World News Insights: Opinion Articles

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet met this week to debate whether to approve the terms of a free-trade agreement with Australia. What, you might wonder, could be less controversial? After all, there’s nothing more Brexity than free trade. In a set-piece speech in early 2020, Johnson…

The Covid-19 pandemic seems to be ending almost as abruptly as it began. Across the US, states are dropping restrictions on business activity and people are resuming normal lives. Throughout the pandemic, there’s been evidence that remote work has increased the productivity of some workers and…

All eyes are on the Iranian Guardian Council, which decides which candidates are qualified to continue the presidential race. Its 12 members will draw the contours of the next Iranian president, leaving the electorate with a pseudo-superficial right to vote only after the Council had determined…

Within days the all-powerful Council of the guardians of the Constitution is expected to publish the list of “approved candidates” for next month’s presidential election in the Islamic Republic in Iran. According to official reports a total of 592 men and one woman have filled the forms for…

Queen Elizabeth had a problem, and it was not Meghan and Harry. This was the first Queen Elizabeth, who ruled from 1558 to 1603. Her problem was Spain. The Catholic Spanish Empire continually threated Protestant England, using vast resources flowing into the Spanish coffers from the colonies in the…

There are more than 10 effective Covid-19 vaccines in use around the world, so it's easy to forget those still in development. That's a mistake. These candidates may be taking longer to arrive, but they're essential to the pandemic fight. Most of the world is still unvaccinated, keeping the virus…

When UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told President Biden's Earth Day summit that protecting the environment was not “some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging,” supporters laughed, opponents were outraged and Greta Thunberg changed her Twitter bio to “Bunny Hugger.” But…

From the first day of the round of fighting in Gaza, it became apparent that Hamas had made significant gains. It prevented Israel from celebrating Jerusalem Day and fired successive rounds of missiles to Tel Aviv and several cities far from the frontlines, using novel tactics that confounded the…

China is — yet again — looking to deal with its mountain of hidden debt. An absurd solution has emerged: just make it go away. But much like a landfill, it won’t ever quite disappear. Earlier this month, Zhao Quanhou, a top researcher at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, which is affiliated…

The effort to reduce harmful global greenhouse-gas emissions involves the tricky challenge of addressing the environmental dangers embedded in the status quo without adding undue costs and burdens that could stifle economic growth. This provides strong incentive for investors and policy makers who…

The history of modern finance has seen several monetary orders, from the gold standard of the 19th century to the current fiat-based era starting in 1971. Each period had its dominant reserve currency, starting with gold and then moving to the British pound and US dollar. The current system is 50…

The most important geopolitical project you’ve never heard of is called the Three Seas Initiative. It’s a joint endeavor by 12 eastern members of the European Union to update the physical and digital links between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. That makes good sense in its own right. But the…