To be “close-minded” is, according to the dictionary, to be “intolerant of the beliefs and opinions of others; stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas.” To be conservative and close-minded, according to popular portrayal, is a redundancy—a package deal that liberals can and do take for granted.But University of Virginia...

Developed economies are implementing massive fiscal stimulus packages, but fiscal multipliers are not certain, financing budget deficits will not be easy, the risk of default looms, and central bank independence may be eroded.

In "It’s Even Worse Than It Looks," congressional scholars Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Norman Ornstein of AEI identify two overriding problems that have led Congress — and the United States — to the brink of institutional collapse. Mann and Ornstein call on the media as well as the public at large to focus on the true causes of dysfunction.

We hear so often about Muslims as victims of abuse in the West and combatants in the Arab Spring’s fight against tyranny. But, in fact, a wholly different kind of war is underway—an unrecognized battle costing thousands of lives. Christians are being killed in the Islamic world because of their religion. It is a rising genocide that ought to provoke global alarm.

As a non-Christian with a deep affection for Christmastime, I’ve always felt a little left out around this time of year, but not in the way you might think.

President Obama today unveiled a new national defense strategy  creating a "leaner"  force that Secretary of Defense Panetta allows will create "some level of additional but acceptable risk."  Moving away from the traditional two war strategy, and hinting at substantial reductions in Europe, the President presented a dramatic shift in global posture for the United States.

For Pakistan, founded as a homeland for all Indian Muslims, the Sunni-Shiite divide is an awkward subject that many would rather ignore. But the rest of the world needs to pay more attention to this conflict.