What matters for China is not whether Westerners believe the system is cracking. The question is: How do the Chinese view their own system?

Like all our political institutions, the presidency has evolved with the growth of the nation and the pace of change in the modern world. Three key changes come to mind.

If a narco-state or violent crackdown emerges in Venezuela, the White House will no longer be able to avert its attention from the mess or to ‘lead from behind.'

As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez battles cancer, it's anyone's guess who his successor will be.

In 1964, Ronald Reagan famously said, "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness." This speech instantly turned Reagan...

There was a touch of starry-eyed celebrity worship that came with the election of President Barack Obama.

Barack Obama could improve relations with Latin America by strengthening ties with President Lula in Brazil.

With the different styles within the Republican party, the more outspoken versus the more substantial, we need a candidate which does both.