical moralizing...

Back in September of 2009, I started one of my several articles on the Afghanistan War as follows: As the fighting in Afghanistan intensifies; as that war claims more and more casualties; and as critical decisions loom on national objectives, strategy and corresponding troop levels and deployments there, the debate also intensifies. As the war has continued unabated and has indeed claimed more and more young...

This absolutely, totally made me cry. This post at BlogHer is also worth reading for a number of the links and information on the news.

A Sikh ready for the holy bath at Golden Temple in Amritsar in northern India. Ever heard of a place where you can enjoy live Western classical music round-the-clock? Perhaps there is none. However, if you are interested in attending a non-stop Indian classical music concert round the year, then the place to visit is the Golden Temple (or Harmandir Sahib) at Amritsar in northern India. This place is the rallying...

Has the North Korean regime ‘played’ one of the Western World’s leading news agencies? Cho Jong-ik of South Korea’s Daily North Korea reports on concerns about the announcement that North Korea has given the Associated Press permission to become the first Western outlet ever permitted to open an office in Pyongyang. For the Daily North Korea, reporter Cho Jong-ik writes in part: North...

Are America’s ‘big three’ credit agencies at fault for wrongly downgrading Eurozone debt at the worst possible time – or are European leaders just looking for someone else to blame for their troubles? According to this editorial from Germany’s Die Welt, the blame for the mess in Europe rests squarely on the shoulders of European officials who would rather tell their constituents...

There is no question as to how utterly uniformed Rick Perry’s remarks about Turkey were Monday night in South Carolina. Calling one of our staunchest NATO partners a country that is being ruled by “Islamic terrorists” is not really the savviest thing one would expect from a presidential candidate. But perhaps we are being too rough on the Texas governor. Here’s the question posed specifically to Perry...

The same Republican presidential wannabe who would send U.S. troops back into Iraq and thus would most likely again need the use of Turkish land and air space to provide logistics support to our troops there, now labels that nation a country that is being ruled by Islamic terrorists — and worse. During Monday’s GOP presidential candidates debate in South Carolina, Texas governor Rick Perry also...