The Future of Europe Depends on This Vote in the Netherlands
Does the European idea still inspire the Union’s better angels, or is it a spent force?
Panama Papers Expose the Hidden Wealth of the World’s Super-Rich
This massive leak of transactions involving 214,488 offshore corporations, covering 40 years of activity, will boost the global movement to recapture trillions of the hidden wealth of nations.
Are We Incapable of Ending Wars?
In a world awash with weak states, powerful weapons, and crumbling institutions, conflicts can easily continue for generations — and perhaps never end.
A Real ‘Political Revolution’ Would End the War in Iraq
Taking the diplomatic road on Iraq and Syria would let Sanders get back to the business he started in 2002 — making space between himself and Hillary Clinton on the Middle East.
The Geopolitics of Cheap Oil
Economists said the market would save the planet. It didn’t.
Obama: The Fairy-Tale President?
Obama’s made a lot of Faustian bargains over the last seven years. But given his likely successors, what we got over the last two terms may be as good as it gets.
COP21 and the carbon market menace
There is a diplomatic silence over carbon trading at COP21, but a Paris climate agreement could offer a lifeline to carbon ‘offsetting’ schemes, while new rules could help build a global carbon market.
A Kumbaya Moment for the Middle East? Hardly.
Despite Washington’s move toward detente with Iran, other regional conflicts — especially in Israel-Palestine, where an “intifada of knives” is underway — are looking as volatile as ever.
Is Putin Really as Foolish as We Are?
Putin’s attempt at “shock and awe” in Syria has all the hallmarks of failed U.S. interventions of the past
The Middle Passage
For the refugees pouring into Europe, their journeys can be just as deadly as the war zones they’re fleeing.
Trump Takes on the World
Donald Trump’s not-so-veiled racism, crude economic populism, and male bravado make him the closest thing the U.S. has to an authentic European-style fascist.
Greece, Iran, and the Rules of the Game
From Athens to Tehran, powerful countries make the rules and break the rules. Everyone else just squeezes the best deal they can — for now, anyway.
Authoritarian Symps
In the post-Cold War era, the right and even some on the left are playing a new game of “Who’s your favorite dictator?”
Celebrating Destruction
Our wartime commemorations are the functional equivalent of mounting the heads of our victims on pikes. Are we surprised that others celebrate bloodshed when we do the same?
The Kremlin’s Kool-Aid
Washington is responsible for a plethora of global calamities. But Putin’s Russia isn’t offering an appealing alternative at all.