“I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.”— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) Kurt Vonnegut’s famous novel about the World War II bombing of the German city of Dresden appeared the year I graduated from West Point. While dimly …
Read More »Egypt turns to Tanzania on Nile dam dispute
As the crisis over Ethiopia’s controversial dam on the Nile River worsens, Egypt considers expediting the construction of the Stiegler’s Gorge dam on the Rufiji River in Tanzania. Egypt is working to build the Stiegler’s Gorge dam on the Rufiji River in Tanzania, at a time when the Grand Ethiopian …
Read More »With a New Chief, the WTO Aims for a Return to Relevance
The World Trade Organization made history last month when its members chose Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as director-general, the first woman and first African to hold that position. A former Nigerian finance minister and senior World Bank official, Okonjo-Iweala enjoyed near-unanimous support, but her candidacy had been stalled by opposition from the …
Read More »China’s Boycotts of Western Brands Aren’t Very Effective
China has a long history of wielding its immense market power as a tool of economic coercion. During the first half of the 20th century, it fought back against colonial powers by organizing boycotts of goods from the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. Nearly a century later, China …
Read More »Biden Won’t Say It Out Loud, but He Might Want a Weak U.S. Dollar
“The exchange rate is the most important price in any economy, for it affects all other prices,” as Harvard political economist Jeffry Frieden put it. Since the U.S. dollar is the most widely used currency for cross-border exchange and investment, it is fair to say its value is the most …
Read More »John Bolton joins newly launched Turkish Democracy Project
The group describes its mission as “encouraging Turkey to adopt more democratic policies and responding to the steady erosion of Turkey’s democratic institutions.” John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, says he’s joined the advisory council of the Turkish Democracy Project, a newly launched nonprofit, “to …
Read More »Turkey arrests 26 in raids against Islamic State
There are concerns about the Islamic State’s ability to still operate within and close to Turkish territory. Turkish police arrested 26 people on Monday for allegedly being linked to the Islamic State (IS).
Read More »Israeli Foreign Minister Kicks Off Visit to UAE
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday touched down in the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first minister from Jerusalem to formally visit the Gulf nation. Lapid met with counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and will later inaugurate the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi, as well as Jerusalem’s Consulate …
Read More »Israel must stay out of the US-China struggle – editorial
President Joe Biden is keen to continue the Trump-era legacy of pressure on the People’s Republic, but Beijing won’t sit back and accept this behavior. In recent years, the United States has expressed growing concern about the rise of China, and especially Beijing’s role in seeking to play a greater …
Read More »Lebanon’s Army Approaching a Crisis Point
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is in dire need of emergency assistance to help sustain it and prevent an outright collapse. The average monthly salary for a soldier is just $80, leading some soldiers to abandon their jobs amidst deteriorating morale within the army.
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