Write a Constitution
Nations moving from dictatorship to democracy should put paper power before people power By Fareed Zakaria In the days of the Arab Spring, we were all intoxicated by the sight of millions gathered in public squares to protest dictatorial governments. We hoped this would culminate in liberal democracy in the Arab world. Two years later, … Read more
North Korea’s high-stakes bluster
By Fareed Zakaria Karl Marx wrote that history repeats itself the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. And the third time, he might have added, as North Korea. Just when you thought the place could not get any stranger, it did. In the past few weeks, this impoverished, isolated nation has tested a … Read more
Build That Pipeline!
Reducing our dependence on oil will do far more to slow climate change than blocking the Keystone project By Fareed Zakaria One way to think about the Keystone project—the 2,000-mile (3,220 km) pipeline that would bring oil from the tar sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico—is to ask what would happen if it … Read more
The challenge from China
By Fareed Zakaria Secretary of State John Kerry’s first foreign trip is an impressive swing through nine countries in Europe and the Middle East. But I wonder if he should instead have visited just two countries, China and Japan. That’s where the most significant and dangerous new developments in international relations are unfolding. The world’s second- and third-largest economies … Read more
Upward Mobility
Obama’s plan to expand pre-K education is a step in a long catch-up game By Fareed Zakaria America has long been seen—by its citizens and the world—as the place where anyone can make it. And yet studies from the past two decades all point to a different reality. Economic mobility in the U.S. is low … Read more
Obama aims small on infrastructure
By Fareed Zakaria President Obama’s State of the Union address presented an expanded vision of smart government to create jobs and revive the economy. Yet he lowered his sights on the single policy that would both jump-start the economy in the short term and create the conditions for long-term growth: infrastructure spending. Having tried several … Read more
Will He Fight or Compromise?
Obama has a chance to use the will of the majority to break the deadlock By Fareed Zakaria One of the great political debates in Washington—and around the country—has been about whether Barack Obama is a highly partisan Democrat bent on a liberal agenda or a centrist searching for compromise. It’s still early in his … Read more
Arab Spring’s hits and misses
By Fareed Zakaria The chaos at the second anniversary of the Tahrir Square uprising is only the latest and most vivid illustration that Egypt’s revolution is going off the rails. It has revived talk about the failure of the Arab Spring and even some nostalgia for the old order. But Arab dictators such as Hosni … Read more
What’s in a Name?
Is al-Qaeda on offense, or are thugs in Africa just trading on terrorism’s best-known brand? By Fareed Zakaria The recent terrorist attack at a natural gas plant in Algeria—which, together with the counterstrike by Algiers, left 38 hostages and 29 militants dead—has aroused fears that we are watching the resurrection of al-Qaeda, no longer just … Read more
The Indian Spring
By Fareed Zakaria NEW DELHI Americans dismayed by politics in Washington might find something familiar in what’s happening in India. Here, frustration with government has turned into rage. Last month’s gruesome gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman brought tens of thousands onto the streets. And while the protests have subsided, the anger is … Read more
