World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has bid farewell to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the head of state, who passed away, leaving behind a successful and stable Gulf state that is pioneering among its neighbors and enjoys an international standing. Moreover, the UAE’s political approach weighs heavily on…

Despite international attention being squarely focused on the war in Ukraine, more than 75 countries gathered in Brussels on May 10 and collectively pledged $6.7 billion to the Syria humanitarian aid effort. Such a sizeable sum far outmatched expectations and underlined the extent to which the…

Elon Musk took to Twitter early Friday to say that his takeover of the company was “temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users.” Musk might be serious about this. Or he might be joking and just using his vast…

Courage can seem like an outdated virtue in a world of selfish genes and utilitarian economics. If we are meant to put ourselves first — to maximize our individual utility — then what room is left for heroism? How can a self be selfless? It sounds almost illogical. It isn’t. Volodymyr Zelensky,…

Thanks to a remarkable oil and gas boom, the United States has achieved the long-sought goal of energy self-sufficiency: We now produce more oil and refined products, natural gas and coal than we consume. In particular, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing — fracking — transformed the…

Last week brought a little clarity to the fog of the Ukraine war: The significant date of May 9, the celebration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Hitler’s Germany, came and went with no change of Russian strategy. When Vladimir Putin came out to inspect the military parades and…

Despite the presence of hostile voices intent on fortifying animosity between peoples and nations, the voices of moderation, fortunately, prevail today. That is evident in calls for dialogue, coexistence, and respect for the value of religions and the importance of culture. To give an example, the…

America needs to build a new and greener energy infrastructure, yet there is a problem standing in the way. Or maybe I should say flying in the way, because that obstacle is birds — and, more generally, the human bias toward the status quo when animal interests are at stake. We have to be more…

I recently checked some of the discussions that took place at the International Conference and Exhibition for Education in Riyadh, which reflected the interest of the key players in the field and their quest to improve it. I am once again writing about education because it is truly the biggest…

Vice President Kamala Harris voted six times to break Senate ties this week. That brings her total to 23 ties broken, a record pace. She’s already third all-time, behind only John C. Calhoun (31 from 1825-1832) and John Adams (29 from 1789-1797). What she’s voted on tells an important story…

Approximately a million people have died from Covid-19 in the US. The country now faces a new surge in BA.2 and BA.2.12.1; other variants are likely to follow. Yet Americans are now packing into restaurants, parties and exercise classes as if it’s 2019. It’s easy to blame Covid fatigue, but…

Pakistan’s complicated relationship with its neighbor forced the country to contemplate obtaining a strategic deterrent that would provide it with non-conventional protection early on. The country is caught between its difficult geography and massive demography, and this weapon was crucial for…