As Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso heads to Washington, a Worldfocus contributing blogger argues that the U.S.-Japan alliance is seeing rebirth and that the U.S. has stepped up its expectations of Japan.

In recent years, men from Taiwan left behind families to look for work on the Chinese mainland. Now, as the economic crisis deepens, writes a Worldfocus contributing blogger, these men are headed back to Taiwan with empty pockets.

Roben Farzad of BusinessWeek magazine discusses the U.S. stimulus package and the steady decline of world markets, particularly in Europe.

Steven Schrage of the Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses how the global economic downturn can lead to unrest and instability around the world, which in turn could impact the international community and U.S. security concerns.

Iceland has been called “the first political casualty of the global credit crisis.” What went wrong in Iceland, and is it a cautionary tale for the wider world? Worldfocus.org's weekly radio show explores Iceland's economic collapse and the country's future. Listen now.