- Despite the growth of China's armed forces, the defence of Taiwan is not a lost cause.
- Abenomics is working, says Matthew Yglesias.
- As for Shinzo Abe's foreign and security policy, his penchant for being photographed with military hardware is being noted by some critics.
- Worth bookmarking: NSFW Corporation is a Las Vegas-based digital news magazine that now has a monthly print edition.
- After bombing an arms convoy bound for Lebanon, 'Israel also made overt and covert efforts to communicate to Assad that Jerusalem was determined to remain neutral in Syria’s civil war.' (H/t Browser.)
- A contrarian take on the now widespread belief that China is becoming more assertive in its foreign policy.
- Ah, the all-powerful desk. Nice photo essay of bureaucrats around the world. (H/t MR.)
- Dani Rodrik:
...contemporary economics in North America has one great weakness, and that is the excessive focus on methods at the expense of breadth in terms of social and historical perspective. PhD programs now train applied mathematicians and statisticians rather than real economists.