The Senate Foreign Relations Committee gave its blessing to President Obama’s plan to take limited action against the Syrian regime for using chemical weapons against its own people.   A full Senate vote is expected in the next few days and will likely pass.  Barring any hiccups in the House, the bombs could start falling as...Read More

I first saw the Panama Canal in action in 2002.  Though nearly 90 years old at time (and soon to be 100 years old at time writing), it was an impressive piece of engineering to behold even by modern standards.  A series of locks lifts ships 85 feet above sea level and then lowers them...Read More

“The present, as permanent and overwhelming as it can seem, is fleeting,” writes Robert Kaplan in the introduction to The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate.   “The only thing enduring is a people’s position on the map.” As a country built with a spirit of...Read More

Greece is no stranger to economic crises such as the current one. The country has been in debt since its independence and has gone through a cycle of borrowing and defaulting numerous times. Foreign powers have always had an interest in maintaining Greece’s stability, so previously they always agreed to refinance its debts. The only...Read More

With outstanding U.S. debt fast approaching 100% of GDP and budget deficits continuing to yawn stubbornly wide, the next president and congress will have some unpleasant decisions to make.  Spending will have to be cut.  But from where? Social Security and Medicare will come under debate, as will most discretionary spending.  But the elephant in...Read More