Moisés Naím / The National Interest
Hosni Mubarak is eighty-one years old and, since 1981, president of Egypt. Fidel Castro is eighty-five, and has held supreme power in Cuba for half a century. At eighty-three years old, the King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej ranks as the longest-serving head of the state: his rule began in 1946. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi Arabia's king, is eighty-six. The Supreme Leader, who also calls himself Dear Leader, Our Father, The General and Generalissimo, will soon turn seventy. His real name is Kim Jong Il, the cruel tyrant of North Korea.
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Moisés Naím / International Herald Tribune
Predicting Europe’s growing international irrelevance has become as common as mocking the follies of Brussels.
In fact, the consensus is that within a few short decades, the weight of European economies in the world is bound to plummet to less than half of what it is today.
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Moisés Naím / New York Times
Predicting Europe’s growing international irrelevance has become as common as mocking the follies of Brussels.
In fact, the consensus is that within a few short decades, the weight of European economies in the world is bound to plummet to less than half of what it is today.
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Moisés Naím, Uri Dadush and Bennett Stancil / Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
With the debt crisis in Europe now entering its second phase, California seems an odd place to turn for guidance. At first glance, California appears to be in the midst of an economic and fiscal crisis that dwarfs Europe's. Its unemployment rate, now more than 12 percent, is one of the highest in the United States and nearly 3 percent more than the EU average; California's home prices have dropped 34 percent since 2007, while in Europe the decline has been moderate; and, over the last three years, the collapse of California's tax receipts produced a cumulative budget deficit of about 40 percent of its revenues, more than twice that of Greece. California's politics are as gridlocked as any in Europe. Political infighting left the state without a budget for the first 100 days of this year.
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Moisés Naím and Uri Dadush / Bloomberg Businessweek
Following the slim pickings in Seoul, the U.S. may soon have to choose between making hard decisions concerning its tax and spending policies or endangering a pillar of its post-war prosperity: the open, rules-based trading system which has served it so well.
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Moisés Naím and Uri Dadush / The Wall Street Journal
At first glance California appears to be in the midst of an economic and fiscal crisis that dwarfs Europe's. Its unemployment rate, now more than 12%, is one of the highest in the U.S. and nearly 3% more than the EU average; California's home prices have dropped 34% since 2007, while in Europe the decline has been moderate; and over the last three years, the collapse of California's tax receipts produced a cumulative budget deficit of about 40% of its revenues, more than twice that of Greece. California's politics are as gridlocked as any in Europe. Political infighting left the state without a budget for the first 100 days of this year.
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Moisés Naím / Foreign Policy
Stock markets reacted euphorically Monday to the massive rescue package announced the night before to prop up crashing European economies. Passions cooled slightly on Tuesday as the market rally halted, but still, it seemed, all was as it should be: The package agreed upon in Brussels provides Europe’s embattled economies with a much needed respite and may even save the European integration project from the disaster of several countries being forced to shed the euro. It is all good news — that is, if it works.
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Moisés Naím / Foreign Policy
Does the editor of Foreign Policy magazine need to be a U.S. citizen? That was my first question in mid-1996 upon learning that the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the think tank that then owned the magazine, was looking for a new editor. Maybe a written or, perhaps, unwritten rule reserved the position for Americans? In most other countries, after all, it would be hard, if not impossible, for a foreigner to run an elite publication like FP. But not here: It turned out that my Venezuelan nationality was not a problem. I could apply, and to my surprise, I got the job — a job that I have decided to leave in June after 14 great years.
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Moisés Naím / Foreign Policy
What’s worse: declaring war against a social problem or calling for a Marshall Plan to solve it? Both are enduring and popular metaphors. Unfortunately, both lead to bad government decisions. Public policies shaped by such thinking more often than not result in waste, blind spots, and Manichaean mindsets that limit the search for more effective approaches. Think of the long-running wars on drugs, terrorism, and cancer. The results, all too predictably, have been more confusing than the problems.
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