Why Iran’s latest excuses make no sense.

The Chinese take their side of paradise very seriously, and by paradise we mean the island of Hainan, a.k.a. “the Hawaii of China.” The beaches are kept pristinely white (good news, especially for those brave enough to try the clothing-optional one). The hotels, such as the Ritz-Carlton and the Shangri-La, carry five stars. The tourists even act the part. Many wear colorful floral outfits that are so loud they almost pulsate. A few have become so intoxicated by the tropical scenery (and perhaps a few tropical cocktails) that they have gone charging into the ocean—only to drown because they can’t swim. But as John Milton more or less told us a few centuries ago, trouble manages to find its way into paradise, and so it has in Hainan. In part, the problem is the global recession, which has eaten into the base of 20 million or so tourists who visit each year. Even worse: their void—and the money vacuum they’ve left behind—is being filled by gambling, and the violence that so often comes with it.

By Jove, it certainly seems that way. Most of today’s festering conflicts can be traced to colonial-era meddling, either through partition—slicing and dicing the planet as they saw fit—or, worse, indiscriminately corralling unrelated ethnic groups into a single, quarrelsome country. To wit:

Chechen authorities don’t just target militants—they harass their families too.

When national leaders live on through their successors.

The conviction of Burma’s opposition leader doesn’t show clemency or compromise; it’s a sign of the regime’s desperation.

Why is South Africa, our most stalwart ally in all of Africa, acting like a rogue state?

Renewed violence in Iraq looks like the beginning of a sectarian melee. It’s not.

China rediscovers the benefits of vocational school.

Viewpoint: President Obama is offering the Presidential Medal of Freedom to someone widely considered a villain.