We’d better face it: this Korean crisis is more ominous than any in the past 20 years or so. The Pyongyang leadership - shaky, bankrupt and fearful of change - is clearly on its last legs. What do Stalinist dictators do in such circumstances ? They flex their military muscle and, if they’ve got it, [...]

The recent underground nuclear test performed by North Korea has shaken not only the Korean Peninsula, but all major capitals around the world, from Beijing to Moscow to Washington D.C. The charge was four times as powerful than the one in 2006, having roughly the same capacity as the Nagasaki nuclear blast. What is less [...]

In the first quarter of 2009, eurozone economies have contracted for the first time in 60 years by around 2.5 percent. Unemployment is expected to rise to around 10 percent of the workforce by 2010, while consumption of goods and services has decreased accordingly. All across the continent, car makers, builders and exporters are feeling [...]

Extending the war in Irak will probably be regarded by pundits as the biggest foreign policy blunder the US has made in recent memory. Much as a consequence of it, the war in Afghanistan has been fought with less resolve, enabling Al-Qaida and the Talibans to regain their strength and challenge the Western forces present there. Furthermore, [...]