Newsweek World News

Medvedev Is Reinventing the Red Army

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:08:05 GMT

How Medvedev plans to reform the military—and why Obama should not be worried.

A Q&A With Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:18:17 GMT

When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected Liberia's president in 2005, she inherited a country wrecked by civil war and began to transform it. Today, school enrollment is up 40 percent, Monrovia has power and running water, and trade in diamonds and timber is up again. NEWSWEEK's Jina Moore met recently with the former World Bank economist to talk about terrorism, the resource curse, and Obama's Africa agenda.

Khamenei Will Be Iran's Last Supreme Leader

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:53:05 GMT

The clerical establishment has become so sick of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that they will not replace him when he dies.

Obama's Man in China: Ambassador Jon Huntsman

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:37:24 GMT

Well before the Chinese welcomed Obama, his ambassador was showing them how an American politician works a crowd. And they love it.

American Hubris Is China's Gain

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:58:33 GMT

According to its CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs is doing "God's work." This quote, care of the LondonTimes(though delivered in irony, according to Goldman Sachs) was met with bewilderment at a Chinese business conference in Lisbon last week, where foreign CEOs and government officials were dumbstruck by the hubris. Many of the attendees blame Wall Street bankers like Goldman for the global financial meltdown and think the U.S. is doing a bad job of cleaning up the mess. "Do you think those quotes were made up?" asked one incredulous Latin American participant. But America's diminished position in the world was even better illustrated by how quickly the Blankfein banter faded and talk turned to China's growing clout. Goldman Sachs itself is now predicting that Chinese GDP will overtake that of America by 2027. This year, China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest generator of investment capital, around $2 trillion compared to America's $1.4 trillion, according to economist John Ross. Much Chinese cash is pouring in to Africa and Latin America. Amadou Hott, CEO of Nigeria's UBA Capital, said his country's future was "now more tied to the East than the West." China's growth is the reason that Latin America and Africa, for the first time in modern history, haven't been the worst hit by a global downturn. During one session in Lisbon, a Chinese entrepreneur was asked to offer advice to Barack Obama on the eve of his visit to Beijing. The answer: Get your daughters a Mandarin tutor.

My Turn: Detained Hiker's Brother Awaits News

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:52:02 GMT

There are certain crises that always loom as possibilities: a chronic illness in the family, strife in a relationship, a car accident. To have a brother detained in Iran, with no way to contact him and little information about his legal status or the conditions in which he's held, is not one of them. Never would I have imagined putting my Ph.D. research on hold to lobby for my brother's release from Evin Prison; I didn't expect to move back to my parents' house at the age of 30, either.

As Obama Arrives, China Suffers an Identity Crisis

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:47:26 GMT

On the eve of Obama's visit, China reveals an identity crisis.

Chinese Sea Turtles Return Home

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:50:24 GMT

China has launched a concerted effort to bring home top talent from the United States.

Soldiers of Fortune

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:29:53 GMT

How the Israeli Army became the most prolific innovation engine on earth.

The Beijing Hotspots Obama Won't Visit

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:52:46 GMT

The places Obama won't visit on his first trip to China.

A Q&A With Afghanistan's Ashraf Ghani

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:14:54 GMT

U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was reelected in a fraud-ridden election in August, that he risks losing international support unless he radically overhauls his corrupt and incompetent administration. Ashraf Ghani, Karzai's former finance minister turned presidential rival, is often mentioned as someone who could help him meet the tough new benchmarks imposed by Afghanistan's foreign backers. Last week Ghani met with NEWSWEEK's Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai in his suburban Kabul home to offer his outlook on Afghanistan and discuss his plans. Excerpts:

Pablo Escobar's Son Tells His Story

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:02:55 GMT

He's got quite a story to tell. After Pablo Escobar died in a hail of bullets in Medellín in 1993, 16-year-old Juan Pablo Escobar fled with his mother and sister to Ecuador, beginning a long journey of resettlement that brought them all over South America and Africa, and ultimately to Argentina, where he changed his name and became an architect. Now that the international media frenzy has begun, Marroquín knows his life of anonymity is over. In Colombia, the film's release on Dec. 10 is expected to be a watershed cultural event; 30 prints have been ordered, unprecedented for a documentary. "I don't think anyone can prepare for something like this," says Marroquín. "My only conviction is for this film to be a message of peace."

America Should Focus on India, not Pakistan

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:18 GMT

By all rights, the United States and India should be bound together by the shared tragedies of 9/11 and last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai. India's size, economic-growth trajectory, and rising power as a stable, secular democracy in a dangerous part of the world ought to make it a key U.S. partner. Instead, Washington's single-minded focus on India's much smaller unstable neighbor, Pakistan, in carrying out the war on terror has increasingly strained its relations with New Delhi. To India's dismay, the U.S. has looked the other way while much of the $10.5 billion in military hardware and cash subsidies provided to the Pakistan Army for use against the Taliban has been diverted to building up arms capabilities targeted at India. Equally disturbing is that Washington has given only perfunctory support to India in pushing Pakistan to prosecute the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks.

Barton Biggs on the Next Emerging Market

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:55:28 GMT

Winds of change are sweeping Syria.

A Chinese Dissident Artist's Plea to Obama

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:14:49 GMT

An artist explains why Barack Obama should be talking about human rights during his first visit to China this week.

Amid Tensions, Japan Already Won America's Respect

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:53:27 GMT

Barack Obama hasn't even arrived yet, but Yukio Hatoyama, Japan's new prime minister, has already gotten everything he wanted from the president.

Here Are the Actual Afghan Strategies on the Table

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:48:02 GMT

President Obama is finalizing a decision on a way forward in Afghanistan. Here's what different decisions would mean, and why any of them could ultimately come up short.

The Pretend War Brewing in the Andes

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:44:44 GMT

Hugo Chávez looks like he's preparing for war with Colombia. Don't be fooled: he's just wagging the dog.

Why 1979 Was the Year That Truly Changed the World

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:08:01 GMT

Forget the fall of the iron curtain: the events of '79 matter more.

Rethinking the Lessons of Vietnam

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:03:07 GMT

Napoleon was not a particularly philosophical man, but an observation of his that has come down to us bears thinking about. "What is history," he once asked rhetorically, "but a fable agreed-upon?"