Daniel Wagner

Last week, the USS North Carolina -- a Virginia class fast attack submarine -- took Chinese and Philippine authorities alike by surprise after resurfacing in Philippine waters and docking in Subic Bay -- the economic free port zone in the Philippine province of Zambales. Subic was once the largest U.S....

In bombshell testimony in a packed Senate hall today, the impeachment trial of Philippine Chief Justice Renato C. Corona took a dramatic turn. Citing a 21-page confidential report issued by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales Morales -- an appointee of President Benigno Aquino III -- testified that...

The outcome of the Greek elections, and the chaos that has ensued, should have sent a clear message to Berlin, Paris and Washington, that the austerity-first strategy has failed and that the very idea of making political distinctions between 'left' and 'right' has become passé at a time when the...

The influential British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote in his book Power that fear is the basis of both leaders and followers, of feelings such as anger, jealousy thirst for power, social positioning, and as the basis of the need to follow leaders and belong to some group. Yesterday, this fear...

This Sunday's French and Greek elections may mark the beginning of the end of the current political status quo not only for France and Greece, but for much of Europe. The polls will take place in a unique political, economic, social and psychological climate, and will likely mark a formal...

Walmart's alleged violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Mexico raises the profile of the controversial law to a new level. Some U.S. businesses have long questioned whether the FCPA is an appropriate impediment to doing business abroad in a world where acceptable and widely practiced...

The recent coups in Guinea-Bissau and Mali raise question regarding whether radical political change will sweep other parts of west and sub-Saharan Africa. The region is of course no stranger to dramatic and frequent political change, with 26 successful coups have occurred between 1963 and 2000. While the past decade...

Created in 1922, Argentine oil producer YPF became the first entirely state-run oil company in the world, and came to symbolize the politicization of oil well before today's Middle Eastern oil producers became omnipotent. The nationalization of oil has been a consistent theme in Argentina since the state first established...

News that the proposed Syrian ceasefire has fallen apart, that the Muslim Brotherhood has put forth a candidate for the presidency in Egypt, that challenges to the new government in Tunisia have already arisen, that there remains a risk of civil war in Libya, and that there is a good...

Philippine Chief Justice Renato Corona is the first high court justice to have been impeached by the Philippine House of Representatives on allegations of breach of the public trust, and is currently being tried by the Senate. Corona is the third person in high office to have been impeached by...

The fourth BRICS summit succeeded in consolidating the group's influence by seeking to enhance international cooperation and taking a unified stance on some of the world's most pressing concerns -- such as Iran, Syria, credit flows, global investment, and cross-border trade. This year's summit was a noticeable step forward: not...

Oxford University recently co-published the results of the first authoritative political survey of post-Gaddafi Libya, coinciding with the anniversary of the uprising that overthrew the dictator. Just 5 months after Gaddafi's death, while 69% of the 2,000 Libyans surveyed said they would like to have a say in...

Co-written by Joshua Wallace

The European Union's decision to impose a carbon levy on air travel to Europe had the best of intentions but has provoked howls of protest from some of the world's largest economies, with both China and India having stated they will...

The government of Bolivia has just announced that it intends to raise capital by issuing its first government bond since the 1920s, when JP Morgan helped the country fund construction of a railway. This time around, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs will be leading the...

The recently announced deal between Washington and Pyongyang, in which North Korea will suspend its nuclear activities and implement a moratorium on long-range missile tests in exchange for food aid, has been applauded by many North Korean observers, who see this as a hopeful sign of a genuine thaw in...

The focus of much of the reporting of the run up to, and the results of, Russia's presidential election has been on what is perceived to be the inevitability of Mr. Putin's reelection, and how this somehow spells disaster for Russia. But the overt anti-Putin orientation of the western press...

It is surely the case that when President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu meet at the White House on March 5th, the timing of a potential Israeli attack on Iran will be on the agenda. Another topic of discussion -- whether purposeful or inadvertent -- is likely to be how...

As pressure mounts on foreign powers to consider intervening militarily in Syria, analogies are being drawn between what NATO accomplished in Libya and whether something comparable may be possible in Syria. Military intervention would perhaps make the West feel better -- knowing that it attempted to do something concrete to...

China bashing has become as much a part of the modern American political tradition as criticizing foreign producers of oil, yet it seems few have actually stopped to think about whether it is justified. The American electorate has become accustomed to the predictable torrent of anti-Chinese rhetoric from politicians of...

The legislative showdown currently underway in the Indian Parliament over the Lokpal bill -- intended to put some boundaries around India's legendary corruption -- is unfortunately not unusual. Political gridlock has gripped nearly every potential significant reform since Prime Minister Singh's reelection in 2009. It is a shame that the...