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The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Columnists

22. John J. Metzler

Berlin blues; German election after Merkel

Angela Merkel is leaving the political stage. After 16 years as Germany's chancellor presiding over amazing growth and stability, her Christian Democratic coalition CDU/CSU hardly gained from her political coattails in the recent national elections. Rather her Christian Democrats suffered their biggest electoral drubbing since 1949. Part of the outcome rests with an uninspiring national campaign and a lackluster candidate.

2021-10-12 16:46

Shadows of 9/11

We all remember where we were on Sept. 11, 2001. We all remember with sheer disbelief watching the unfolding horror and the realization that “it could happen here.” We all remember and vowed never to forget the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on America, and, just as importantly, to ensure that they never happen again.

2021-09-16 17:00

Afghanistan, hinge of fate

The warning flags were clearly there but Team Biden chose not to heed them. A top secret State Department memo in mid-July, cited by the Wall Street Journal, signaled swift advances of the Taliban and the impending collapse of the Afghan military. Nobody seemed to notice?

2021-08-31 17:00

Afghanistan's Saigon scenario

Sadly, we have seen this movie before. In the spring of 1975 the collapse of South Vietnam coming to crescendo with the fall of Saigon indelibly marked a generation.

2021-08-23 17:10

Root causes of Cuban crisis

Cuba's ongoing political and social upheaval has shocked many observers as a sudden and intense summer storm. Across the island in small towns and provincial centers, protests have erupted like a squall line that ultimately reached the capital of Havana.

2021-07-29 17:05

Global tourism needs shot in arm

It's summertime and the living is easy, as the old song goes. And vacations both domestic and international should be surging despite dark pandemic clouds still shrouding parts of the world.

2021-07-26 17:00

Party time for China's Xi Jinping?

Amid pomp, pageantry and proletarian parades, China's President Xi Jinping kicked off festivities celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CCP). The mass performances and political choreography, one of the things dictatorships seem to do so well, was held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

2021-07-12 17:03

Afghan war clouds gather as US prepares final pullout

Dark clouds are shadowing Afghanistan, as the final pullout of American forces from the beleaguered war-torn country continues and the future darkens with the likely approach of a militant Taliban regime. Time is running out to “prevent a worst-case scenario,” as Deborah Lyons, the U.N.'s Special Representative told a Security Council briefing, in which she warned that the “possible slide toward dire scenarios is undeniable.”

2021-07-04 15:45

Biden's summit without a peak

Were there great expectations for the summit meeting in Geneva between President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin? Certainly not, but in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. president's week of transatlantic diplomacy at the Group of Seven (G7) in Britain, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting in Belgium, a clear momentum seemed to favor Biden; if nothing else the president appeared immersed in the economic and defense concerns of Europe and thus should have been at his political prime.

2021-06-23 17:02

Europeans' disillusionment with US

European majorities seem troubled and deeply disillusioned over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned into a crisis of confidence in the European Union, and equally stirred lingering doubts about the United States as a partner and ally.

2021-06-14 16:56

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