[Doyle McManus] Xi and Biden agreed on easy steps

In a world beset by wars in Gaza and Ukraine, it's good news when two superpowers step back from frictions that increased the danger of another war in Asia. That's what happened last week when President Joe Biden met with China's Xi Jinping at a country estate in the ridges west of Silicon Valley. The two presidents met after a year of frosty noncommunication, touched off by China's suspected espionage balloon that wandered across US airspace last winter, by aggressive Chines

ViewpointsNov. 22, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Korea in the eyes of a Generation MZ philosopher

Recently, a Korean intellectual sent me a reporter’s interview with a well-known Korean scholar of East Asian philosophy, Im Gun-soon. Reading the intriguing interview, I found he rightly diagnosed the current maladies of our society and prescribed the remedies we urgently needed in order to survive and thrive in this era of global disruptions. As a Generation MZ philosopher, I believe he could not possibly be a conservative. Thus, I believe that his observations and opinions were those of

ViewpointsNov. 22, 2023

[Ana Palacio] The case for energy realism at COP28

At this year’s upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, world leaders will, for the first time, officially take stock of global progress toward the goals set out in the Paris climate agreement in 2015. The growing frequency of extreme-weather events makes this a decisive moment for climate action, and it is no secret that countries are falling short of their Paris commitments. The question is whether the assembled leaders -- whose ranks will include Pope Franc

ViewpointsNov. 21, 2023

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] A victory lap for the transitory inflation team

As the world was recovering from the pandemic, inflation shot up, owing to widespread disruptions to global supply chains and sudden changes in patterns of demand. While the demand shifts might have posed a challenge to price stability even in the best of times, the breakdown in supply chains made matters worse. The market could not respond immediately to the new demand patterns, so prices increased. Recall that we initially experienced a car shortage, simply because there was a shortage of comp

ViewpointsNov. 21, 2023

[Jerome H Kim] Rebuilding trust in vaccines amidst declining confidence

Today (Nov. 20) is World Children’s Day, and as we reflect on the future these young lives represent we are confronted by an insidious, but ultimately lethal, trend. Confidence in childhood vaccinations has fallen. According to the UNICEF report, "The State of the World’s Children 2023: For Every Child, Vaccination," there was a marked drop in the perception of the importance of vaccines for children in 52 out of 55 countries studied. This is an issue that demands immediate

ViewpointsNov. 20, 2023

[Martin Schram] Show-and-tell, Bibi and Joe

It happens occasionally, but only rarely. All the good options suddenly seem to have failed at once. The only thing left is to just spread your cards across the table -- and play this hand faceup. The truth is, this happens far more at a negotiation table than a card table. Another truth is it has just happened to Israel -- and Israel’s forever kibitzer and guarantor, the United States – in yet another cruel crisis in Gaza. Israel and its staunchest ally must now show their most conv

ViewpointsNov. 20, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] The shifting conversation about cities

As we move deeper into the 2020s, it feels like the 2010s are fading into history. Among the many trends of the 2010s, interest in cities boomed, sparking an “urban rediscovery” in much of the developed world. Slick magazines like Monocle and Kinfolk portrayed cities as hip playgrounds for in-the-know youth. In South Korea, conversational walks in older neighborhoods became a trend just as social media took off. Social media posts of retro streetscapes dotted with new cafes suddenly

ViewpointsNov. 17, 2023

[Jude Dumfeh] Is nuance possible in polarized world?

We humans are tempted to attack anything that appears foreign to us. As psychologist Abraham Maslow observed, when you have only a hammer, you’re inclined to look at everything as if it’s a nail. This unfortunate tendency often stems from a lack of nuance. Our world has become more polarized. We tend to see things in black or white, with little ability to handle shades of gray. It seems easy to stay in our silos and hurl attacks in other directions. An ability to see nuance, on the

ViewpointsNov. 16, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Remembering Lee O-young’s legacy

Almost two years have passed since Lee O-young, the great Korean thinker and eminent culture critic, sadly passed away. Last month, Minumsa published his last words in book form under the title, “Reading Lee O-young: Civilization, Culture, and Literature in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Life Capitalism.” In that book, Lee left some invaluable wisdom and insights to his readers who felt lost in the whirlpool of today’s shallow social atmosphere full of fake news and gra

ViewpointsNov. 15, 2023

[Daoud Kuttabo] Path for Gaza after a cease-fire

The Americans, the Israelis and the Palestinians are in a bind. No one knows who will govern Gaza after a cease-fire, when it comes. The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah is not willing to enter Gaza on the back of Israeli tanks and without the agreement of Palestinian fighters there. No one else will either. Jordan’s prime minister has categorically denied that his country would play such a role, and the same will hold for almost any other Arab or international forc

ViewpointsNov. 14, 2023

[Daniel DePetris] Pessimism is growing in Ukraine over its war with Russia

Last August, more than two months after Ukraine began its counteroffensive against Russian positions in the east, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan was asked about whether the war was degenerating into a stalemate. Sullivan’s answer: no. “We do not assess that the conflict is a stalemate,” he said at the time. “We are seeing (Ukraine) continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis.” Fast-forward to today, and the cautious optimism cited by US

ViewpointsNov. 14, 2023

[Bobby Ghosh] No, Gazans can’t rise up against Hamas

“They could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’etat.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog ought to know better than to have said that. But those who don’t -- those who had no call to pay attention to Palestinian politics until a month ago -- might be forgiven for asking why Hamas has never faced a serious uprising from within their Gazan redoubt in the 17 years it has ruled the strip. That it has not allows some, in

ViewpointsNov. 10, 2023