North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (left) and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. EPA-Corbis (left); Atta Kenare / AFP-Getty ImagesEnd of the Rogue State -- Nader Mousavizadeh, Newsweek
The world that created 'rogue states' is gone, and the sooner Washington recognizes it, the better.
A year after Barack Obama relaunched America's relations with the world's rogue states, the verdict is in: from Burma to North Korea, Venezuela to Iran, the outstretched hand has been met with the clenched fist. Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Rangoon, Pyongyang is testing missiles, Caracas rails against gringo imperialism, and Tehran has dismissed a year-end deadline to do a deal on its nuclear program. Engagement has failed and Obama is now poised to deliver on threats of tougher sanctions, as surely he must. Right? Well, not necessarily.
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COMMENTARIES, OPINIONS, AND EDITORIALS
Autocrats Of The World, Rejoice! -- Gordon G. Chang, Forbes
Rocky road ahead for relations between global superpowers -- Ian Bremmer, The Scotsman
Two Superpowers Take on the World -- Andreas Lorenz, Spiegel Online
A sheik-up call for O's Justice joker -- Rich Lowry, New York Post
President Obama: National Security as Afterthought -- Andrew Bacevich
The Greening Of Osama Bin Laden -- IBD Editorial
Lack of Intelligence: Why didn’t the Obama administration interrogate the Christmas bomber? -- Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard
You cannot stop the terrorist threat if you are unable to profile it -- Charles Moore, The Telegraph
More airport security won’t do much to stop terrorists. Leaving the Middle East would. -- Jeffrey Miron, Christian Science Monitor
A Time and a Place for Russia -- Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky