At home, America teetered on the edge of war.

NPR: 'Grapes Of Wrath' And The Politics of Book Burning

Not so long ago a small piece of land on the edge of a continent was at war, torn by religious and cultural differences, with its two peoples disputing the ownership of the land that both claimed as rightfully theirs.

ECONOMIST: Ode to joy

But it carries risks, not only for Japan, but for a world economy that totters on the edge of a full-fledged currency war.

FORBES: Asia's Week: China Tightens, Japan Loosens, Korea Pauses

Lebanon, always perched precariously on the edge of crisis, lives with growing fears that Syria's war will enter its borders.

CNN: Syrian war is everybody's problem