China is not the world’s other superpower
By Fareed Zakaria In February 1972, Richard Nixon went to China and restored Sino-U.S. relations that had been broken for 23 years. During that visit, Nixon held a series of critical meetings with China’s premier, Zhou Enlai, and they discussed the broad strategic framework that would guide bilateral relations. President Obama’s meetings with President Xi … Read more
Economy needs both reform and investment
By Fareed Zakaria One way President Obama can begin to put the IRS scandal behind him is by proposing comprehensive tax reform. Beyond the usual Washington theatrics, the real problem is that the U.S. tax code is unbelievably complicated, clocking in around 74,000 pages, with all rulings, regulations and other material. The greater the complexity, … Read more
U.S. credibility is not on the line in Syria
By Fareed Zakaria President Obama’s critics have pounced on his use of the phrase “red line” to urge military intervention in Syria. They argue, in the words of Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, that the “credibility of the United States is on the line.” Presumably they mean that Iran, North Korea and others are … Read more
A better way for America to integrate Muslims
By Fareed Zakaria As we learn more about the brothers Tsarnaev, we are inclined to ask larger questions about their apparent descent into terror. What does it tell us about radical Islam, Russian immigrants, Muslim communities and the breakdown of assimilation? The most accurate answer might turn out to be: not much. Larger phenomena might … Read more
Could Margaret Thatcher’s reforms work in 2013?
By Fareed Zakaria I grew up admiring Margaret Thatcher. It was obvious to many of us in India in the 1970s that socialist economics didn’t work and that Thatcher’s radical reforms were the right course, one we wished someone would advocate in India. (It took 12 years and a massive crisis for that to happen.) … 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
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
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
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
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
