World News Insights: Opinion Articles

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,…

On Friday, Sayyid Ahmed Abdulwahhab, Al Haram’s deputy, passed away. May Allah have mercy on his soul. He left this world after a long battle with illness and was a true Sayyid in every sense of the word, lineage, deed, and station. I have known him since my childhood, as a brother and a…

Globalization felt like it wGlobalization felt like it was going into reverse long before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. Donald Trump’s election, Brexit and Covid-19 were all flagged as milestones on the path back toward more protectionism and higher costs for multinationals. Yet the speed…

There are many ways a Chinese company might sidestep US sanctions and provide technology products to Russia. It could hide American imports behind third-party suppliers, implement layers of shell companies to obfuscate source and destination, or create elaborate schemes to hide data from forensic…

Let’s talk a bit about ambition. Once upon a time, I taught a course called “The Politican,” which was about … you guessed it: politicians. It was an unusual course because there is no real study of politicians as a group — there are scholars of US politics who specialize in Congress, in the…

India wants to go on trading with Russia for reasons that are more practical than to swipe at the West. For one thing, New Delhi relies heavily on Moscow for defense procurement, a dependency that will be hard to shed overnight with new suppliers. For another, Russia is reportedly offering India a …

Visibly grinning despite having their masks on, the foreign ministers of China and Russia greeted one another with an elbow bump when they met in Beijing a few days ago. Despite the apparent harmony between the two countries, they neither think the same way nor sing to the same tune. Lavrov…

A fairly common view expressed since Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed his forces on Ukraine is that he has come unhinged. If he ever follows through on his threats to cut off natural gas supply to Europe, I might be inclined to agree. Invading Ukraine is a horrific act, and also…

Apart from its political impact the international order the war that Russia has launched against Ukraine contains countless features that should interest military analysts and planners across the globe. This is the first time since World War II that the Russian army (formerly Soviet Red Army) is…

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines — a second booster — for people 50 and older. But is a fourth dose really necessary, or beneficial? This is a question that health officials worldwide are scrambling to answer. European regulators have said there…

For those looking to buy a second home as an investment, take a pass on Hong Kong. Maintenance costs are rising. Your tenant is probably working from home, cooking, washing and cleaning a lot more than before Covid. Appliances break. And good luck finding a plumber or electrician. Repair men are…

How the Ukrainian crisis unfolds and ultimately ends may well shape the future of the international system. That will depend also on who will emerge stronger from the conflict. Will it be Russia or the US and its allies? What is clear however is that Ukraine and its people will be the greatest…