As much as financiers might like to believe, the checkbook is not the ultimate power in the galaxy.

The disclosures provide an opportunity for feigning shock and anger or controlling atmospherics, but they do not change the structure of geopolitics.

Simply put, there are fewer risks in Texas than in Central Europe. Part eight in a series.

Historically on the edge of empires, Ukraine has dreamed of sovereignty without ever truly confronting what it means. Part six in a series.

The transformation from an underdeveloped country emerging from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire to a major power is happening before our eyes. Part five in a series.

I came to Moldova looking in the borderland for a nation that might be a counter to Russian resurgence. It turned out that while there were people living there, they were not a nation. Part four in a series.

For Romania, national sovereignty has always been experienced as the process of accommodating itself to a more powerful nation or empire. Part three in a series.

Though U.S. President Barack Obama no longer controls Congress after Tuesday's midterm election, he is still controls foreign policy. Whether he takes advantage of this is another matter.

U.S. political dynamics will change with the midterm elections, which means the president could choose to act decisively on the foreign policy front.

Europe and much of the world is coping with the struggle between cultures within their borders. But when the Germans do so, the stakes go up.