My colleague, Paul Heinbecker, Canada's former ambassador to the United Nations, once commented wryly that the distance from hubris to delusion is short and the George W. Bush administration covered it in a sprint.

By the end of his second term, Bush was so deeply unpopular around the world that little was required of his successor to establish international popularity and be an early contender for the Nobel peace prize. Simply by staying out of sight and doing nothing, President Barack Obama...

The China-US relationship will be the pivot of the post-unipolar world order. China is the world's largest auto market, the biggest exporter of merchandise and will account for the largest growth in world trade for some time. The US remains the finance and consumption capital of the world but the new production capital is China. It is dependent no longer on US markets, managerial know-how and technology, nor on US power as a counterweight to a Soviet threat. A dominant player in setting energy,...

Any new administration in Washington excites overseas curiosity about the incoming power elite's priorities and world views. In parliamentary systems, a neutral civil service provides continuity and contacts nurtured by officials throughout their professional careers. In the US presidential system, when a different party captures the White House, wholesale replacement of senior officials can prove particularly disruptive to established comfort levels among friends and allies as well as...

Asia's three giants will shape its and the world's strategic destiny. India has a rugged and resilient democracy; Japan is a stable and mature democracy; and China is seeking to promote market-led economic growth within tight political centralism under Communist Party control.

India's legitimacy is rooted in a political model of liberal democracy that is unique in human history in scale and poverty; China's is in economic success without precedent in scale and pace; and Japan's is in the...

Should Washington respond to a rising China by bypassing Japan or reinvigorating the U.S.-Japan alliance? A healthy U.S. alliance is insurance for Japan against a future China threat. Good relations with China are a hedge against an unreliable U.S. ally.

The future of American bases and the more than 40,000 troops in Japan has become unexpectedly contentious. In 2006, after a decade of negotiations, the two countries agreed to relocate 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, and another 2,000...

From 1000-1800 AD, Asia, Africa and Latin America -- today's developing world -- accounted for 65 to 75 per cent of global population and income. Europe rode to world dominance through the industrial revolution, innovations in transport and communication, and colonialism, during which the developing countries suffered dramatic relative losses.

According to economist Deepak Nayyar, from 1870 to 1950, Asia's per capita income plummeted from one-half to one-10th of West European levels. Asia has...

Asia's three giants will shape its and the world's strategic destiny. India has a rugged and resilient democracy; Japan is a stable and mature democracy; China is seeking to promote marketed economic growth within tight political centralism under Communist Party control.

India's legitimacy is rooted in a political model unique in human history in scale and poverty, China's in economic success without precedent in scale and pace, and Japan's in the combination of political democracy and wealth...

The China-US relationship will be the pivot of the post-unipolar world order. Western perceptions of China tend to oscillate between confrontation and fascination, either inflating or downsizing its importance. The benign view sees China taking its rightful place as a responsible stakeholder in the management of regional and world order; the pessimistic assessment worries about its potential for mischief across a broad range of issues around the world.

Driven by strategic narcissism, the $US3...

From 1000-1800 A.D., Asia, Africa and Latin America-today's developing world-accounted for 65 percent to 75 percent of global population and income. Europe rode to world dominance through the Industrial Revolution, innovations in transport and communication, and colonialism, during which the developing countries suffered dramatic relative losses. According to Jawaharlal Nehru University's Deepak Nayyar, from 1870 to 1950, Asia's per capita income plummeted from one-half to one-tenth of West...

Congratulations to Dr. Rhoda Howard-Hassmann for winning the prestigious Dartmouth Medal from the Reference and User Services Association for the Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Oxford University Press, 2009). Dr. Howard-Hassmann is a Senior Editor of the five volume encyclopedia.

The Dartmouth Award Committee selected the Encyclopedia of Human Rights, "for its comprehensive coverage of a timely and important topic." And went on to call it, "a major contribution to the literature of human rights,...