The Nobel award acknowledges aspiration more than achievement, just as the words “all men are created equal” referred not to the United States as it was but as it should be.

On the one hand, there’s Obama’s “open hand” approach that rewards the unclenched fist with a handshake. On the other hand there’s the other hand, the one that Obama keeps close to his chest. This “hand” is the set of cards that Obama the gambler plays with poker bluff and blackjack daring. Two hands: two governing metaphors. The challenge arises, in language as in policy, when the metaphors mix.

During the Cold War, we managed our nuclear arsenals rather than reduced them. We treated our nukes like huge, dangerous animals. We restricted their movements but gave them ample care and feeding. Until recently, getting rid of the animals altogether was not part of the political agenda. After all, our leaders believed that these beasts were useful. They scared away the covetous neighbors.

Like Vietnam, will the Afghanistan War drive a stake through the heart of President Barack Obama’s ambitious domestic program?

Last week, I inadvertently found myself back in second grade. This is how it happened.

What we need now is a new transatlantic alliance — a transatlantic alliance from below — that can bring us to this Europe 3.0.

What the Japanese elections mean for the country’s foreign policy.

if we’re going to outsource, we should outsource to the experts. The Chinese.

When celebrities say stupid things in public or get nabbed for shoplifting, their agents shift into overdrive. The same thing happens to countries that get nailed in public for their horrendous human rights abuses.