In proven and unproven reserves, Venezuela is believed to control some 270 billion barrels of oil, the deepest supply in the world. As crude prices lurch toward $100 per barrel, President Hugo Chavez would appear to hold the only weapon he needs to further tighten his grip on domestic political...

When it comes to emerging-market success stories, Brazil is usually the most overlooked of the so-called BRIC countries, a group that includes Russia, India and China. Trends underlying Brazil's political development and the country's ability to profit from a favorable international investment climate suggest that's a mistake.

The story behind...

Russia's newly assertive foreign policy has now reached the top of the world. On Aug. 2, a submarine crew planted a titanium Russian flag in the yellowish seabed more than two miles beneath the North Pole, laying Moscow's claim to nearly half the Arctic Ocean floor -- and its potentially...

Robert Mugabe may finally be losing his grip on Zimbabwe's throat. The accelerated decline of what's left of Zimbabwe's economy might soon leave the embattled president without the cash to pay off those on whom his political survival will depend. As prices spike and waves of Zimbabweans flee the country...

Tony Blair's passionate, articulate support for George W. Bush's decision to invade and occupy Iraq earned him considerable gratitude from the war's American supporters and ringing denunciations from its British critics. Blair proved to be Bush's indispensable ally. Friends and foes alike of Bush policy are now wondering if Britain's...

Why have Russia's relations with the United States and the European Union deteriorated so far and so fast? Disputes over NATO and EU expansion, arms control, war in the Balkans, and international competition for influence within several of Russia's neighbors have generated plenty of mutual mistrust.

But Kremlin fears for...

Reprinted from Tribune Media Services

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has dodged a lot of bullets over the years. He's survived multiple assassination attempts, managed intense U.S. pressure to drive jihadis from the country's northwest frontier no-man's land, and weathered domestic charges that he is a dictator and American puppet.

Some...

Reprinted from Tribune Media Services:

On May 1, England and Scotland will mark the 300th anniversary of the treaty that wedded the two within the United Kingdom. The festivities won't last long. Two days later, Scottish voters are expected to hand dominance of Scotland's parliament to the separatist Scottish National...

As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waved goodbye earlier this month to the 15 British sailors and marines his government held prisoner for almost two weeks, many around the world breathed a sigh of relief. Any easing of international tensions over Iran is welcome. But the respite is likely...

Too many U.S. foreign policy analysts, both in government and the media, still scan the horizon in search of America's next Cold War rival. They refuse to recognize that the forces that now generate change in the international order are fundamentally different than they were before 1990. Even China...