South Korean President Lee-Myung Bak optimistically said that he had “high expectations for the expected outcome of the Summit.” However, quantitative easing alone essentially doomed the entire Conference.

At the UN Climate Change Conference, the US and several other nations pledged increased aid to developing countries to help tackle environmental issues. As the wealthier nations begin to determine where aid will be distributed, it is clear that the US should direct climate change mitigation aid towards India.

At this moment of diplomatic flux, the United States may have an opportunity to push Chinese policy towards North Korea in a more responsible direction. China’s immense leverage over Pyongyang in the form of food, energy, and other aid could be transformed into an asset in halting Korea’s belligerence and proliferation.

With a dose of royalty sense, Thais would hopefully be able to look beyond the color of their shirts and towards their country’s best long-term interests.

This newfound stability gives the current government under President Mahinda Rajapaksa a chance to turn the page on this violent chapter of Sri Lankan history and lay the foundation for a lasting peace.

Google, by withdrawing, lost the ability to influence China’s policies on Internet censorship. In the long run, leaving the market is a risky maneuver that will be costly for Google and further diminish its role in the evolution of China’s Internet policy.

A growing economy, continued urbanization, and a different banking system mean a housing bubble followed by a burst is less likely to occur in China. Furthermore, the Chinese government is already taking steps to prevent the collapse of its housing market.

The U.S. should adopt a more conciliatory tone toward China by persuading it to voluntarily revalue its currency and by addressing the issue multilaterally at the upcoming G20 economic summit in June. Doing otherwise threatens Sino-American cooperation on other significant issues such as environmental protection and a nuclear Iran.

Recent North Korean actions, such as the torpedoing of a South Korean naval ship emphasized the lack of influence countries like the United States and China have on Kim Jong-Il. Continued security in the region will depend on the United States’ ability to win Beijing’s support for the actions the US takes.

Presidents Obama and Medvedev have begun negotiating a New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). New START, however, has drawn criticism from numerous Republican senators, including John McCain, greatly polarizing the issue and hindering a treaty critical to the continued security of America.