The Berlin Wall wasn't the only barrier to fall after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Traditional barriers to the flow of money, trade, people and ideas also fell.

The problem is that Islam does not have a pope, so there's no one guy to say, 'This isn't kosher'...Not that he would.

In a world awash in debt, power shifts to creditors.

The great drama of Russian history has been between its state and society. Put simply, Russia has always had too much state and not enough society.

Conservatives used to believe in confronting hard truths, not succumbing to comforting fairy tales. Some still do.

There is very strong historical data that suggest the way societies grow is by making large, long-term investments.

It all looks American because America, the country that invented mass capitalism and consumerism, got there first. the impact of mass capitalism is now universal.