By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

While incumbent politicians around the world are struggling to hold on, one is thriving so much so that he's been called a king.

I'm talking about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last week struck a deal to bring one of his main rivals, the Kadima party, into his government. Netanyahu's coalition now commands more than three-quarters of the Knesset — the largest parliamentary majority in Israeli history.

Netanyahu faces no plausible rival as prime minister. So he has an unusual, and perhaps unique, opportunity to use his new power to secure Israel's future.

When pushed on the Palestinian issue, Netanyahu has often cited the constraints of his coalition to explain why he had not taken bolder steps toward resolution. In the past, he seemed to like being restrained: He refused to form a national unity government in 1996 with Shimon Peres, and he refused again in 2009 with Tzipi Livni.

But now he has enough broad support — a big enough base with many moderates — that he could move toward a peace settlement without endangering his hold on power.

What should Netanyahu do next? Read Fareed’s Washington Post column to see what he thinks.

By Fareed Zakaria

The rise and fall of Bo Xilai is part of a much larger and potentially disruptive trend in China — the return of politics to the Chinese Communist Party.

We don't think of the Chinese Communist Party as a political organization these days. It is dominated by technocrats obsessed with economic and engineering challenges.

These men — and they are almost all men — are comfortable talking about detailed economic and technical data, laying out master plans for development. But they are not politicians, adept at handling large crowds or palace intrigue.

Read more about China and the big questions it faces in the near future at TIME.com

Editor's Note: Tune in Sunday at 10a.m. or 1p.m. ET for Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

It has now been four years since the start of the global financial crisis. This was a crisis that showcased a breakdown of markets - too much leverage, too little concern about risks and too much debt. So you'd imagine that any political backlash would involve a move towards the left.

Well, that's not what happened.

Instead, we saw a shift towards the political right in much of the industrialized world. Here in America, the Tea Party was born, pulling conservatives further towards the right. Consider that in the 2008 election, Mitt Romney was considered the conservative challenger to John McCain. In this election he is the moderate, outflanked on the right by every other candidate.

This dynamic seems afoot in Europe as well. Britain's Conservatives returned to power after 13 years. Germany's Merkel and France's Sarkozy cemented their positions. Spain has a new conservative government.

What happened to the left? Why was there no great surge in left-wing populism? FULL POST

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

What caught my eye this week was a dispute between two members of a grand old European alliance. The alliance isn't NATO; it's not the
Arctic Council nor the Euro Zone, nor the EU. I'm talking about the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

It's camp; it's cheesy; but it's a huge hit across the pond. Every year, dozens of countries send their top performers to an American Idol-style music competition. More than a 100 million viewers tune in to vote for their favorites. The one rule: you can't vote for your own country.

And so the tradition has continued since the 1950s.

Abba won for "Waterloo" in 1974. Celine Dion made a splash in 1988 representing Switzerland. But somewhere along the way the contest became known less for big names, and more for kitsch: Sequined costumes, outlandish productions, the works.

Now, despite its name, Eurovision is not just a European competition. Algeria participates and so does Israel. This year's host is Azerbaijan. And that's why Eurovision is in the news this week. FULL POST

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

We've gotten used to the rise and rise of China. Every year for the last three decades, it has had growth at a staggering rates, almost ten percent per year. We've almost become used to the idea of a permanent China boom. Now, what if that were to change? What if China were to hit a big speed bump?

That's what a new World Bank report worries about this week. It's called "China 2030" and it warns that unless Beijing puts in place a number of structural reforms it will be doomed to what's called a "middle-income trap" of slow growth. That's what happens when the factors that lead a poor country to high growth - cheap labor, for example - disappear once it becomes a mid-tier economy. Then its growth rate slumps. To avoid that fate, the World Bank makes a series of recommendations - from letting the market play a role in setting interest rates to decreasing the role of the state in business.

Now, these are smart ideas. But they're not new; economists have been saying this for years. So what’s the fuss? FULL POST

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

The video above shows a strange cartoon from Egypt. It's of Uncle Sam looking sinister and mean, hunched over a door with a keyhole. The implication, I suppose, is that the U.S. is spying on Egyptians. Another cartoon shows him with a pistol and he's pointing it at an Egyptian man with a cannon. The caption in Arabic says "dignity". The point here is quite clear: Americans are robbing Egyptians of their dignity.

What in the world?

These cartoons were published recently in a state-run newspaper and they highlight a disturbing trend: Egypt's transitional government is trying to whip up anti-American fervor.

Its latest ploy is a high-publicity trial. Forty-three people, nearly half of them U.S. citizens, stand accused of illegally receiving foreign funds to promote democracy. The government claims they didn't have a license to do their work but in reality these people had filed their registration papers under the old regime of Hosni Mubarak. They were told their papers were in order.

It's a little rich for the Egyptian government - which receives $1.2 billion from the United States every year - to harass charities for getting funds from America. So what's going on?

FULL POST

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Imagine a region of the world where stocks have had their best January in nearly 15 years; bank shares are up 20%; the rates at which governments borrow money has fallen sharply; investor sentiment is at its best in months.

You'd think I'm talking about Asia; maybe the BRIC nations. Nope.

The region is actually sclerotic, struggling Europe.

What in the world?

The story is actually quite simple - and was pointed out to me by Sebastian Mallaby of the Council on Foreign Relations. After months of endless hand-wringing, innumerable talks, and considerable pain, it seems the eurozone has actually been saved - quietly but effectively. FULL POST

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Wherever you are in the world, you've probably used or coveted some Japanese product - a Honda four-wheeler; a Toyota Prius, a Sony, a Panasonic TV, a Nikon camera. Since the 1950s, Japan's exports have flooded the world and fueled an economic miracle at home, making that country one of the wealthiest in the world. Well, this week marks a turning point - one of the world's great export engines has run out of gas.

What in the world is going on?

For the first time in 31 years, Japan has recorded a trade deficit. In simple terms, that means Japan imported more than it exported last year. Now this is not that unusual for some rich countries: the U.S. has had a trade deficit since 1975, and yet we've grown. But the U.S. economy is not built on exports. Japan's economic rise on the other hand, has been almost entirely powered by exports.

So what has changed in Japan? FULL POST

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

As Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya transition from dictatorship to democracy, you'd think they'd look to America as a model for their new governments. But they don't. America is still too controversial in the Arab world.

Instead, many of the countries transformed by the Arab Spring are looking in a surprising place for inspiration.

Where is this new city on a hill? FULL POST

Editor's Note: Be sure to catch GPS every Sunday at 10a.m. and 1p.m. EST. If you miss it, you can buy episodes on iTunes.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

The next time you pay $3.50 dollars for a gallon of gas, stop and think about a basic rule of economics. When demand is low and supply is strong, prices should fall. Right?

Now apply that to oil. People drive less in the winter. The American economy is slow. The Euro Zone has stalled. China and India are slowing down. So demand for oil worldwide is low. So why is oil trading high at $113 a barrel, more than twice the price it was trading at five years ago when the global economy was booming? What in the world is going on?

There's a school of thought that suggests the global economy is doing better than we think. China and the U.S. are proving resilient to Europe's problems and so traders are expecting renewed demand in the world's two top economies. But another school of thought argues we're in the midst of a bubble. Speculators have been driving up the price of oil and eventually it will crash.

Now I think that the economic fundamentals really can't justify oil prices at their current levels. The real driver of high oil is not the stuff you find in the business section of the newspaper - the demand for oil in India and China. It's on the front page: Global politics. FULL POST