1. France's Laurent Fabius enters questions from reporters before entering a meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels, January 31, 2013

    European Union Likely to Relax Syrian Weapons Sanctions

    European nations are expected to relax the terms of their embargo to put pressure on Syria’s Bashar Assad.

    European foreign ministers are likely to agree to relax the conditions of their Syrian arms embargo when they meet in Brussels on Monday to allow France and the United Kingdom to…
  1. Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika is welcomed by French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner in Nice, May 31, 2010

    Algerian President’s Illness Could Herald Generational Shift

    Abdelaziz Bouteflika might be Algeria’s last leader to have experienced its struggle for independence from France.

    Algeria's prime minister admitted in remarks that were reported on Tuesday that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was seriously ill and convalescing in France, raising the prospect of a generational shift in the North…
  1. Israeli justice minister Tzipi Livni attends a meeting in Kiryat Gat, February 25, 2011

    Despite Coalition Support, Israeli-Palestinian Peace Deal Unlikely

    Centrist parties in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government lack the support to push for a compromise.

    Despite support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's two centrist coalition parties for a peace deal, Israel is unlikely to reach such an accord with the Palestinians under his government. Liberal justice minister Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister, clashed…
  1. Pakistani politician Imran Khan watches a rally in Karachi, December 25, 2011

    Pakistan’s Political Star Imran Khan Down, Not Out

    The former cricketer will have a chance to build his party in opposition and emerge stronger.

    The political tsunami that Pakistan's Imran Khan promised, and was so sure of achieving, never came. His party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, fell almost a hundred seats short of Nawaz Sharif's conservative Muslim League which is now set to form a government. The former cricketer's meteoric…
  1. The Financial District in New York City, New York, November 10, 2011

    American Central Bank Seen Reinflating Financial Bubble

    By keeping interest rates near zero, the Federal Reserve is distorting investment.

    Fear is rising that the American central bank's expansionary monetary policy might be inflating another bubble. Having flooded financial markets with some $2 trillion in easy money since the summer of 2007, the Federal Reserve has hampered a necessary reallocation of resources…
  1. Prime Ministers Li Keqiang of China and Manmohan Singh of India speak at the presidential palace in New Delhi, May 20, 2013

    India Poised to Be China’s New Engine for Growth

    Having soured relations with neighboring Japan, China cannot afford to alienate Asia’s other major economy.

    Quite possibly the most senseless foreign policy position China has taken over the years has been its stance toward Japan. With diplomacy concentrating on World War II issues that most of the world has…
  1. Russian president Vladimir Putin and his defense minister General Sergey Shoygu observe military exercises in Anapa on the Black Sea, March 29, 2013

    Russia’s Putin Sidelining Liberals in Conservatives’ Favor

    The dismissal of the Kremlin’s former chief ideologist seems to confirm a power shift.

    Since winning a third presidential term last year, Russian president Vladimir Putin has removed liberals from his inner circle, tilting the balance of power in favor of conservative veterans…
  1. Soldiers from neighboring West African countries deployed to Mali, January 29, 2013

    Despite Interventions, Libyan, Malian Islamist Threat Rising

    Governments in the Maghreb seem unable to contain the regionwide insurgency.

    Despite Western military interventions in both African countries' civil wars, the Islamist threat in Libya and Mali is rising, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday. According to Afua Hirsch, the paper's West Africa correspondent, "The security problems in northern Mali,…