World News Insights: Opinion Articles

President Biden bragged on Twitter on March 26 that “as a result of our unprecedented sanctions, the ruble was almost immediately reduced to rubble.” It was an ill-timed tweet. The Russian currency did crash in February after sanctions were imposed, but by the time Biden exulted, it had already…

The Biden administration has done an admirable job checking Russian disinformation efforts by disclosing US intelligence assessments of Moscow’s intentions and marshaling unified political support for Ukrainian sovereignty and indirect military support for its defense. But the administration has…

I spent a little time in my Friday column going over the details of the 1918 Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which was the first major piece of anti-lynching legislation introduced to the United States Congress. It’s named after Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a white Republican from Missouri who…

I felt anxious when Asharq Al-Awsat’s reporter, Fidaa Itani, sent photos and stories from the city of Irpin in the vicinity of Kyiv. The massive destruction was not surprising in a place that witnessed fierce battles between the two warring armies. The harshest images were those of burning Russian…

A popular blockchain game called Axie Infinity has suffered what could well be the biggest security breach in the history of decentralized finance. Hackers forged withdrawals last week from the game’s Ronin Network, which lost approximately $615 million and said it was working with law…

Almost six weeks into the war between Russia and Ukraine, I’m beginning to wonder if this conflict isn’t our first true world war — much more than World War I or World War II ever were. In this war, which I think of as “World War Wired,” virtually everyone on the planet can either observe the…

Thanks to Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, Russia is now more isolated than it has ever been. The economy is under sanctions and international businesses are withdrawing. The news media has been even further restricted; what remains spouts paranoia, nationalism and falsehoods. The…

On the second day of a the two-month ceasefire declared between Houthi militias in Yemen and the coalition led by Saudi Arabia, Iran and the US have welcomed the ceasefire. Mediated by the United Nations, the ceasefire will allow sending of humanitarian aid to a country that’s experiencing a human…

Many traits have been attributed to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, with views on the man ranging between extremely positive, deep appreciation to deeply negative, sharp condemnation. One thing, however, is beyond doubt. He has put and continues to put exceptional effort into winning the…

President Biden’s gaffe about Vladimir Putin and Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony were demonstrations of a single phenomenon. Let me explain. Saturday, in Warsaw, addressing Putin’s war in Ukraine, Biden departed from his prepared remarks with this coda: “For…

Right now Vladimir Putin is losing the battle for Ukraine. His maximal goals have been abandoned (for now), his troops around Kyiv are in retreat, his imperial dreams are being disavowed. He has more modest goals to fall back on, resources and territories that he may be able to hold — but a month…

There is a dangerous censoriousness pulsing through American society. In small towns and big cities alike, would-be commissars are fighting, in the name of a distinct minority of Americans, to stifle open discussion and impose their views on the community at large. Dissenters, when they speak out,…