World News Insights: Opinion Articles

Whenever one writes about Afghanistan, the words smell of blood, explosion, and a lack of security. Besides security threats, explosions, and the news of Taliban terrorists entering cities, now kidnappings which do not discriminate between women, men, or children, have become a lateral problem of…

Russian President Vladimir Putin rarely appeals directly to citizens of the West for acceptance of and friendly cooperation with Russia. Ever since his famous speech at the 2007 Munich Security Conference, his tone has been more defiant than conciliatory. And yet on June 22, the 80th anniversary of…

Recently, we have seen stances and developments successively emerge that indicate an international willingness to provide support for a plan to get Lebanon out of the pit it has been pushed into if the political class were to demonstrate that it had been taking any sort of course towards serious…

Whether Lebanon’s Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri is ‘the man of the moment’ or not, or whether the demise of Lebanon is a ‘landmark’ in the series of Arab collapses or not; these matters mean little in the calculations of major world powers, including those of the G7. The G7 world powers’…

When it comes to health breakthroughs, Covid-19 vaccines have received the lion’s share of recent attention – and rightly so, as they are key to ending a global pandemic that has killed millions and disrupted the lives of almost everyone on the planet. But there have also been big advancements in…

On July 4, President Biden is planning to mark “a summer of freedom,” with a large event at the White House to celebrate the resumption of American life. It will be a key moment for the administration, which has hit goal after goal on the pandemic since taking office and — of late — has been…

“Psst, I’m buying Bitcoin” sounded like a hot tip during lockdown, but not anymore. In the (almost) six months it’s taken for the cryptocurrency to soar past $30,000 to $63,000 and back again — it’s now hovering around $33,000 — a lot has changed in the real and virtual world. And, despite the…

In policymaking circles in Washington DC, it has become common to hear the claim that twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, the war on terrorism is finally coming to an end. For some, this is because the United States is withdrawing from “forever wars” like in Afghanistan and reducing its…

Those who said that there is only one voter in Iran weren’t wrong; it’s the supreme leader, whether it is Khomeini or Khamenei. The latest elections that made Ebrahim Raisi president are an eloquent testament to this. More eloquent is the history of the presidency in Iran, especially the events…

Energy policy is often judged by three criteria: cost, reliability and effect on carbon emissions. That makes good sense, but I would like to suggest an alternative approach: Ask which green energy policies can get the support of most special-interest groups, and the fewest forces in opposition,…

News of young talent fleeing investment banks, employers scrambling to lure them back, and all the memes of overworked analysts might make it seem like woke millennials aren’t willing to burn the midnight oil. Post-pandemic life has been an opportunity for introspection. Gone are the days when a…

There’s a lot at stake in the quest to understand so-called long Covid. It may come as a surprise to some, but lingering post-infection symptoms don’t only happen with SARS-CoV-2. And what we’re learning from studies of Covid long-haulers might eventually help us understand other diseases, from…