Democracy & Governance
Korean Democracy at a Crossroads

Korean Democracy at a Crossroads

When Park Geun-hye became president of South Korea earlier this year, there was a sense of unease among many that the election of a dictator’s daughter represented a step backward for the country’s three-decade old democracy. Recent events show those fears to be well...

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Germany Votes and Austerity Reigns–For Now

Germany Votes and Austerity Reigns–For Now

Europe's most powerful nation has voted. On September 22nd, the people of Germany granted Angela Merkel a huge victory, awarding her center-right party nearly 50 percent of the seats in the federal parliament, the Bundestag. Although Merkel’s victory was a foregone...

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Southern Inhospitality

Southern Inhospitality

In every way, Yu Woo-seong was a model defector. In his early 30s, he was smart, friendly, ambitious, and well liked. Trained as a doctor in North Korea, he eschewed the competitive South Korean medical school system and instead pursued a bachelor’s degree in business...

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The Disease of Short-Termism

The Disease of Short-Termism

It was famously described as the “end of history.” The collapse of Communism and the victory of liberalism near the end of the 20th century seemed to suggest that the great ideological conflicts of the previous eras had come to an end. A new and powerful consensus...

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The Crisis of Humanitarian Intervention (Revisited)

The Crisis of Humanitarian Intervention (Revisited)

Supporters of the impending U.S. strike on Syria claim that it is necessary to punish the Assad regime for using chemical weapons on its citizens and to prevent it from further employing them.  The situation, says Washington, calls for “humanitarian intervention.” ...

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