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By Peter Zeihan

At the time of this writing, the natural gas crisis in Europe is entering its 13th day.

While the topic has only penetrated the Western mind as an issue in recent years, Russia and Ukraine have been spatting about the details of natural gas deliveries, volumes, prices and transit terms since the Soviet breakup in 1992.| MORE ›

SUCCESS Magazine had the privilege to interview retired General and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. The conversation focused on success, how Powell became as successful as he is, how others can become successful, etc., but they also talked about other subjects such as power and influence. The interview casts Powell in an interesting light, I believe; it shows us yet another side to a man who may very well be one of the most respected and appreciated men in America.| MORE ›

Senator Hillary Clinton, President-Elect Barack Obama’s choice for secretary of state, vowed Tuesday to revitalize American diplomacy. She made the comment during the confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Since Clinton will be Obama’s secretary of state, it is important to listen carefully to every word she says during said confirmation hearings. She criticized President George W. Bush, for instance, for having downgraded the role of arms control in foreign relations.| MORE ›

I was just watching Al Jazeera, which is the only international broadcaster with reporters in Gaza; Daniel Pipes, direct of the Middle East Forum, appeared on a show to explain what he thought about the war in currently raging in Gaza.| MORE ›

Writing for Real Clear Politics, David Shribman explains that one of President Barack Obama’s main jobs as president of all Americans will be to “inspire.” He will have done half his job, Shribman seems to believe, if he inspires American to reach new heights, in their personal and public life, and to improve themselves and the country.

It is a wonderful sentiment, but bullocks nonetheless.

A president’s main job is most certainly not to inspire; rather, it is to execute the laws accepted by Congress.| MORE ›

President-Elect Barack Obama has said he intends to appoint “czars” for a variety of issues. He will, for instance, have a global warming czar (ironically a woman who has close ties to socialists who want to fight global warming by destroying the American economy) but also a ‘technology czar.’

Whatever the position means exactly, it is clear that the ‘czar’ will have quite some power and influence in an Obama administration.| MORE ›

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often shown his true Islamist colors during his years in office, but nothing quite like his behavior and words since Israel decided to attack Hamas eighteen days ago.

He made his first unacceptable public statement when campaigning in a small Turkish village. He told a friendly crowd that “God will punish” Israel and that its actions would lead to its destruction.| MORE ›

Israeli troops and tanks encircled Gaza City on Tuesday, after which the tanks proceeded to enter the city with some 1.5 million Palestinians living in it. Suffice to say that both Hamas and Israel have rejected the ceasefire advocated by the international community.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon once again displayed the powerlessness of his organization by calling on both sides to “just stop” the violence after which Israeli tanks happily went into Gaza City in order to severely weaken if not destroy Hamas.| MORE ›

The Iranian government said Tuesday it had arrested four individuals; the four are suspected of being part of a group that wants to bring about regime change in the Islamist country. Such arrests occur quite frequently in Iran; what makes this arrest different, however, is that Tehran says that the four were on the payroll of the CIA, the American intelligence organization.| MORE ›

Well, well; for months, years even, many Obama critics said that he had strong ties to progressive radicals, even to socialists. Obama himself and his main supporters laughed off the accusations by first claiming them to be false and later by arguing that one cannot truly know what a person thinks and who he is by looking at his acquaintances. Perhaps not, but when he appoints a socialist for a top position in his upcoming administration, the story changes dramatically.| MORE ›