World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The French elections have raised grave concerns: its two traditional centrist parties, the Socialists and the De Guellists, are evaporating into thin air. The specter of Marine Le Pen making her way to the Elysee cannot be entirely dismissed. Nonetheless, let us begin in a different place and…

Hazem Saghieh

Analysts trying to evaluate the prospects for a revival of Hong Kong’s economic fortunes under a new chief executive might be better off discarding their political science manuals and consulting Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass.” Assessing whether events will follow the course authorities…

Matthew Brooker

California has become the focus of a battle over how companies should address the lack of diversity on their boards: Should they actively seek out directors who aren’t White males, or should they simply seek to treat all candidates equally? A Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of the latter…

Michelle Leder

Those are “the 26 words that created the internet,” says Jeff Kosseff, an associate professor of cybersecurity law at the United States Naval Academy, who wrote a book with that title that came out in 2019. The fruitful words come from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That brief…

Peter Coy

In 2017, Emmanuel Macron was “a meteor born under a lucky star.” A former banker without experience in elective office, he benefited during his first presidential campaign from President François Hollande choosing not to seek re-election, while the conservative candidate and front-runner, François…

Didier Fassin

Oops. Looks like Elon Musk isn’t joining Twitter Inc.’s board after all. Less than a week after Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal excitedly tweeted that the world’s richest man would get a seat, he’s now been forced to backpedal after saying Musk declined the offer. Musk was supposed to…

Tim Culpan

As a dual citizen who hangs out with polyglots carrying several passports each, I can attest that identity is a complicated thing. It’ll never be captured adequately by lists of checkboxes — from age and sex to race, religion, profession or indeed citizenship. Just glance across Europe right now. …

Andreas Kluth

Emmanuel Macron is within striking distance of a historic re-election as French president after clinching a first-round lead against his far-right nemesis Marine Le Pen. Investors should be relieved, but not complacent. Round two on April 24 will be a close-run affair. Early results show France…

Lionel Laurent

Well that was weird. On Tuesday I wrote a column saying it was unlikely that Elon Musk will buy Twitter Inc. On Wednesday I left on a family vacation. On Thursday, for my sins, Elon Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash. 420 is a weed joke. I suppose this increased…

Matt Levine

The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s discussion with The Atlantic continues to stimulate reflections on the renewal and invigoration of a new religious discourse. What the Crown Prince has been calling for is a new approach to addressing religious matters and their functions and concerns. A…

Radwan al-Sayyed

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has a fetish for fiasco. The Indian Ocean island is a basket case for several reasons. Covid-19 decimated dollar earnings from tourism; the resulting increase in social spending ballooned public debt. Then came the war in Ukraine, worsening shortages of food…

Andy Mukherjee

America is following an “arsenal of democracy” strategy in Ukraine: It has avoided direct intervention against the Russian invaders, while working with allies and partners to provide the Kyiv government with money and guns. That strategy, reminiscent of US support for Britain in 1940-41, has…

Hal Brands