The threats to America’s cybersecurity are serious and growing. They range from private hackers of individuals to state-sponsored cyberattacks on companies and government agencies and networks. Cyberthreats endanger the entire American financial and security system, including the flow of money in banks and the electrical grid. The federal government already has…

North Koreans are famous for belligerent rhetoric. Most recently, they’ve threatened to turn Seoul into a “sea of fire.” The North’s new leader, Kim Jong-un, comes across as a madman strutting around in a 1950s cartoon. Such flamboyance can tempt people to dismiss the North Koreans as either a joke or too crazy to be taken seriously. This is a mistake. They are not crazy,…

“Get Cash Back Now!” Such signs are common in car dealerships. Salesmen always try to heighten the sense of urgency: “Buy today, before the offer expires, and you can get a rebate or a zero percent interest rate on your car loan.” But there are some things a salesman isn’t likely to tell you. Like how much they’ve marked up the car’s price to cover that rebate. Or the…

By the time President Obama leaves office in January 2017, the young people who helped catapult him into office will be nearly a decade older. And unless the economy turns around, it will be a lost decade, one of high unemployment and missed opportunities. In opinion polls, young people typically identify themselves as liberal, and their idealism is understandable. Yet…

President Obama is expected to call for “comprehensive” immigration reform in his State of the Union address. He will undoubtedly claim he wants to solve all the problems of immigration — border security, enforcement, and the like. But beware: His real agenda will be to find a way to force Congress to accept amnesty for as many illegal immigrants as possible. The reason…

Have we lost the capacity for self-government? Looking at the “fiscal cliff” and other crises, you would think so. Hard decisions get kicked down the road. The problems are clear, yet government seems unwilling and incapable of solving them. So they continue to plague us no matter who we put in charge. It’s as if “we the people” have lost control. The examples are…

President Obama's re-election night speech was big and eloquent, as though America had just won a war. He spoke of "perfecting" the union, of "triumphing over war and depression." "We have fought our way back," he said, "and we know in our hearts that, for the United States of America, the best is yet to come." We'll see. Never let it be said that Barack Obama…

It’s the kind of U.N. treaty you would expect - contradictory and unenforceable, one that would bind law-abiding nations while letting tyrants and terrorists off the hook. The Arms Trade Treaty currently being hammered out in Turtle Bay may well end up violating U.S. freedom and sovereignty, as well as common sense. Negotiators at the U.N. expect to finalize a treaty…

It’s a democratic election, but the choice is between representatives of two strains of anti-democratic forces: an Islamist party and a repressive military. This weekend’s runoff election for Egyptian president pits Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood against former Gen. Ahmed Shafiq,who served as the Mubarak regime’s last prime minister. How did Egypt come to…

Economic austerity has hit the armed forces of the U.S. and Europe, and military leaders are trying to make the best of tight budgets. Unfortunately a misleading narrative has crept into their explanations: The claim that more, somehow, can be done with less. It may be intended to soften the blow of the largest drawdown of defense spending since the end of the Cold…

A new economic buzzword is on the loose. "Austerity" is meant to describe the spending cuts by governments in Europe. Such "austerity" is much reviled by newly elected French President Francois Hollande and by the radical parties elected in Greece. American liberals don't like it either. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson calls austerity a "dangerous,…

A new economic buzzword is on the loose. “Austerity” is meant to describe the spending cuts by governments in Europe. Such “austerity” is much reviled by newly elected French President Francois Hollande and by the radical parties elected in Greece. American liberals don’t like it either. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson calls austerity a “dangerous,…