Americans face a mystery caper of gargantuan proportions. With 9.1 percent unemployment and only 1 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product in the last quarter, our national economy is sputtering. Economists fret about the possibility of a double-dip recession. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke worries that overseas investors are losing...

The recent decision by Standard & Poor's to downgrade its credit rating of U.S. government debt from AAA to AA+ resulted not from lack of money, but poor governance performance by federal officials. A number of long-term trends has paralyzed policymakers and made it difficult to address pressing problems. Unless...

A revolution is brewing in the United States Congress that could have profound consequences for public policy and institutional performance. It is not the GOP takeover of the House of Representatives that will bring scores of new members to Washington, D.C. in January.

Nor is it the proposed...

Europeans still support President Barack Obama, but are puzzled by his drop in domestic support. On a speaking tour this week of Germany and Netherlands, I found most people like Obama and think he represents a dramatic improvement over President George W. Bush. This impression is confirmed by a...

It is humbling to be an American technology expert visiting Seoul, South Korea. In case you don't know it, that Asian city has the world's fastest broadband. While there for the inaugural general assembly of the World e-Government Organization, I compared notes with meeting host Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon....

Recent statements by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the importance of enacting immigration reform this year has led some observers to conclude immigration reform should not be attempted during an election season and that legislation on this subject represents bad politics. They...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev does not receive very positive press in the Western media. Critics portray him as the hand-picked successor to Vladimir Putin and someone who has presided over a media crackdown, unfair business practices, and the undermining of democratic institutions.

But his recent treaty agreement with President Barack...

With double-digit unemployment, you would think community colleges would be at the center of our national agenda. After all, there are 1,200 such schools in America and they enroll nearly 7 million individuals. This amounts to around 40 percent of all the post-secondary students in the United States. And these...

It is easy for Democrats to fear the sky is falling in. Grim headlines proclaim that voters are nervous and Democrats are fighting among themselves over health care. National public opinion surveys reveal a 10 percentage point decline in voter confidence in President Barack Obama's overall leadership. There are unresolved...

When Parisians stormed the Bastille in 1789, political communications centered primarily on newspapers and face-to-face conversations. News-gathering was localized, and it took weeks for political developments to spread around the world.

Now, political protest has shifted to the Internet. The role of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in recent Iranian street...

During my last physical exam, I was pleased to see my doctor pull out a handheld computer. Since my regular checkup the preceding year, she had joined the small group of American doctors using electronic medical records. Complimenting her on this, I asked about my 26 years of medical history...

I just came back from the White House event where President Obama and Vice President Biden launched their Middle Class taskforce. Held in the East Room of the White House, the room was filled with 200 representatives of labor, higher education, business, minority, and non-profit organizations. I met John Sweeney,...

President Barack Obama starts his term with the highest rating of any recent new president. According to national public opinion polls, nearly three-quarters of Americans are favorably predisposed to him.

Yet maintaining public support will be a major challenge. Presidential popularity typically slips as the economy nose-dives. By all...