Free historical advice to President Trump on his Asian trip

As President Trump journeys to Asia in search of a solution to the North Korean nuclear dilemma, he might benefit from this historical insight: Americans have been trying to unravel the relationship between China and Korea for more than 100 years–and they have consistently failed to get it right. One of my prized possessions is […]…

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Attacking NAFTA Is The Wrong Way to Create Jobs

There’s a fundamental debate occurring about how to create jobs for Americans who have been bypassed by technological and global trends. President Trump’s approach seems to be to undo the forces of globalization and force manufacturers to bring jobs back to the United States. But the right response is to send a clear message that […]…

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The Dumbest Story on Trade Ever to Appear in The New York Times

It’s a good subject–“What Can Be done About the Trade Deficit–” but Eduardo Porter today offers the single lamest exploration of this subject I can recall. Ever. First of all, he uses the old canard that Japan is finished. “Hobbled by a two-decade slump, Japan is out of the picture.” I covered the trade tensions […]…

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Training Opportunity For Freelance Journalists

An organization called A Culture of Safety, on whose board I sit, is offering important training to any journalist who covers potentially dangerous regions–and today, that means most of the world. Here is the application form. HEFAT stands for Hostile Environments and Emergency First-Aid Training. ACOS and allied media organizations are subsidizing the costs of […]…

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The Single Most Worrisome Trend in China

There are many troubling trends in China these days–the government has recentralized power and is creating a cult of personality around President Xi Jinping, who is expected at an upcoming meeting of the Communist Party to seek to extend his term in office beyond the traditional 10 years. Xi has crushed dissent and arrested or […]…

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