The Obama adminstration's decision to move forward with the Korea free trade agreement represents a sharp break from a deliberately ambiguous trade policy and may mark a welcome return to U.S. trade leadership if the administration can overcome political obstacles to see it through.

Blowing up North Korea's missile would help achieve a durable peace.

Heads of state and foreign ministers from 50-plus countries will gather next week in Seoul, South Korea, to discuss the threat of nuclear terrorism, a follow-up to the first “nuclear-security summit” convened two years ago in Washington by President Obama.

The European Union-or at least its feisty climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard-seems determined to take on the whole world by demanding that all airlines pay a carbon tribute for the privilege of crossing EU airspace and landing at EU airports.  

Whether the Obama administration is willing to give all assistance to Tokyo or Seoul in shooting down this missile might turn out to be the crucial element.

Talks aimed at resolving the Iranian nuclear weapons threat will again resume this Friday. In Seoul late last month, the President reminded Iran that it must act with “‘urgency.” “There is time to solve this diplomatically,” Obama enthused. “It is always my preference to solve these issues diplomatically. But time is short.”

America's new trade deal with Korea shows that bilateral negotiations can work. But the deal is headed for tough scrutiny on both sides of the Pacific.

Ever since its founding in 1948, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has maintained an aggressive and bellicose international security posture. Today, fully two decades after the end of the Cold War, North Korea's external defense and security policies look arguably more extreme and anomalous than ever.