Author Kurt Andersen's new book, Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America, examines the economic, political and cultural opportunities to be found in the wake of the financial crises. In this excerpt, the fourth of five pieces to appear on TIME.com, he argues that open borders and innovative immigration policy are critical to America's rebound. No other nation on earth assimilates immigrants as successfully as the United States. There are those who argue that we ...

Could the diplomatic rescue mission by Bill Clinton in North Korea be a model for winning the freedom of three American hikers arrested last week when they wandered from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iranian territory? The emotional reunion of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling with their families in America must have given hope to the relatives of the three hikers, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal. If a way was found to solve an impasse between ...

Author Kurt Andersen's new book, Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America, examines the economic, political and cultural opportunities to be found in the wake of the financial crises. In this excerpt, the second of five pieces to appear on TIME.com, he examines the corporate ingenuity that often arises in the wake of fiscal disaster. If you want to feel encouraged about our economic near future — not this damned decade but the teens — ...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is embarking on her biggest international trip yet: Africa. Seven countries in 11 days. Issues as diverse as economic entrepreneurship and gender-based violence. The trip, which was to begin with Clinton's scheduled departure Monday evening, comes just three weeks after President Obama's trip to Accra, Ghana. She will highlight many of the themes he struck. The State Department notes it is the earliest trip by a secretary of state and a president to ...

Honduran interim President Roberto Micheletti's hard-line stance against the return of ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya has softened, he said, but the signing of a proposed agreement to end the country's political crisis remained uncertain. In a statement released late Wednesday, Micheletti said an agreement presented by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias "is the best path toward the achievement of consensus in Honduras." Micheletti's announcement was an apparent change of position, given that it was accompanied by a call to ...

An agreement to end the monthlong political turmoil in Honduras went before Congress, with political amnesty and national elections on the table. The 128 deputies of the country's unicameral legislature will decide whether to grant a period of political amnesty for both sides in the conflict, and whether to move forward the national elections scheduled for November. The two issues are among the points included in the so-called San Jose Accord -- a proposed agreement to bring an end ...

The head of Swedish-based telecommunications giant Ericsson says he believes the company is well placed to come through the economic crisis despite suffering a slump in profits. Ericsson last week reported a 56 percent drop in second quarter net income to 831 Swedish kronor ($111 million), largely due to losses in its Sony Ericsson cellphone and ST Ericsson chipmaker joint ventures and restructuring costs. But Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg told CNN the downturn in the company's fortunes was "much the ...

The genocide in Rwanda in 1994 is often seen as a cautionary tale, an example of how the world failed to react at a time when it could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Chastened by that experience, every time a humanitarian crisis erupts in Africa, a kind of collective cry goes up urging action — any action — to prevent a comparable atrocity from happening again. The current crisis and the fighting around it are ...

Time was kind to the U.S. over its invasion of Iraq: the Bush Administration was able to waste four years pursuing misguided strategies there before finally getting things right last year and turning the situation around. But the new U.S. military approach to winning the war in Afghanistan is likely to take years, if not decades, to bear fruit, and there are growing signs that America's patience is fraying. On July 23, Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged that a ...

Behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle, deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya on Thursday started his journey from Managua, Nicaragua, to the country's border with Honduras. A caravan of Zelaya supporters and reporters headed north to the city of Esteli, close to the Honduran border. From there, Zelaya would finalize his plans to cross back into Honduras, he said at a news conference before departing. The ousted president stated his intention to return to his homeland this week, ...