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ISTANBUL -- "Everything here is breaking up, as with us," wrote Gustave Flaubert, who came to Istanbul in 1850. It was Flaubert's ominous but characteristically precise prediction that came to my mind as I watched the shocked faces of locals wandering Horse Square this morning.

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LONDON -- In our reluctance to face up to the painful -- yet credible -- reports of migrant involvement in these horrific Cologne attacks, we have unwittingly given succor to those who would deny haven to any refugees at all.

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Germany is going to change. Not only in the wake of the refugees, but after that, too. There are going to be problems during the absorption phase. We can argue democratically, in civil society and in the legislatures, about how to overcome those problems.

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Here is what is rarely acknowledged and speaks volumes about Obama's impact: we now accept the sea change in the lives of most Americans that the Affordable Care Act swept in. No one serious challenges the Affordable Care Act's guarantee of insurance coverage for all without the threat of preexisting conditions, the new coverage for the prescription drug benefits for seniors and much more.

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LONDON -- We can only ever achieve universal education for girls and boys at primary and secondary levels if we first bridge the gap in humanitarian aid for education in emergencies. Out of tragedy and chaos some good may come.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Foreign observers often look at Taiwan almost exclusively through the lens of its challenging relationship with China. But in fact, as we approach this weekend's historic election, it's clear the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party failed to propose policies to address domestic concerns and rebuild its credibility with the public.

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Interpretations of law, whether religious or secular, are always influenced by specific historical and cultural contexts. To drive this point home, I asked my students to reflect on the mindset that has developed in America after Sept. 11, which is comparable to the one during the Mamluk period. In such crisis-ridden circumstances, ordinarily peace-loving people will clamor for military retaliation against a ruthless violent enemy that threatens to annihilate them.

What is enlightenment, who wishes to share it, and how shall we defend it? That was Kant's question, and it is the question of our dark new age.

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With crisis after crisis, scandal after scandal, human rights violation after violation, the Mexican public has lost all confidence and trust in its state institutions.

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Twitter users in Mexico accused authorities of using the much-publicized chase, not to mention the bizarre Sean Penn interview, to distract the media from social and economic ills plaguing their country.

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I encourage the Chinese leadership to consider whether the imbalance between maintaining domestic stability and stifling free speech and limiting free access to information will eventually impair Chinese citizens, as well as China's true national potential.

It's despicable and shameful when populists and agitators use the Cologne events to raise anti-refugee sentiment. After all, most refugees have fled violence.

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Saudis are becoming increasingly disillusioned and angry with their government's domestic and economic policies, and the government's foreign policies are slowly becoming less popular as well.
Now, after his execution, Nimr is emerging as an icon to the Shiite Arab community. And the fate of Arab governments who have executed Shiite religious leaders is haunting. Nearly all of them have collapsed.

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President Obama's position on the Saudi-Iranian row is a public announcement that his administration is dissolving its traditional alliance system, along with the regional order it had underwritten for decades, and embracing Iran instead.

Now more than ever, leaders must show responsible judgement and respect for human rights and ethical values, rather than reaching for scapegoats and short-term solutions.

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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Russia's and China's stances on North Korea are not so much different from how the United States treats Saudi Arabia -- a brutal regime sponsoring the ideology of violent jihadism, but one with which Washington needs to maintain friendship for realpolitik reasons.

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What is now happening is that people are selling off Chinese assets and investing instead in (primarily) American assets -- including stocks but especially real estate. As momentum in these flows builds up, China faces the prospect of full-on meltdowns in its stock and real estate markets, just as occurred here in the U.S. in the late 1920s and post-2008 -- only worse.