When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged from seemingly nowhere to capture the Iranian presidency in 2005, American officials were dumbfounded. Whereas his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, sought to assuage the West with talk of ‘dialogue of civilizations’, Ahmadinejad was crude and coarse.

The economy assuredly is a critical issue in the upcoming election. But well-informed voters also should be demanding that those wishing to inhabit the Oval Office answer some very tough questions about health entitlements as well.

So now it's Ron Paul's turn. The diminutive Texas libertarian is poised in the latest polls to win the Iowa caucuses. Obviously, this would be rough news for Newt Gingrich — who's in third place and falling — and very good news for Mitt Romney.

It is in Mahabalipuram that American businesses are finding some of their largest markets. It is also the place where U.S. policy makers may find the greatest opportunities for building the U.S.-India relationship, especially given New Delhi's recent mixed signals about its interest in closer ties with America.

The United States overtly defaulted on its obligations in the 1930s, when the U.S. government refused to pay its gold bonds in gold, in violation of its clear promise to do so.

The historic size of the Republican majority in the House, coupled with the unusually high number of freshmen members, will help Boehner in his efforts to cut government spending and fight Obamacare.

Despite his pledge to engage countries in the hemisphere, President Barack Obama's engagement with Latin America tends to be episodic, and on multilateralism and economic engagement in the region, the United States has lost considerable ground.

It would be wrong for citizens and investors to be confident that the G-20 governments will deliver their promises to reverse the monetary expansion and fiscal expansion, to do it at the right time, and to do it in a coordinated way.